Let’s talk about the things that help you write. A room of your own, or at least part of a study table where you can plunk down your stuff and get some work done. A comfortable chair, or at least some place to sit, and park your body while you daydream and use your mind. A “to-do” list, or some specific goal for today. Something quantifiable such as “sitting down to write for 15 minutes” or “writing a sentence or a paragraph” or “writing 750 words.”
Studies have shown that people who plan and people who write down their goals, small to big, tend to finish what they start, and tend to achieve their goals. All of us lead very busy lives, and we have uncounted obligations to our families, our co-workers, our friends.
But as writers, we have to make time for our art, our dreams, our craft, and the only way to do that is to take a minute and make a plan – even on a napkin or the back of a grocery store receipt. What are you going to do today? For yourself? For 15 minutes?
And Tomorrow? What are your plans for tomorrow? The first few days it takes to get into a habit will feel alternatively exhilarating and then depressing, as if you’ve twisted your ankle and are limping along. Remember your list is not a crutch, it’s a ladder: it will lead only upward, and expand out, it will only lead you to that magical place in the future where you are living the writing life you have always imagined you would.
The rungs of this ladder are created by you, and use your words and your ambitions and your dreams. It’s essential to establish long-term goals (I want to finish my novel) and it’s even more wonderful to envision big dreams. But keep your day to day goals small, something you can achieve and cross off the list, and if you surpass your goals of “writing for 20 minutes” or “Writing 500 words,” then all the more power to you.
Write down your goals and start climbing your ladder!