Developing A Writing Routine
Developing A Writing Routine
By Riley Martin
Author of: Road To Relationship
5 min read
In 2016, at just 19 years of age, I decided I was going to write a book in a summer. What was my big idea? A survival guide covering Christian and Apostolic principles from doctrine to dating to discipleship to direction. It was to be a collection of wisdom from elders written through the perspective of a young man enduring all the questions life brings as a young adult. I had this grand idea of having experts in each area write the intro to the related chapters. Sis. Vesta Mangun on Prayer. Bro. David Bernard on doctrine. And so on. It was a God dream that would require a great undertaking.
I began my writing by locking myself in a cabin for seven days. In that week I read, I prayed, and I wrote. In fact, I wrote close to 40 pages in that one week alone, largely on prayer. It was, by all accounts, an exceptionally productive week. I conducted interviews over the course of the summer. And though I would look back and add a page here or there to my 40-page start, I never did have another week like that cabin seclusion in the middle of May. In reality, how could I? Summer hardly left time for a free day, let alone a week to my lonesome. Today, that book project continues to hold some 40 odd pages. Along with other factors, largely inexperience, the reason this project was never completed is due to lack of a writing routine.
Without a routine you will likely never finish a book project. In today’s world, no one really “finds time” without having a plan. I learned the power of writing every day from Pastor and author of multiple books, Brian Kinsey. He once spoke, “Writing is a pain in the neck. If you all you can do is start with 15 minutes a day, [do it]. Get up an hour earlier to do it if you can. Don’t write more than an hour a day. It’s surprising how much you can do if you [write] every day. You need to have God put in your life an excellent editor. Don’t worry about form or anything, just get your thoughts down and pray for an excellent editor”.
Write every day. This was a new concept, yet one that certainly works. Since I started writing every day, or at least incorporating it in my daily agenda, I have produced over 700 pages of manuscript. I have talked with other authors who similarly state that writing every day allowed them to accomplish their book productions. Writing every day will provide cohesive thoughts from day to day. It will create a narrative flow that is often damaged when one stops writing for days, weeks, or months at a time. Writing every day will produce bad thoughts, but also good thoughts. It will give your idea the weight it needs to go from book title to finished manuscript. Write every day.
What time should you write? That is up to you. The important aspect is that you develop a routine. Personally, I write in the morning. In fact, I cannot seem to get any cohesive words on a page after 11 am. While I would state that morning writing seems to be the most common, it is not always best for every individual. A good friend of mine and author of It Filled the House, Samuel Vaughn, expressed that his writing time was always after work and before dinner. I can’t imagine writing during that time, however it worked for him. As weeks and days went by, he consistently wrote at this time until a manuscript was formed. So, look at your day and see what needs to change. When do you feel the most creative? Should you adjust the time you wake up or the time you go to bed? How can you create a schedule that allows you to write for 15-60 minutes every day. What writing routine will you create?
One final point to add is that there may be days where you have planned to write, but simply cannot seem to put thoughts on paper. In these moments, stick with your routine, but switch to reading. Furthermore, read another book on the subject that you wish to write. When you wake the next day for your writing moment, new ideas, comments, and questions are bound to be present. Developing a writing routine will help take your book idea and form a reality. Books are not written overnight. So, write every day.
