How important is a writing routine?
One of the most common pieces of advice I’ve seen is how vital a routine is to your success as a writer. It seems logical; it has long been established that habits are productive, good or bad, therefore it makes sense that a routine will help build a writing habit.
What that routine looks like varies quite a bit. I took a course at FutureLearn titled “Start Writing Fiction” where one of the prompts for community feedback was about setting up a routine. We listened to a few authors talk about theirs, which ranged from staying up late to getting up extremely early. Others still prefer a coffee shop or in some cases, living somewhere else entirely while they write. One thing many of us had in common in the course is that our regular lives don’t have an off button. My children are still going to require my attention, I still have to go to work, my home still requires upkeep, so finding a routine that works around those things is key.
It’s easy right now, because I work in education and we’re currently out on winter break, so this moment I’ve carved out for myself to write while my children are playing won’t be viable next week when I’ll be back to teaching. None of the guides I’ve read really talk about how they have managed both building that habit and balancing daily life. You are going to have to sacrifice somewhere. Is it always sleep? While the numbers have balanced out a bit more in modernity, with household management becoming more of an equal task among genders, I can’t help but think this struggle is why there are more male authors than female.
What does your routine look like? What did you give up in order to build a writing routine? What advice would you have for a writer struggling to balance writing with everyday life?
