Christine Gabrièlle

I’ve tried. Really, I have. I’ve tried getting up early, staying up late, blocking out a day during the week; but no matter what I try, I cannot maintain a consistent writing routine.

But who says I need one?

There are a lot of voices in the world telling us what we need to be doing. In fact, I wrote an entire post about it. As writers, we’re given all kinds of advice on how to be most productive, what makes us actual writers, and how to create effective writing routines. None of that has worked for me long term.

So, I don’t have a writing routine. Still.

I write when I need to write. When I have given myself a deadline for getting a piece completed, I can usually meet that deadline, but, when my brain doesn’t want to produce, it won’t.

I’ve heard the advice to sit down and start writing something, anything, and it will get the creativity flowing and the writing will come, but I don’t do well sitting and staring at blank pages for long. If nothing comes up, I will close the document and do something else. It may be writing for someone else (I’m a Virtual Content & Design Assistant, if you weren’t aware), doing laundry, washing dishes, turning on a show, walking to get the mail, whatever, but I will walk away and try again another time.

When I do manage to get writing done, there are some standard practices for me. So, here are just a few tips for a productive writing session:

1) Whatever is on top of your brain, get it out.

You can’t write if you’re thinking about other things. If you keep thinking about doing the dishes, scheduling a doctor’s appointment, or grabbing a package from your front door, just do that thing and get it out of your head so you can focus.

2) Conversely, get the idea out of your head.

If there’s a writing thought on top of your mind, and you have some other important task you need to get done before you can sit for your writing session, just take a minute and write it out. You can write the thought (line, paragraph, whatever) on a piece of paper, you can record a note to self in your phone, or you can sit down and take five minutes to start your draft before you complete your other important task. Just don’t let the words get lost in your day.

3) Choose your environment.

I cannot commit to writing when I am surrounded by people because the voices and movements are distracting and often uncomfortable when I’m really trying to focus. Some people can tune out all of that and write just fine. Some people enjoy and are inspired by the liveliness of being in a public environment while they write. Whatever your preferred writing environment, go there.

4) Set your sound mood.

Just like people are distracting to me, music with lyrics is distracting. Also, music with high pitched *dings* throughout. I usually turn on Christian Lo-Fi while I write. It’s a totally different vibe than my meditation music (instrumental piano Christian music) and my reading music (general instrumental Christian music).

Sometimes, but very rarely, I will write in silence. This is usually when I need to write something quickly (like a blog post) with the TV on mute before going back to whatever show I was watching. Pick whatever sound profile is going to set the mood you’re going for and allow you to feel into your writing.

5) Write until you’re done. Or take breaks. Whatever.

This one totally depends on what my brain wants to do that day. Most of the time, I will sit and write all the way through whatever I’m working on. Sometimes hours go by without me realizing it. But there are times, especially if I’m working on a longer piece, that I need to take breaks to drink water or stretch my legs or have lunch. Do what works for you.

6) Take it easy on yourself.

We can have the best intentions and set up the best space for our creativity to flow, and it just won’t. Take a break, recoup, and try again later. The words will come when they’re supposed to.

Basically (if you haven’t already noticed), the best way to have a productive writing session is to place yourself in the environment that you write best in. Everyone’s perfect writing space is different. And even if you set the best “writing mood,” you still may not have the best writing session. But that’s okay, you can always come back to it later.

♥

P.S. Happy First Day of Summer Eve!