3 Simple Strategies for Writing a Book

My number one goal this year has been to build a writing habit. Last year, I spent too much time thinking about writing and not actually doing it. I scribbled in my journal every day, but when it came to crafting sentences and stories, I spent too many months not doing the work.

I’ve always wanted a writing life. When I was younger and someone asked me what I wanted to do with my life, I said I wanted to be a poet and a painter. I also wanted to live by the sea. I’ll admit my perspective was a bit romantic, but the intention was there: what I wanted more than anything was a creative and inspiring life.

I don’t just want to write a book; I want to be writing. I want a writing life, a life built around words, a life filled with the bone-deep honesty that comes through writing.

So, when the new year came, I knew it was time to get serious about cultivating a writing habit. After some trial and error and fumbling around, I realized the strategies that were working for me were the simplest ones.

The timer trick

Using a timer is by far the easiest way to get words down. The strategy is simple: set a timer for fifteen minutes, then write. Plan to write only for fifteen minutes and keep your fingers typing or your pen moving the whole time. The point is to get the words down. Later, you can circle back and clean things up.

One of my biggest obstacles is that I treat writing like a big deal. It’s not just writing; it’s writing with a capital W. This kind of thinking doesn’t do me any good. All it does is trigger my perfectionism and prevent me from getting words down because I feel like the words have to be right. The thing is, the words don’t have to be right. They just have to be written.

When Anne Lamott talks about sh*tty first drafts, that’s what she’s talking about. Get the words down, whatever words you have inside you. Don’t judge them; just get them out. You get to come back later and move them around, cross them out, rewrite them. But if you never get anything down, you’re not writing.

Set the timer and write.

One thing I found helpful as I did this was to have an idea when I set the timer. I need a starting place, even if I end up somewhere very different by the end of the fifteen minutes. The time can’t be ticking while I’m thinking. That fifteen minutes is for writing only.

Write first thing in the morning

Our days are filled with other people’s demands and expectations, and it can be hard to protect our creative time. Writing first thing in the morning may not be simple logistically but it ensures nothing pops up and steals your writing time.

I found that waiting until later in the day to write created a sense of urgency and frustration in me. If I couldn’t get to the page, I felt like I was failing. Too many days in a row, and I’d get angry with myself.

Making my writing time a priority and doing it first thing was so much more satisfying. And, since I was only writing in fifteen-minute increments, it didn’t feel like a big imposition. I wake early enough to have at least a half hour in the morning to journal, read, and have my first cup of coffee. Switching gears to working on a writing project for fifteen minutes was doable.

Even if you’re not an early riser, getting up fifteen minutes early to write isn’t a huge sacrifice. If you have to set your alarm fifteen minutes early to make sure you write today, do it.

Writing by hand

I’ll admit this might not work for everyone. We like the efficiency of the computer. It’s faster and more convenient. Writing by hand is slower, more labored. But that’s just the reason why it sometimes works better than cranking things out on the computer. We use a different part of our brain when we write by hand and engage different levels of thinking and creativity.

What I kept finding was that writing at the computer felt too official. It was making feel—I’ll say it again—like I had to get it right, whatever I was writing. But the kind of writing I need to do in a draft is exploratory. The process is slower, more meandering. I have time to contemplate and make different kinds of connections.

Honestly, the stakes are lower.

When I’m scribbling into a notebook, I feel like I can make mistakes, write bad sentences, and generally make a mess. Things are too clean when I’m typing. And sh*tty first drafts are meant to be messy.

If nothing else, it’s worth giving it a try, especially if you feel stuck. Get out a pen and piece of paper, set the timer, and see what happens. You might surprise yourself.