3 Tips to Build a Strong Writing Practice

Camp NaNoWriMo is in full swing! Today, NaNoWriMo participant Chelsea Brickner offers some useful tips for creating and maintaining a steady writing practice to support you on your journey to meet your writing goals this month:

It was a long winter all across the board and now that the sun is emerging I feel those buds of inspiration creeping through the cracks. So if you have been feeling this way, believe me you are not alone!

Camp NaNoWriMo is wonderful! The freedom to set your own goal is one of the biggest draws for me. 50,000 words is a fire-breathing dragon guarding your treasure trove at the best of times, so embrace the chance to achieve what you want! No one knows you better than you, so set a realistic goal.

You might be asking, HOW? Getting yourself to sit down at your respective desk can be daunting, but it is the most important part. Face your dragon! Your writing habits will shape what kind of writer you are. (In my opinion, at least.) If all you tell yourself is—“someday”—it won’t happen. The day is now!

1. Pick a time. 

When are you feeling the most productive in your day? Crack of dawn, lunch break, the witching hour? Try to make that same time yours every single day. This is harder said than done, but if you can make it work you will find sanctuary in that time you set aside each day. Parenting, work, life. There is time. Even if you have to keep a notebook with you at all times and can only steal precious minutes to scrawl out epiphanies, it counts.

2. Pick a place. 

I usually write while sitting on my couch. Comfort is a big part of being able to write for me. Find that quiet center for yourself. Plant a flag and tend to your army of words, whether at a home office or a library or your local coffee shop. Gather your materials that make you feel organized and prepared. Do you have a thinking cap or favorite sweatshirt that puts you in the mood? Bring it with you! Inhabit that space. Spread out. Grow roots for as long as you need to hit that fixed mark. Having a set place where you can gather all of your creative thoughts will do wonders for getting yourself in the right mood to write.

3. Pick a goal. 

NaNoWriMo is fantastic because you have an entire month to splatter your heart onto that page, but you can also think smaller. Create daily goals. If competition drives you then set up timed word sprints against a friend or cabin mate to see how many words you can hammer out. I tried out word milestones to award myself with treats last November. If I hit 1,000 words I awarded myself a movie or favorite candy, and that was awesome motivation. Find what drives you and capitalize on that to soar among those stars.

My best advice to those participants old and new is to just go for it! Even if you only get down 100 words, it is 100 more words than you started with! Spring is the time for new beginnings, but it also a very busy time for people. Make time for what you are comfortable with. There is absolutely no pressure to complete, well, anything really. Channel any fears or doubts or insecurities into your work and you might amaze yourself with what comes out on the other side. 

Only you can write your story.

Chelsea Brickner is a cat mom, a fiction writer, a bookstagramer, and a crazy Wrimo! Chelsea lives in the glorious PNW and works as a News Production Technician. Follow her on Instagram: @blonde_bibliophile15.

Top photo by Eye for Ebony on Unsplash.