Summary

The article discusses strategies for maintaining a daily writing habit, emphasizing the importance of writing consistently over publishing daily.

Abstract

The author shares their experience with a commitment to write an article every day, noting that this does not necessarily entail publishing daily. They suggest that writing daily is more crucial than daily publishing, as it leads to a more productive day and a sense of accomplishment in their triad of daily tasks: writing, photography, and music. The author acknowledges that ideas may not always flow and provides tips for overcoming writer's block, such as setting a minimum word count goal, starting with any subject, and simply beginning to write. They argue that the act of starting is often the hardest part, but once overcome, the words tend to flow naturally. The article encourages writers to commit to a manageable daily writing goal, such as 100 words, which can often lead to writing much more, turning the commitment into a rewarding and productive habit.

Opinions

Writing every day is more important than publishing every day for a writer's productivity and well-being.
Engaging in the act of writing, even when ideas are scarce, is essential to maintaining a writing habit.
Setting a daily word count goal, such as 1,000 words, can help writers produce content consistently, though starting with a lower word count is advisable for beginners.
The difficulty in starting to write is common, but it is a surmountable obstacle that leads to a flow of ideas and increased productivity.
Committing to a small, achievable writing goal can lead to greater output and a sense of accomplishment.
Writer's block can be mitigated by having a repository of ideas to draw from or by writing on any subject to get the creative juices flowing.
The enjoyment of writing often emerges once the initial resistance is overcome and the writing process begins.

What to Do if You Can’t Write an Article Every Day

Just Write Something; Anything

A few months back, I committed to publishing an article a day. I wrote about that process in an article you can link to at the end of this one. If you’ve read that article, you know that this doesn’t mean I have to write an article every day. I usually do, at least, a first draft, but not always.

Maybe I write two some days. Or I dust one off from my archives on days I don’t have a great idea (rare).

But, in all honesty, I think it is more important to write every day than publish every day. On days, which is most of them, where I can crank out the first draft of an article, it seems like my whole day goes better. I have accomplished one of the major tasks in my daily triangle; writing, photography, and music.

But what if you can’t write an article every day? Maybe the ideas just don’t come. I’ve written about how to avoid that here, but I have been known to let that well run dry. Or you have the ideas, but they just don’t ignite the spark. What then?

Write anyway.

It’s what we do. Writer’s write.

Maybe instead of committing to an article every day, you commit to a minimum word count. A while back, I decided to keep all of my articles to a minimum of 1,000 words. I don’t always meet that goal, but it seems like a nice balance between brevity and thoroughness.

So, maybe make 1,000 words a day the goal. This will most likely result in an article, but you still have written a lot if it doesn’t. If you are just beginning and that seems like a burden, start with 500 words. Hell, start with 100 words. On any subject.

Just get the juices flowing.

I frequently don’t feel like writing. I’m not sure why, I always enjoy the process. But more often than not, ‘write draft’ pops up as the next thing on my task list, and I just don’t want to. But I do it anyway.

Because writer’s write.

And, without fail, once I start, I finish. Once I get started with my idea, the words flow, and a few minutes later, I have my rough draft. What does this tell me?

That all I have to do is start.

Just begin writing.

And if that works for you, great. That makes the daily commitment that much easier. Just commit to 1,000 words. Or 500. Or even 100. Because once you start, you will keep going

How great would it be to commit to writing 100 words every day, but you end up with 1,000. Or 2,000. That’s what they call a win-win. You have a commitment that’s easy to meet, but the results are much greater.

So, as it turns out, today, I am only going to crank out around 500 words.

But that’s okay. I got this first draft finished.

And for today, that’s enough.

How You Can Begin to Write Every Day

I’ve Been Doing It for Six Months

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