Making writing a part of my daily life

Many of us enjoy the act of writing, have ambitions to become writers (whatever that really means in this age of self-publication), or just like writing to get thoughts off our chests. I’m a mixture of all three of these: I love writing, would love to make a semi-career out of it, and also use it to express my thoughts on a wide variety of topics, as any regular visitors to this website will have realised. But it often feels difficult to fit writing into one’s life, when there are so many conflicting things drawing our attention and time, be it paid employment, caring responsibilities or health circumstances.

The Feminist Gadabout is now in its fifth year, with over 200 posts, and over that time I’ve managed to keep up a fairly regular writing habit. But this has really solidified in the last year, as I’ve embraced some new habits and ideas to keep up my writing. Today, I’m sharing some of the tips that have worked for me, to get me writing steadily and often. I do think that the more you write, the easier it becomes, so it is worth forging a habit if you can. I hope these suggestions work for you too, and I’d love to hear any recommendations you have in the comments!

Don’t make it ‘special’

I used to write almost everything by hand. I love the feel of a fountain pen, and still feel I express myself slightly differently on paper to in digital formats. If you’re feeling short of inspiration, just the act of sitting down in front of a thick sheet of paper with a good pen can spark your creativity (or put a complete block on it, depending on how intimidated you are by the blank page!).

But I’ve come to realise that this was adding a roadblock to my writing. I was making it so that I had to be in a particular situation, a special circumstance, to be able to write. I’d find myself wanting to write and express ideas, but felt I ‘couldn’t’ because I wasn’t in the ‘right’ setting. So now, I write whenever, wherever and however I can. I’ve embraced writing not only directly on my laptop, but on my phone too (I’m writing this post on my phone!). This means that whenever I get the urge, I can just go for it. Whether that’s at 3am and I can’t get back to sleep after settling the baby, on the train, in line at the supermarket; whatever, I’m always equipped to get some words down on the (digital) page.

You’re not going to be equally productive all the time

Part of my writing habit has also been recognising that there are some weeks when I won’t have as much to say, and that’s OK. It’s all about averages. There will be some weeks I write loads, and others I write fairly little. As long as I’m writing when I feel ready to, that’s what matters.

Write whatever you want

This may seem obvious, but just write whatever you feel like writing. Don’t limit yourself to one genre, subject, fiction vs non-fiction, etc. If you feel like writing it, just go for it. This has led me to rather an eclectic mix, from long-reads about housing inequality to reflections on the avocado as Jane Austen characters. My philosophy is that I’ll be writing my best work when I’m genuinely interested in the topic, and my interests are varied, therefore my writing will be too.

Don’t force it

Write when you genuinely feel like it, when inspiration strikes, or when you want to work something through. It can be tempting, particularly during busy periods, to feel ‘I should be writing’ whenever you catch a spare moment. But if you’re doing it just for the sake of doing it, you’re not going to create your best work. I feel you can really tell when a piece has been bashed out to fill a word limit or a gap in the publication schedule, as oppose to being something the author really wants to explore.

Keep a list of ideas

I have a long list of post ideas on my phone, which I gradually work through when inspiration strikes. Sometimes I’ll have an idea and want to work on it straight away, other times I’ll want to mull it over for a bit, in the back or front of my mind. I can’t say I really redraft things that much once I’ve written them, but I do play about with them in my head, working on structure, what point I really want to emphasise, and so on. Some of my most fleeting ideas have become my favourite posts, which I would have completely forgotten about had I not written them down. For me this usually takes the form of a draft title, which I then work up into a full piece when I feel ready to tackle it. This is just another way of making sure you’re ready to write when the time comes. Needless to say, the list never gets finished, but I love having a bank of ideas to work up.

Not every piece has to be a long read

Related to the above tip about the type of writing you do, I also find it useful to bear in mind that it’s OK for things to be short sometimes. If you have an idea worthy of a longer piece, then you shouldn’t cut it, but neither should you stretch out a topic for the sake of an arbitrary word count. Pithy and succinct is good too!

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I hope some of these ideas will prove helpful to you if you’re trying to make writing a part of your life. I really enjoy writing, and think many of us could benefit from taking some time to work through our ideas and share our opinions and experiences in this more considered way. In the age of TikTok and X, it’s easy to get drawn into making things as quickly and as brief as possible, but stopping and taking the time to write things out and play with ideas can be really rewarding. If you have any tips for how to get into good writing habits, I’d love to hear them, so please do share in a comment!