My Two Blog Posts a Day Writing Routine
How I found a winning writing strategy.
If you are reading this, you are probably a writer and want to know how to increase your output so you can increase your income — and make money from writing.
That’s what I wanted to know seven months ago when I began publishing on Medium every day without fail.
It wasn’t easy at first to produce one to two posts per day that I felt were good enough to publish. My writing muscle had atrophied. I had taken a break from writing, unless you count Twitter, and let’s not. I can tweet with the best of them, but a 280 character count does not a writer make.
At first, I didn’t think I would have enough content to publish daily.
Seven months later, that notion is comical. Now, I don’t have enough hours in the day to write thoroughly on all the ideas I’d like to drill down on.
Energy flows where attention goes.
I keep ideas I want to write about on post-it notes, index cards, my notes app, and scribbled in notebooks scattered throughout my car, desk, purse, and life.
My capacity for the amount of output I can produce has expanded because I’ve strengthened my writing muscle. For almost eight months, I completed a post every single day from start to finish, polished it, edited it, made it look pretty for Medium, and then did the same the next day.
Seven months later, a daily writing routine has developed, and getting out content doesn’t feel as challenging.
My energy for writing has increased; my writing muscle strengthened.
My writing habits are securely in place to keep going for another seven months.
The goal: write on Medium for a year straight to become a better writer and see how much income I can generate per month from my writing.
Be your own boss
I’m an entrepreneur.
I want my ideas and creativity to make money.
I watched my dad support our entire family of seven with his own successful business. He set his schedule, hired employees, took time off to take us on vacation when he wanted to, built a summer home, and worked harder than any adult I knew.
But with hard work came financial freedom and independence to mold his life the way he wanted to shape it.
My entrepreneurial spirit grew through osmosis. I’m attracted to people who forge their own path, work for themselves, and have control over their daily lives.
Because of the internet and social media, there has never been a more fortuitous time to make money from home and be your own boss. Social media has opened doors to endless opportunities and created more avenues for financial success while working for yourself. Opportunities that weren’t possible even ten years ago exist now because of the internet.
So, write. And see where your creativity takes you.
You can make a lot of money on this platform if you’re willing to put in the time, work, and energy.
Winning strategy
For the first three months, I did not miss one day of publishing.
I treat Medium like a job, a job I like, which makes a difference; I want to write. If you find joy in the process, you’ll go farther to reach your goal.
When you treat your writing career like a job and not a hobby, you will see progress; followers, an audience, likes, clicks, claps — engagement.
I’ve altered my schedule a bit since January; I now take Sundays off. I need one day to regroup and be off the computer for the entire day.
Until you have some momentum, daily publishing is your best way to get noticed.
My writing routine
Here is my daily process to keep writing consistently.
6:00 am — Wake up
I don’t use an alarm. I find the sound of an alarm jarring, even when waking to music. I wake up every morning between 5:45 and 6:00 am. I figure if I sleep in it means I’m tired. If that means my daughter is late for school for the first time in ten years, then I must be in need of sleep.
I try not to look at my phone in the morning to enjoy the quiet as long as I can and not get distracted and consumed with the noise of social media.
I find it essential to start the day in a calm state, not in a reactive state.
Looking at news and notifications, first thing in the morning will pull you out of productivity and into reactivity.
Writers often suggest writing as close to waking as possible for a reason — you are closer to your dream (subconscious) state when you first wake, this brings more flow and creativity to writing. The realities of the day haven’t bombarded you to waken your conscious rational mind, you can tap into your thoughts with less effort.
I sit down to write sometimes for an hour or sometimes for just 20 minutes. Even if it’s only 20 minutes, it sets the tone for the day.
I set my intention. I close my eyes and visualize the next hour of writing going well or I read something positive to get into a positive frame of mind. My best writing comes when I’m in a positive, confident state of mind, and I can reach that more immediately in the morning.
I sip some tea or espresso.
7:00 am — Family stuff
After I write in the morning, I have family responsibilities to take care of, mostly a lot of reminding and driving.
8:00 am — Write more
I sit down at my desk at home or in a coffee shop. I still haven’t checked social media or email. This is my productive time to write and edit. I only have one or two tabs open on my desktop, to keep distractions at a minimum. I either keep my phone in my purse if I’m at a coffee shop or if I’m at home, I keep it on a charging station in another room.
I’m more productive at a coffee shop; first of all, there is espresso; secondly, I’m less distracted. I work on my Medium post, refine it, edit it, pick a photo, and a headline, post it, and share it on social media.
All of this can take up to two hours.
The night before, I came up with the idea I was going to write about, or I already have it worked out in an outline, so I’m not starting with a blank page.
The idea is already there; I work in out on the keyboard.
10:00 am — Physical exercise
Physical exercise and eating well are essential to my writing.
My exercise routine hasn’t deviated for 20 plus years.
I fit in an hour a day of The Bar Method class, and some days I do two workout sessions. The second one is cardio at the gym for one hour.
Exercise gets my mind-body connection in sync.
While I exercise, I either zone out, or I’m thinking of ideas to work on for the afternoon, or I’m listening to a podcast to generate more content ideas
11:00 am –Meal
I eat something small, usually a smoothie consisting of some green leaves, half of an apple, one lemon, ginger, celery, parsley, and cayenne pepper.
I fast from the last meal of the night at 6:00 pm until around 11:00 am the next day. I have more energy when I implement fasting into my life.
Then I goof around for about 45 minutes after I drink my smoothie. Sometimes I’ll walk my dogs around the block. They are very old, they walk slowly.
12 :00 to 2:00 —Edit and work on my other business blogs
This time is when I work on my two other blogs I’m developing, which can include more writing, editing, WordPress, social media, learning, and more.
2:00 pm — I finish busy work
This is when I allow other people to infringe on my time.
I answer email, texts, social media, respond to comments on my posts, make appointments, and wrap up anything pressing that needs a response to keep my life and my family’s life running smoothly.
4:00 to 7:00 pm — Family
This is family time. I chill out during this time and try to be as present as possible for my loved ones. We eat a meal, out or at home, possibly some TV, but not every night.
7:00–9:00 pm — Read
This is usually my reading time or working out ideas for the next day. Rarely do I write during this time.
I read a physical book that I can hold in my hand. While I read, I sip a cup of hot water with one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and the juice from one lemon.
My rules are: no eating three hours before bed.
No working two hours before bed.
No screen time one hour before bed.
These rules guarantee I have no trouble falling asleep, and I rarely wake in the middle of the night.
9:00 pm — Lights out
Bed. Zzzzzzzzz.
I’ve developed a daily strategy that works well for me. Play around with your own schedule and routines to find one that increases your writing stamina.
Routine increases my output drastically as does doing my one thing — writing — at the beginning of the day when I’m at my sharpest, when I’m the most productive.
Focused energy comes more easily for me in the morning.
Tips for newbies to Medium
- Don’t check stats in the beginning. Just write.
- Run your story through Grammarly before you publish a post.
- Jot down ideas on index cards to write about at a later date, so you never run out of things to write.
- Have gratitude.
- Be grateful you have something to say, be thankful for the audience you do have, even if your audience consists of three people — those three people are your true fans. Get 9997 more of them, and you have a million-dollar business.
- Don’t be a perfectionist. Perfectionism will prevent you from hitting publish. Think of perfectionism as procrastination because that is what it is.
- Write. Try it and see what happens.
- There is only one you; your perspective is different from everyone else’s.
Jessica is a writer, an online entrepreneur, and a recovering type-A personality. She lives in Los Angeles with her extrovert daughter, two dogs, and two cats.
