Writing Routines: What Works is What Works for You, But it Doesn’t Hurt to Steal Writing Routines from Other Writers

The North Carolina Writers’ Network’s Spring 2022 Newsletter served as the prompt for this blog post. It’s full of flash memoir pieces by writers about their writing routines, and as you might have guessed by the title of this post, writers go at their routines in many different ways.

Trustee Michele Berger, an author who appeared on Charlotte Readers Podcast, wrote the lead for the newsletter, with a title that read: “Whatever Keeps You Writing.” Her advice about dropping the word “should” from the guilty writer’s conscience when thinking about a writing routine was spot on and could just as easily have come under the title I chose for this post: “What Works is What Works for You.” Michelle said we should listen to ourselves. It is great advice, but since the network was kind enough to provide perspectives on writing routines from many different writers, I expanded the title of this post to point out that it doesn’t hurt to steal writing routines from other writers if you think they will work for you.

My Contribution to the Network’s Spring Newsletter – My Writing “Routine”

I was one of the writers whose description of their writing routine appeared in the newsletter. I said:

“Because I am inspired by the work of others, two things keep me interested in writing: reading good books and interviewing authors about their craft, but I am not an everyday writer. I write in spurts, preferring to play the “what if” game and find my passion before committing to the page. I’ve found that when I do this and become excited about a project, I can write with binge-like intensity for days or weeks. Only when the words start to flow do I think about a routine for the project.”

Some writers might conclude that the description above is a lawyer’s trick, a paragraph of words masking the truth as they see it: “It’s just a clever way of saying he’s too lazy to have a writing routine.”

But except for my aversion to Julia Cameron’s three morning pages a day way of life, I’m not entirely lazy when it comes to writing. I wrote one book each year in my last few years of law practice and I published short stories and a novel in the last three years while putting out two podcast episodes each week for Charlotte Readers Podcast and doing some arbitration work on the side. Admittedly, had I written every day, I would have produced more, but I had other things on my plate. Hence, the tendency toward binge writing rather than daily writing.

However, I don’t think I am alone as a writer when I say that I I’d like to–no, that I “should”– commit to a more regular writing routine. After all, if we want to be healthier, shouldn’t we commit to an exercise routine?

But as Michelle so aptly put it in her article, life has interruptions and distractions, and we shouldn‘t beat ourselves up because–and these are my words not hers–we can’t measure up to the writing teacher’s pets who get up every morning at 3:30 am and write for three hours before they go to work. We might think we “should” do that, but only if we’re feeling guilty. And if we’re feeling guilty, it’s a sign that if we choose not to get up that early, we “should” at least do something different than what we’re doing now.

Routines Without Borders

I recommend the Network’s newsletter to anyone wanting to explore the answer to the question: What writing routine should I adopt to get in better shape as a writer?

Notice that I said “explore” the answer not “find” the answer to the question. The answer for one writer may not be the answer for another and certainly is not the answer for all writers.

I didn’t examine the biographies of everyone who submitted their writing routine descriptions to the Network’s newsletter, but I know several of them and I can conjecture about the others enough to conclude that they come at writing from many different places. Some have full-time jobs. Others are retired. Some treat writing as a business. Others hate treating writing as a business. Some write short fiction, poetry, or flash fiction. Others write novels or lengthy non-fiction books. Some have children at home, or elderly parents to look after, and others travel extensively. And the list of differences in their lives does not end with these examples.

Still, it is interesting to observe what other writers do, because as someone once said: good writers borrow ideas from other writers, while great writers steal from them.

Below is a list of ideas for writing routines I discovered–a much nicer word than “stole”–reading what these other writers do. I’ve boiled them down to paraphrased one-line takeaways:

• Start your day like Julia Cameron, with your three morning pages about whatever is on your mind, and once you are decluttered, dive into your writing project
• Go out for breakfast and then come back to your writing space and write from 9:30 to 12:30
• Write while taking your morning walk and record your thoughts on a pad or in the voice app on your phone
• Stare at the blank screen, get up and procrastinate, come back and stare some more until something magical happens
• Journal to get the words flowing, and carry a notebook so you can write questions and answers when the mood strikes
• Use deadlines to create routines
• Keep notebooks and stuff them with words as often as possible
• Write while “watching” your children play sports and make notes in the fast-food line
• Write in the early morning starting at 4:00 or 5:00 am
• Close the door and set a timer for one hour where nobody gets in the room but your muse
• Write daily and make it non-negotiable
• A good writing day is when there is quality over quantity
• Don’t worry about the perfect time or place; just write
• Set a goal each week, one week at a time, and write to that goal
• Write for so many minutes and make yourself take a break before you write again
• Keep it simple; just put your butt in the chair and write
• Find a space you enjoy to write in that is comfortable and inspires you
• Jumpstart your morning with coffee, news, comics and a word game (think Wordle), and then commit to a steady two hours of writing
• Find a clear three-hour slot of solitude and go at it
• If writing a novel, edit what you did yesterday, write something new today, and plan for tomorrow

Authors I interviewed on Charlotte Readers Podcast also talked about their writing routines. The three examples below illustrate why no routine is the same.

• Get rid of the gnats–the life-related stuff like bills and email and errands–in the morning, and tackle the creative act of writing in the afternoon after the mind is clear
• Do the creative writing in the morning when the mind is fresh and handle the business side of writing in the afternoon
• Write late at night when everyone else in the house is in bed

I suggest that you treat these routines like ice cream. Choose the flavor that looks good to you and give it a taste. If it doesn’t measure up, try something else, and if you run out of flavors to try, switch to varieties of beer or wine.

Routines Can and “Should” Change to Meet the Circumstances

One reason for changing a routine is a shift in life circumstances. I didn’t have to write as much at night after I retired from the practice of law. I became a write-when-I want-to-writer, which meant writing at different times of day. Some days, I wrote in the morning because I was podcasting in the afternoon. Some days, I wrote in the afternoon, because I had a podcast, arbitration matter or other commitment in the morning. Some weeks, I wrote only on weekends because of various commitments during the week. I am writing this blog post at night because I recorded my 300^th podcast episode today (coming out June 21^st) and I edited the audio and prepared all the graphics this afternoon, plus (true confessions) I watched some NCAA March Madness today.

Another reason to change a routine is to develop a writing goal or purpose. The North Carolina Writer’s Network Spring 2022 Newsletter came in the mail at a good time for me. With the publication of my novel “Deadly Declarations” in a few weeks, I have decided I want to write a series of novels with these same characters. I know that if I follow the same practice I followed the past few years, the novels in the series won’t happen as quickly as I would like.

So what will I do? That’s a good question, because I’ve still got a podcast to produce, a grandson to visit, and a desire to travel more, fly-fish more and play more golf. I think I’ll look at everything that is on my plate and make some adjustments. I will probably take a glance back at the list above. But whatever I do, it won’t include getting up at 4:00 am to write three morning pages that have nothing to do with my novel.

Final Thoughts on Writing Routines

Don’t jump into writing routines like New Year resolutions. They rarely take.

The best advice I’ve heard is to set manageable goals.

If the goal is project oriented, perhaps tie the goal to a deadline. If a writer wants to publish a book in six months, they have to write more words daily or weekly than if they publish in one or two years.

Finally–though I hate to say it because Julia Cameron might be listening–writing for the sake of writing can be its own routine. In addition to the peace of mind that comes with writing, who knows what masterpieces it will produce.