A lot of writers have a specific routine for writing. You may even have one. Some writers are infamous for their writing routines, such as Stephen King’s 2000 words a day, or Haruki Murakami, who wakes up at 4am – yes, willingly – and writers for several hours until he decides to run 10km or swim 1500 metres. Sometimes the guy spices it up and does both, which is pretty insane, but he writes pretty amazingly, so his writing routine speaks for itself.
I kind of have a routine, but it’s not very elaborate. I tend to wake up and do about 90 minutes of exercise, most of which will be a run, though I’ll also do some circuits. I do this:
A. because I know it’s good for me
B. because I don’t like being still
C. because it gives me time to think about my works in progress
After I exercise, I’ll have breakfast and shower and do all the necessities, before sitting down to write. Regardless of my other work, I’ll write 1000 words a day, and manage to keep that pretty consistent. Sometimes I’ll take a day off – it took me ages to realise I could do that – but it won’t ruin my momentum.
I initially started the 1000-word goal because I wanted to work my way up to Stephen King’s standard, but I found 2000 words daily too demanding for my writing routine. I’ll sometimes write 1000 words of one story and then 1000 of another, but I’ve had to take a break from this due to feelings of being burnt out and so I can think about my WIPs more.
It’s not a meticulous writing routine, but I’ve been able to maintain it for just over three years now and it seems to be doing well. I’ll work on short stories while focusing on my WIPs and they’re helpful to distract me from something else for a while – mostly my responsibilities. Overall, it’s another writing routine, but I don’t find it too demanding, and it isn’t taking over my life, which is something I’d like to avoid.
Do any of you have a writing routine? Do you know of any other good writing routines? Let me know!
See you soon,
Conrad 🙂
A very good article. Congratulations