How To Be Consistent in Writing Without Really Trying

You have to try a little, but it's not as hard as you think

It’s been a few years since I started writing on medium. I have only begun to take it seriously in the last six months.

As a newbie, you are overwhelmed. You want to play with the big kids — aka “top writers.” And, you want those 1st 100 followers. You want people to love what you write and make comments that build connections.

You want to feel that inner giddy feeling you get when you have had a personal achievement.

If you are like me, then you spend a lot of time, in the beginning, reading all you can from experts who have performed well on Medium.

You fall into a very temporary illusion, and you tell yourself, this will be easy. I can get to the top, a piece of cake. Full disclosure, I’m never really content with a small slice. It has to be a slice or two.

You get my drift…

We want to have our slice of the medium cake without too much pressure of trying to have it all right and in one go. And without losing our mind in the process.

We hear a lot of buzz words on Medium. Tips to making your post go viral. Or how to make a living from writing. The six figures from your hustle, and all that.

I do want to make a living eventually from writing. Who wouldn’t? My intention is to combine my two loves, writing and, the other is holistic healing.

I want to point out that I used the word intention. Not goal. Not mission or purpose, but intention.

How it all works out is up to the universe to figure out.

Besides creating the space with intention, another word thrown around a lot is consistent. And so it should. Some activities require us to be consistent. Writing is one of them.

They tell us to be consistent in our writing. Post 3 to 4 a week minimum etc I don’t disagree, I agree wholeheartedly with posting 3 to 4 pieces of work a week if you can do it.

But, I got stuck on consistent.

Yikes, this isn’t my jam.

I’m not consistent in anything.

I am more of an all or nothing, one extreme to the other and very little balance in some, not all, the things I do. I tend to get fixated on one thing, the finer details.

They get me every time.

Usually, I walk around in the dark because I have forgotten to turn the light switch on. And, I am not seeing the whole picture.

Consistent feels, well, a bit rigid and a bit boring. I am creative, and I like to colour outside of the lines on occasion.

But I kept reading that I had to be consistent. It was like the universe was trying to get my attention. Did it know something I didn’t? I admit my ego got a little hurt. But, I also thought, I can not really ignore this if I want to increase my slice of cake here on medium.

I do want to play with the big kids. But I did not want to be consistent when that is not who I am. Not in a typical way. It can be open to interpretation depending on who you are.

I asked myself, what does being consistent mean for me? How can I make it work for me?

I feel it is a question we all need to ask ourselves at the beginning of our writing journey and could help you from being overwhelmed.

More so, I think we can ask ourselves, how can we integrate being consistent in our already busy lives?

You might be a writer full time and currently has a structure in place. Consistency for you is a piece of cake. Great!

You might be a part-timer and only post once, maybe twice a week. Great!

You may find that you want to be focusing on one publication like the short form. Be consistent in writing for one publication well. Also great!

However it works for you is perfect, regardless of what anyone else thinks you should be doing.

Consistent isn’t a rule. Let’s change the game slightly and see it as a guideline, just like bumpers on the bowling alley.

Me, I am consistent in what works best for me. Yes, you still have to make time for your writing if you are serious about it. But how you carve out that time to write, edit and publish is unique to you.

We all have to stick to it. Otherwise, it will no longer be consistent. Eventually, it just bleeds out to other parts of your life. Similar to icing on a cake that is melting.

This is how I am consistent and what works for me:

When I was working full-time, up until January this year, I was also re-launching my holistic business. I have a fur-baby, still young in years, quite an extrovert, and need a lot of attention. With all of that, I had to make time for writing.

I needed to find a way to be consistent in my writing that would work for me. Thursday night, most of Saturday, and until Sunday night was when I intended to be consistent.

An agreement that I would make time to focus on an area of my life that I wanted to see growth in. I set the intention to write during those four days. How little or how much I would write would depend on other commitments.

As I worked full time during the week, if I could find moments or hours to write outside of those 4 days, it would be a bonus. It was a way I could have that second piece of cake, like your cheat day.

But here is the thing, because I am still a newbie, I don’t worry as much if I publish every week. I forgive myself. Because at this time, I am learning to be consistent in writing from Thursday to Monday night.

It is the writing itself that I want to be more consistent. I do not want to keep a promise only to break it. The intention behind the doing is what helps keep me motivated.

I want to get better at writing. Improve the storytelling. That goes the same for editing stories. Take the time to find the right pictures to go with the stories. All of that matters.

The key is to be consistent where we can. An intention between you and the universe you will create for a purpose. Or just because you like how it makes you feel after you finish writing a short form or a long post.

What works for me may not work for you.

The way I was consistent was temporary. Now it is different. I have recently stepped away from my full-time job to focus full-time on the business and writing.

I sit with a new intention. I chose to create with intention based on this new adventure. As it evolves, so will the intention. I may decide I want all of that cake, leaving no crumbs left to pick up.

My biggest concern is that we suffocate our creative side because we try to put our creative expression, that being writing, in a box.

I have spent the last 6 years in a job where I haven’t been creative at all. I suffered because I thought that box was where I was supposed to be, what was expected of me, even though my soul yearned for more.

My intention to help the collective through my writing had become suffocated. Because I lost sight of the intention.

I may be making up for a lost time now.

That is okay.

That is where I am at this time.

The intention remains. The consistency will adapt as I will. The writing that is published will be its reflection.

Who said you couldn’t have the cake and eat it too?