The Prescription:

Mix up your writing routine on purpose - write at different times of the day or week, write in different places, mix handwriting with typing. Do whatever you need to do to keep things fresh!

That said, you’ll also want to set yourself a “minimal threshold.” What’s the minimal amount of writing you’ll commit to each week or month? You could set a certain number of hours (like two hours a week) or a certain word count (like 5,000 words a month) and then allow yourself all the flexibility you desire to meet that threshold! This will keep you from “falling off the wagon” and not writing at all.

Add in accountability:

Try mixing a writing date with a friend at a cafe with solo writing somewhere else you find inspiring - whether that’s down by the lake, at the library or even in a fancy hotel lobby.

• If it’s fun for you, commit to different mini challenges, like:

• Spend a month writing in ten different places

• Do a 3-day writing “sprint”

• Escape for an informal writing retreat, solo or with friends. (Tight funds? Rent an AirBnB through credit card points, or ask a friend or family member to borrow their rental property for a night in the off season.)

• Create a deadline for yourself to enforce your minimal threshold - hire a writing coach, or commit to a friend that you’ll send them 5,000 words a month.

Stop doing this:  

Stop beating yourself up for not writing every day in a predictable routine the way “other people do.” That’s not how your process works. 

Stop beating yourself up for “procrastinating” if what you’re really doing is intentionally waiting for a download to come through. If you’re meeting your minimal threshold every month, then you’re not procrastinating.

Real life example: 

My client Norah is a Wild Card! 

Norah is a free spirit (she’s a Rebel in Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies framework), and any kind of set commitment (even to her own dreams and goals!) can feel confining.

Norah mixes up her writing routine by writing virtually with a buddy once a week, keeping a dedicated writing space set up in her bedroom so she can write when the mood strikes, and frequently going on writing retreats and spontaneous getaways with friends, taking her book along for the ride. Joining my Secrets of Storytelling Mastermind (now renamed as the Writing Brave Mastermind) was super supportive for her, as it gave her an energetic container in which to pursue her writing. Checking in every week with the group for our teaching calls kept her in the flow, and being in a community of other people who were writing books showed her that it was really possible.

Pleasure Boosters

• Try a different type of tea or coffee every time you write for a month

• Create a custom playlist for your book on Spotify, focusing on how your book wants to feel - then choose songs that reflect that emotion

• Go for a hike (bonus points if you listen to your playlist), then use a voice transcription app like Otter to generate ideas for your book.