I’ve always found it inspirational to read about other writers’ daily work habits: their office spaces, their goal-setting strategies, etc. It’s a question I always ask when interviewing a successful writer.
For mostly selfish reasons, I’m going to start compiling a list of writers’ habits as well as useful tips and articles on writing habits. First up: Chris Brogan, who is co-writing a book and is also a prolific writer. Earlier this year, he posted an article called “Cultivating A Writing Habit.”
Basically, his tips are as follows:
1) Read a LOT. Analyze books you really enjoy to figure out what the authors are doing to make you enjoy their books so much.
2) Make writing so much a part of your life that you’re thinking about it pretty much all the time.
3) Write a LOT. Not just your novel, but all kinds of writing. A quote:
I write daily. I write emails. I write thousands of words 140 characters at a time into Twitter. I write proposals. I write blog posts (hey, here’s a blog post!). I write for the book with Julien. (Of these, the last is the hardest, but only because I’m afraid. Books are so… forever.) Writing begets writing.
