How NaNoWriMo Helps Build A Regular Writing Routine

I know you might be thinking: 50,000 words in month? Are you insane? Well, maybe but here’s the thing:

It might be hard and you may not finish the whole 50K (and many don’t, so don’t worry. You’re not a failure because of it).

It also doesn’t mean you have to craft 50K every month after either (trust me, I’m a full-time freelance ghostwriter who does this almost every month. It ain’t fun). What it does mean is by writing at least 2K words every night (try it at least a week) you are building a writing routine.

We as human beings often hear, doing something for three days in a row creates a regular routine. This is true. I have done this with many things and created regular routines in many areas including writing and blogging.

The key takeaway:

Again, even if you don’t finish the entire month, if you can get at least three to seven days, a routine can be built.

I hear this all the time as a writing coach. “I work all day, have kids, etc etc. I don’t have time to write 2K words (or an hour a day).”

My reply: bullshite.

As an owner of two businesses, full-time ghostwriter, stay-at-home mom, wife, published author of two paranormal romances, soon-to-be 3 time NaNoWriMo winner, gardener, herbalist and book reviewer, I know what it means to be stressed and strapped for time.

My point is: If I can do it, so can you. All I had to do is follow the advice of taking a hard look at my day and finding those “empty spots” I could sacrifice.

Take one of your days and look at it real good. How many times do you catch yourself mindlessly browsing social media? How many hours are you binging Netflix on the weekend? Video gaming? Boredom induced napping?

Now, how many of those hours are you able to actually devote to writing (even if you’re a blogger)? Do you see spots where you could sacrifice a few minutes to an hour to write? Odds are you do.

So, how do you do this? Start by checking out the five tips below I use to keep a regular writing routine.

Remember, you don’t have to crush the entire month if you don’t want to. Just use it to build a regular writing routine.

Those are my tips. They’ve been very helpful in keeping the writing routine I set when I wrote NaNoWriMo. Even the smallest wordcount or upping blogposts from once a month to once a week or twice a month is something.

You can’t edit a blank page. Even if you don’t come back to it until a year later, write something. Don’t make excuses on why you can’t do something. Also, don’t get discouraged if it takes some time to reach your goal. How many things would we not have if the creator got discouraged and quit? Would we have planes? Amazon? Apple? Pixar? Most likely not.

Find someone who can help cheer you on. Who can support you? Who can be your personal cheerleader?

Finally, drop the excuses because that’s all they are. Excuses. It’s going to be hard, there’s no getting around it. Put in the effort and the grit and you will reap the rewards.

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