Develop Your Writing Routine Today

Develop a consistent writing routine. It’s your competitive advantage, a source of joy, and powers your personal fiction factory.

The secret is out: a writing routine is the superpower of many bestselling authors!

• This writing habit serves as your competitive advantage.
• It’s becomes a habit because it’s also a source of joy.
• Consistency provides the fuel needed to power your personal fiction factory.

You’ll find it’s easier than you may think to develop a consistent writing routine.

Adopt and Adapt a Lifelong Writing Routine

Take what you know about yourself and develop a writing routine.

For example:

• When can you carve out the time to write?
• Where can you write with fewer interruptions?
• Which writing tools do you prefer to use?
• What helps you feel creative and motivated?
• How will you store and retrieve notes and writing?

Although answers vary person by person, most top writers agree on this point.

You’ll benefit by adopting a routine that works for your life. There are things you can do that will make whatever time you have more productive. However, no single solution works best for everyone, so adopt and adapt.

It’s your routine, change it as needed, but keep in mind consistency reigns supreme.

Writing Starts and Stops Frustrate Writers

Life’s interruptions require you to preplan how to handle writing starts and stops.

For example:

• Without a writing system, like TYB’s Trellis Method, you won’t have a logical set of steps to complete your book.
• The absence of a writing system also means you will not have a specific place to return whenever something interrupts your creative flow.
• If you don’t have a dedicated writing tool, whether longhand or computer, you won’t have a way to mark the place where you’ll resume writing after a stop.
• Without a specific time to write, you may not pick up where you left off.
• Worse, if you don’t have specific writing goals, you’ll probably lack the motivation to keep writing, no matter what happens in your life.

Your Future Comes One Choice at a Time

Your choice to develop a consistent writing routine sets you apart from those who merely voice their desire to write a novel.

• Some prefer to write early.
• Others late.
• Some produce content on their work breaks.

You choose, and then hold yourself accountable for the expected progress.

Make Consistency Your Primary Benchmark

In the Trellis Method, we break down what it takes to write a book, that makes the tasks more achievable, and you build the confidence that motivates you to resume after an interruption.

For example:

• Plan: You start with the end in mind.
  • Step 1: Choose Genres: Start with what you and your readers love.
  • Step 2: Validate Premise: Make sure your book will get noticed.
  • Step 3: Develop Characters: Fictional people readers want to know.
  • Step 4: Plot Events: Give characters reasons to react with emotions.
  • Step 5: Identify Themes: Pinpoint what resonates with the audience.

• Outline: Envision your novel from start to finish.
  • Step 6: Outline Beats: Use the familiar story structure readers prefer.

• Write: Build into every scene what it takes to exceed readers’ expectations.
  • Step 7: Write Scenes: Treat every scene like a mini-story.
  • Step 8: Edit Drafts: Use tools to eliminate the errors that spoil reading.
  • Step 9: Get Feedback: See your book through the eyes of others.
  • Step 10: Finalize Content: Strive for excellence, not perfection.
• Publish: Get your book out there for readers to enjoy.
  • Step 11: Self-publish Book: Use today’s tools to publish fast.
• Promote: Make sure your target audience knows where to find your book.
  • Step 12: Promote Book: No one cares more about your book than you!

Use the Trellis Method to take a step-by-step approach, and keep advancing until your book is in the hands of eager readers.

Adopt Now and Keep Adapting Until Productive

Treat your writing routine like it’s a servant.

For example:

• You establish the process.
• Your consistent efforts produce the progress.
• You choose to change the process as needed.

What matters most in life supersedes writing, and your routine remains a servant, never your master.

Questions to Help You Set a Writing Routine

Come up with answers that work for you, aiming for consistency, not perfection.

1. Time: When is your energy the highest or you feel the most creative?
2. Place: Where do you feel most productive (e.g., a quiet place, a busy place)?
3. Tools: What is your preferred method of writing (e.g., longhand, desktop, laptop, tablet)?
4. Goals: Do you prefer to measure the number of words written, the tasks completed, the current step on the Trellis Method’s Roadmap, or some other goal?
5. People: Who needs to be aware of your writing routine (i.e., those people who can and are willing to help you minimize interruptions)?
6. Routine: How will you document your writing routine and keep it visible?
7. Triggers: What are the triggers that have the potential to disrupt and what can you do about them?
8. Pleasure: What is at least one thing you can build into your routine that will give you pleasure?
9. Rewards: What will serve as your reward for consistency?
10. Other: What else is important to establishing your writing routine?

Way Forward

The establishment of your writing routine is never a one-and-done task.

• People form good habits that provide some level of reward.
• Use that knowledge to structure a routine that adds joy to your life.
• Keep the joy fresh by making changes as needed.

Learn more about how a writing system, like the Trellis Method, contributes to the quick set up and consistent use of your writing routine today.

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