Developing Your Writing Habit

I had my first book and my first baby in the same year. Not great planning, I know, but it just turned out that way. Now I'm nearing the two year mark and reflecting on what I've lost and what I've managed to get back after absorbing the inevitable changes that come from having a child. I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight, that's good. I'm exercising and practicing yoga again, that's good. I'm writing again. Is that good? Well, yes and no. I'm writing, but not in the disciplined, habitual way I wrote before my life changed. Now I write in fits and starts, depending on when I can snatch some time to myself, which also depends on how well my son is sleeping at any given time. When I write this way, it's harder to find my way back to what I was thinking, depending on how long it's been since I last looked at the pages. I find this a painful way to work and now I realize I miss my writing habit most of all.

I realize, of course, that my habits can't be the same. I am a mother now, after all. But I believe I can have my writing habit--it just has to be different now and I have to figure out what those differences need to be. Here are some of the things I'm doing to find my way back to my writing habit. If you're having trouble developing a writing routine, perhaps these steps can help you find a way to yours.

Focus on One Project at a Time

If I've learned anything as a new mom, it's this: multi-tasking is highly overrated! You may be able to physically do more than one thing at a time, but in one way or another, your work in one of the tasks will be affected negatively. I think this becomes more apparent when you near your overwhelm point. The tasks are manageable when your life is relatively quiet, but throw in a holiday, visiting relatives or an unexpected trip and suddenly you're struggling with the weight of unfinished work that has begun to pile up.

Right now I have four writing projects underway and I'm starting to feel it's way too many. My brain is pulled in too many directions. I know it's time to clear the decks. Over the next few weeks I will be completing these projects, one at a time, so I can embark on a bigger project on which I will lavish my full attention. What can you complete or let go of in the coming weeks so you can focus on your writing?

Develop a Ritual

Rituals are those little acts of routine that signal your mind that it's time to get to work. I used to have a little piece of paper and on it I had written something I had paraphrased from Annie Dillard's The Writing Life. It said, "Write Sophfronia, write Sophfronia, write Sophfronia, write and do not waste time." Whenever I went into my cubicle at The Writer's Room in New York's Greenwich Village, (where I did most of the work on my first novel), I would pin the paper onto the bulletin board in front of my desk. Then I would take out my materials and begin work.

Some writers light a candle. Some pray. Your ritual can be whatever you want it to be, whatever would most spark your engine. I'm going to look for some pictures of women who look like my characters. I'll put them up in front of me or on my desk. They will tell me it's time to work. What ritual can you create to move you to write?

Find Routes Already Traveled

Whenever I'm having a problem getting focused, I look to other artists to see how they dealt with the same issue. Why re-invent the wheel when someone else may have a solution already battle-tested? Right now I'm getting some much-needed support and inspiration from the book, "The Creative Habit" by choreographer Twyla Tharp. She's all about developing a routine so she's reinforcing my feeling that I need to get back to a disciplined writing habit. Because of her I know I'm not putting my energies in a fruitless direction. Where could you look to seek aid for your journey?

Can You Make a Commitment?

There's a certain habit I have that I've never dropped: I wash my face and apply toner and moisturizer every morning and every night. I've done it for so many years I don't even think about it. I do it because I know it's good for my skin and long ago I made a commitment to doing it. I've heard author Wayne Dyer made a commitment to jogging every day. He does it even if he's traveling--he's been seen running up and down hotel hallways!

When I think of those kinds of commitments, I realize there's a big piece missing in my work to regain my writing habit. I have yet to make a commitment to it. In the earlier incarnation of my habit, I used to schedule my work and turned down every invitation, appointment or distraction that would have conflicted with my writing schedule. I know I must make that decision to be that committed again. I will work all the steps I mentioned above, but I know it will come to nothing if I don't make the decision.

What will it take for you to make a commitment to your work? What will it take for you to put it first, to make no excuses, to do it even when it seems like you can't fit it in? Find that answer--it is somewhere within you--and you will find your writing habit.