 Hello, hello, writers. I'm Kristen Kiefer, author of fantasy fiction and creative writing resources, and you are listening to the Well-Sturried podcast, where I share insights, encouragement, and actionable advice designed to help you craft sensational novels and build your best writing life. Always in 30 minutes or less, so you can get back to writing, of course. Ready for the show? Let's get talking. Writers, come on in. I am so excited to be back this week with another full-length episode of the Well-Sturried podcast. Thank you for joining me. Today we are talking about how to build a sustainable writing practice. If you often struggle to sit down and write, to make words happen, to write with any sort of consistency, today's episode is for you. We're talking about the power in building a writing practice, a habit that will see you making consistent progress toward your writing goals and dreams. In this episode, I'll break down why Habit is such a powerful tool for writing success, why you may have failed to maintain your past writing practices, and the steps you can take to build a writing practice you can actually sustain today. But before we dive in, a quick behind-the-scenes update at Well-Sturried. As many of you know, I have been working on my first full-length non-fiction book for writers called Build Your Best Writing Life. The third draft of Build Your Best Writing Life is now officially done and the manuscript is out with my line editor, Sarah, from Heart of the Story Editorial. In the meantime, I for the past several months have been working on the first, second, and third drafts of Build Your Best Writing Life pretty exclusively in the afternoons of my workdays. But now that I have that space and time freed up because Build Your Best Writing Life is off with Sarah, I have been filling my time instead with a few other projects. One of the main things is research on cover design and formatting, which options are going to be right for Build Your Best Writing Life and I'm pretty sure I've made some decisions on that front that I will be sharing with you in the weeks to come. I've also been doing a lot of research on book launch and marketing tactics since this is the very first full-length book that I'll be publishing. So I've got a lot to learn here and I am really excited to share what I learned with you and what tactics are working well in the coming months after I launch Build Your Best Writing Life. The other big project I've been working on as of late is a new tools page. I am often asked about the services, the tools, the resources, etc., the writing books that I love that have been most beneficial to my writing life. So last week a company called Book Brush reached out to me sharing about their website which allows you to create book mockups, book graphics that you can use for your author website, for your ads on Facebook or BookBub, for your social media channels, and they offer both a free service and a paid service that help you create these beautiful graphics yourself so that you don't have to hire a book designer. And so Book Brush graciously offered Well-Storied Readers a 15% discount on the paid service that they offer that you can access by using the coupon code Well-Storied15. That's Well-Storied without the normal dash in it. I will make sure to link that for you in today's episode description. And so when Book Brush reached out about this, I got to thinking about all the other tools and resources that I'd love to share with you guys because you guys are often asking me about my favorites. And so I decided to rather than just answer your emails as they come in to actually sit down and create a tools page for my website that I can just link you to to access all of my favorite tools that I've personally used, as well as those that I haven't personally used or that I haven't yet used, but I know that other writers have used in their own lives and found really beneficial because every writer's process and every writer's needs as an author and as a business person are going to be unique. So the tools that may not work so well for me may work well for you and vice versa. So this new tools page will be debuting on Monday. It will include all of the really awesome, really popular tools such as apps, programs, services, software, courses, my favorite writing books even. It will include all of those things for you to check out. And that link, like I said, will be debuting on Monday. If you would like to be reminded when that goes live, make sure to sign up for my newsletter at well-storied.com slash newsletter. I'll have an email going out to share that with you. So stay tuned. Before we dive in, I'd also love to share the most recent guest post on the WellStory blog. This guest post is called The Secret to Crafting Believable Characters, and it comes from author and freelance editor, C.S. Lakin, who has more than 20 years of experience in the industry under her belt and who runs one of my favorite writing blogs at live, write thrive.com. In this guest post, Suzanne Lakin shares how you can help readers make an emotional connection with your characters by ensuring that your characters are undergoing a proper emotional cycle as a result of the events in your story. If this is brand new territory to you, if you're not sure how it works, make sure to check out that article at well-storied.com slash Lakin, that's L-A-K-I-N, and I'll leave that link for you in today's episode description. Suzanne wanted to share this great guest post with you guys in promotion of her new course, Emotional Mastery for Fiction Writers. This is an online video course that is truly incredible, and it will be premiering, it will be debuting on September 1st, 2019. But if you use the code EarlyBird at checkout during the month of August, you can save 50% on course enrollment. I am absolutely honored to be partnering with CS Lakin as an affiliate for this course, so I will leave my special affiliate link to the course for you in the description below, and if you choose to enroll in the course using my link, I will make a commission on your sale at no extra cost to you. So thank you for supporting well-storied in this way. It goes a long way toward helping me to keep the site up and rockin' and rollin', so thank you very much. If you would like to submit your own guest post to the WellStory blog, make sure to head on over to well-storied.com slash guest to check out our guest post submission guidelines. Alright, today's episode of the podcast translates the latest article from the WellStory blog into audio. Titled How to Build a Sustainable Writing Practice, you can find the article that also serves as the episode transcript at well-storied.com slash practice. Now let's dive in. Are you tired of struggling to sit down and write? You aren't alone. This phenomenon is so common that jokes about writing procrastination are bound around the internet. But why is it so hard to put pen to paper when you desperately long to write? The answer to this question is deceptively simple, because writing isn't easy. And neither is drumming up the motivation to complete difficult creative work. Sure, it's easy to throw yourself onto the blank page when you're running on the high of inspiration, when you've dreamed up an exciting new scene or a story idea you can't wait to explore. But inspiration doesn't last forever. Eventually, the muse departs and you're left with an unfinished manuscript you're struggling to find the motivation to finish. This reality doesn't mean that you've lost your passion for your project. Writing simply isn't all sunshine and rainbows at all times. And that is okay. There's a reason that so many writers profess to love having written more than the act of writing itself. If your story idea still energizes and excites you, it's worth finding a way to complete the difficult creative work to finish it. And when inspiration wanes, that way can be found in habit. With a well-established writing practice, there's no need to chase the muse or strive to drum up a measure of motivation. You sit down and do the work because it's your habit to do so. Because you've created a simple system that allows you to make slow but steady progress toward your goals and dreams, regardless of the difficult work involved. That is the power of habit. But what if you've failed to maintain a writing practice in the past? It wouldn't surprise me to learn that you've previously tried to build a writing practice and that it didn't go well. Though habits are easy to maintain, they're not always easy to establish, especially when you take the wrong approach to doing so. If you've failed to build a sustainable writing practice in the past, here are two possible reasons why. Firstly, you misunderstood the purpose of habit. Many writers believe that a writing practice will help them become more productive writers. But habits aren't about productivity. They're about purpose. They exist to help you fulfill a long-term mission. You brush your teeth every day because it's your mission to maintain health and hygiene. You go to work because it's your mission to meet your needs and secure financial stability. And you walk the dog because it's your mission to give your pet a happy and healthy life. If you want to build a writing life you love, establishing a writing practice can help you fulfill that mission. But only if you focus on purpose over productivity. Instead of striving to do more, strive to go farther. To build a writing practice that focuses on small, consistent gains rather than huge writing stats. Reason number two, you built a writing practice that wasn't right for you. Every writer's practice is highly personal. Sustainable practices align with a writer's creative process with their priorities and schedule and their personal definition of writing success. If you failed to maintain a writing practice in the past, there's a good chance you didn't take each of these factors into account. So let's talk about defining your sustainable writing practice. Habits shape you into the person you long to be. A healthy person, a happy person, a good parent, a loving spouse, and a successful writer. But habits can only help you bridge the gap between where you are and where you'd like to be if you create a habit that you can sustain for life. Or at least until the next big shift in your life when you can then refine your habits for ongoing success. To build a sustainable writing practice requires that you address the three key factors mentioned above, or earlier. Firstly, your creative process. Secondly, your schedule and priorities. And thirdly, your personal definition of writing success. Let's take a look at each of these aims together. First up, your creative process. Every writer's process is unique, from the tools and techniques they use to bring their stories to life, to the creative energy they possess, and how they complete their best work. It's this latter factor that's especially important to consider when building a sustainable writing practice. Some writers can easily work in the margins of their lives, scribbling snippets here and there throughout their days. But other writers need larger blocks of time in which to complete focused creative work. Some need silence. Some like the bustle of a library or coffee shop. Some need to wake up before the rest of the world to write. Some prefer to stay up late. Which elements define your own creative process? We'll talk about each of these elements more in a moment when we talk about consistency. However, you may also find it helpful to define whether you are a moderator or an abstainer when it comes to building new habits and holding yourself accountable to maintaining them. I've included a link for you in today's episode transcript at well-storied.com slash practice that explains this concept of moderators and abstainers in much greater detail. Understanding your creative practice and how you operate best when completing creative work can help you define whether daily writing is right for you, as well as which days or times of day would be best for you to commit to your new writing practice. The second aim is your schedule and priorities. Unless you're writing full-time, writing is unlikely to be your top priority. This means you'll need to build a writing practice that works around the priorities that do take precedence in your life. As you build your writing practice, get clear about your priorities and how much time they truly fill in your schedule. When you do, you may discover that you've been filling your time in ways that undermine your creative goals. Set boundaries around how you engage in these activities. For example, I don't allow myself to read fiction before I've finished my writing to-do list for the day. If I get started on a book, I just won't stop. Examining your schedule may also reveal ways that you can streamline your to-do list and chip away at activities that aren't truly priorities in your life, all to make more time to write. Of course, you may not need to carve out time for creative work. You may discover that you've had it all along. When deciding how your new writing practice will fit into your schedule, consider your creative process. If you're a writer who can work whenever and wherever, building a daily writing routine is likely the right choice for you. But if you're a writer who needs larger blocks of time to complete any meaningful creative work, a habit that sees you writing a few times each week is the more sustainable choice. And finally, aim number three, your personal definition of writing success. There is no right way to be a writer. Though the traditional writing dream may be to build a career as a best-selling author, your own definition of writing success may look much different. Maybe you want to publish popular online fan fiction, create a series of stories for your grandchildren, or travel the world collecting and publishing ghost stories. These are all valid definitions of writing success. Building a truly sustainable writing practice requires that you define your own version of success. If you want to build a career as a high-volume indie author, you'll need to forge a habit that allows you to write and publish two or more novels a year. But if your dream is to write a memoir to pass down to your children, your writing practice is bound to look much different. Take time now to consider what you truly want from your writing life, not what other authors are doing or what a family member considers a successful writer to be, what you want. Then define how this will affect the writing practice you're working to build. Now that you've defined your creative process, schedule and priorities, and personal definition of writing success, you should have a rough idea of what your consistent and sustainable writing practice will look like, which days you'll write, what everyday writing goal you'll aim to achieve, and so on. But the more consistency you can build into your writing practice, the better. Let's take time now to refine your habit by considering a few additional ways that you can lend consistency to your practice. First up, time of day. Some writers enjoy tapping out words first thing in the morning. Others can only carve out time to write during their lunch breaks or after dinner, while others still love writing at night when their creative energies are running high. Consider your own schedule and creative energy levels. Can you make a habit out of writing at a certain time of day? Two, workspace. Many writers complete their best work in a specific setting. Do you do your own at the kitchen table, at a coffee shop, in the library, at the park, in your at-home office or snuggled up in bed? Consider what surrounds you as you write. Do you love having certain baubles at hand? A nice cup of tea? A tabletop laid only with your binder of color-coded story notes. Up next, atmosphere. As an extension of your workspace, consider the atmosphere in which you complete your best work. Is there music playing? Or do you prefer silence or white noise? Are the lights turned down low or is the sun shining bright? Is there a candle burning or an open window to let in the breeze? Four, habit stacking. In his book, Atomic Habits, James Clear explains that completing a new habit immediately before or after a well-established one can cut down on the willpower required to build your own. Clear calls this process habit stacking and it works by building additional consistency into your new practice. Consider how you can stack your new writing habit on top of an existing habit in your life. Can you pick up the pen after you pour your morning cup of coffee or after you put the kids to bed? Before eating breakfast or taking the dog for a walk. And finally, five, accountability. Can you reinforce your writing habit by consistently tracking your progress? Some writers hold themselves accountable to their practice by marking their calendars each day they write. Others maintain a regular email chain with their critique partner, share their progress on social media, create a habit tracking spreadsheet, or keep a personal writing journal. When considering the ways you can build additional consistency into your writing life, do what you can. If you can't nail down a time of day to write, but you always make sure to make writing happen, that's fine. If you can't write at the same place, but you can write at the same time, go forth and conquer. Consistent progress, Trump's consistent technique, any day. So, how can you establish the sustainable writing practice you've now defined? If you've long struggled to sit down and write, don't expect to rock your ideal writing practice from day one. Instead, start small and anticipate growing pains. Instead of aiming to write for one hour every day, try writing for just five minutes. Sit down and put in your best effort no matter how difficult writing feels, knowing that you can step away in just a few moments. Only put 30 words on the page? No matter. Maintain your habit of writing for just five minutes each session. As you combat resistance and continue to do the difficult creative work, your words will begin to flow more freely. Soon, you'll find yourself itching to write for longer periods. When you do, increase the length of your practice slowly. When you pace yourself, you build writing endurance, helping you avoid the productivity trap that leads to writing burnout and broken habits. Instead, you will embrace the power of a sustainable writing practice. Writing isn't always easy, but it is possible regardless of the muse and motivation. When you make a habit out of writing, you recognize that long-term success is the culmination of consistent effort. You place progress over productivity and perfection in the full knowledge that your best efforts are given over time, and that you are becoming the writer you long to be. Thank you for listening to today's episode of the Podcast Writer. I hope you found it helpful to your writing journey. If so, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a new episode and to give the podcast a quick rating and review. Doing so goes a long way toward helping the podcast reach new writers and lets me know that you're enjoying what I'm creating. You can also give me a shout out directly on Twitter at christen underscore keeper. For additional guidance as you work to craft sensational novels and build your best writing life, be sure to head on over to www.well-storied.com where I share blog posts, workbooks, e-courses and other helpful resources for writers. Again, that's www.well-storied.com. Thank you again for tuning into today's episode my friend. Until next time, happy writing!