The 3 Most Important Habits For Amateur Writers
Routine makes success.
Fortunately, we live in a time where we can write anything. Movies, sports, business, fashion, technology, weather and more are fair game. However, we still have the question: What do I write? The answer is simple: anything that relates to a bigger topic.
Readers love the unexpected. It’s your job to connect the dots for the audience. Here is the routine to create the unexpected:
Create an Ideas Generator
You need a guide.
If we can’t see a clear goal, it’s impossible to focus. An idea generator will give you a guide to focus when writing.
As I said, we have too much things to talk to about. It’s important to find a guide on how we should write. I would like to thank Nicolas Cole for his book The Art and Business of Online Writing. He introduced me to the idea of an idea generator. It works like this: type of writing, idea in article, and credibility.
Using this formula, I’ve cut writing time, and narrowed my writing as well. This is my own, and feel free to grab it for yourself:
Use The Pomodoro Technique
We need a timeframe.
Especially when working for long periods of time. It’s not a sprint, but a marathon.
Using the Pomodoro technique allows me to work hours on end without feeling tired. When I started writing, I would just work until I finished. That took me hours. At the beginning, I was great. In the middle, I was kind of confused. At the end, my writing sucked.
We are not machines. Our energy is like a wave. Use the Pomodoro technique to work long hours. Everyday.
The Pomodoro technique gives us a timeframe to write great ideas. While being efficient.
Separate A Time of Day For Writing
Our brains are much smarter than you think.
It unconsciously knows the time of day. And the activity associated with it. When you established a time for just writing, you will automatically be in writing mode.
It only takes a couple of days to train your brain. I like to separate the mornings for writing. However, one day life got in the way. And I had to some math. It was incredibly hard for me to focus and get in math’s rhythm. Without noticing, my brain had made such a strong connection with the mornings and the writing skill.
The brain works in timeframes, and connection. Sleep and night. Lunch and afternoon. Writing and morning.
If you want to automatically feel like writing, separate a time of day. And write everyday during that time.
Do you already have an idea generator? Are you using the Pomodoro technique? Have you separated a time of day to just write?