Is the best time to write your book now or next year? The difference between now energy and New Year’s energy when it comes to setting a daily writing habit.
“Maybe the best way to think about something in a ‘new’ way is to believe enough in what we already know to actually act on it.”
Craig D. Lounsbrough
Now Energy vs. New Year’s Energy…
It’s hard to think about things like writing habits at the end of the year, especially at the end of part two of the never-ending year. December, for me, has a more reflective energy than other months.
But is the best time to write your book?
Setting a daily writing habit now might seem like taking a spin class in the middle of the road on the last mile of a marathon.
It’s tempting to simply delegate the idea of a writing habit to 2022. In a word, here’s why that’s not the wisest plan of action: energy.
The energy of January 2nd is dramatically different from the energy now. New Year’s energy is jam-packed with ambition, planning, and the noise of lots of people all coming out of hibernation, all at the same time.
First to hit the gym…
But then after that, to push their year into motion, with all the conversations, all the action items, all the projects and goals, and all the other schedule filling things. (And for those of you with kids – double or triple it all!)
Where is writing on your 2022 schedule? Is it already in danger of being swept away into the “oh well, maybe next year…” (I’ll write my book) pile?
How can you harness the calmer, more reflective, planning energy now to set in place your 2022 writing habit? Or at the very least, the scaffolding of your habit? How can you make 2022 the best time to write your book?
How can you get a head start on that part of you (inside us all) that, on January 2nd, will find a slew of perfectly rational reasons to push the start of your writing habit to February, March, summer, fall, someday, when you win the lottery…
You know the drill because as humans, we’re all masters of the “tomorrow game.” We think tomorrow will have all the available time that today does not. Which is an illusion, because tomorrow has even less time than today.
The good news is, you know this, and there’s still time to do something about it. What steps toward building your 2022 writing habit can you take NOW, before the energy shift?
Daily Writing Habit Steps:
- Schedule your 2022 writing caves now.
- Join my Ink Authors group on Facebook, ask for accountability (or find an accountability buddy there) and make a public declaration of your 2022 book writing goals and the habits you’re setting to reach them.
- Listen to my daily podcast for authors, Your Daily Writing Habit (please subscribe & leave a review too). As the title would suggest, it is intentionally designed as an actionable tool to help you set your daily writing habit and write your book. That’s why (outside of the occasional expert interview) daily episodes are ~5 minutes long.
- Set a reading habit. Reading is fuel for writing! Attempting to write regularly without reading is like driving a car with an empty gas tank.
- Once you DO set your 2022 writing cave habit, visualize following through with it, create your writing space (check out this video tour of a writing cave from one Ink Author member), infuse a “no matter what” attitude into your mind, and get excited about this special time you’re setting aside for yourself.
Finally…
Don’t wait until 2022 to start. If you’ve set your writing caves for Thursdays at 7am – start tomorrow. Even if you just use the time to stare at a wall thinking about your book (no devices though!). Train your muscle memory in the practice of daily writing by getting in the practice of cutting the cord to “life” a short time before your cave start time*, and physically placing yourself where you want to be to write.
Ideally, once the New Year energy hits, your brain and body will at least know what they’re SUPPOSED to be doing, Thursdays at 7am. Even if the habit isn’t fully set between now and January 2nd, at least it will be in motion, along with your 2022 book goals.
Let’s make 2022 the best time to write your book by starting now!
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Key to Developing a Lifelong Writing Habit
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