Tip 1: Time Goals vs Word Goals

And we’re off! The writing routine has officially started. Here’s the first out of ten tips for cultivating a daily writing habit:

“Set a time goal, not a word goal.”

It really is in the name: The Daily 30 focuses on writing for 30 minutes. But why?

The Downside of Productivity Goals

If you’re at all familiar with writing challenges and programs, you’ll know that many of them start with a strict goal in mind. Gotta write at least 500 words. Gotta finish two scenes before 4PM. Gotta complete one poem a day.

The issue with this, for me, is that that kind of method asks the same level of focus from you every single day. No matter what happens, you gotta get those 500 words in. In truth, some days it’ll cost me next to no energy to write 500 words. Other days, just getting 50 words down is a massive struggle already.

If you wish to cultivate a writing habit that’s for the long run, you might find yourself giving up quickly with word count goals.

Make Inconsistency Your Strength

The most important thing with fostering daily habits is to set aside time for the thing you wish to do. In this case: writing a story, a poem, etc. Thirty minutes – just half an hour – is short enough to fit into most days. Yet it’s also long enough to actually get some work done.

Some writers might frown upon having a mere 30 minutes of writing time a day (shouldn’t you do more to call yourself a writer?) – but remember, these 30 minutes are a minimum. Nothing is stopping you from going over and making it an hour or even longer.

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Set a stopwatch that counts up from 0. That way, if you want to write for more than 30 minutes, you can do so without being disturbed by ringing alarms. I like to use Windows’s native Clock app.

Working with time instead of a word count takes the pressure away from getting stuff done. The goal is not to be a certain level of productive, it’s to spend time on the craft. Whether you end up writing entire chapters or just two sentence doesn’t matter: it all counts.

Should All My Word Count Goals Go Out The Window?

Don’t get me wrong: word count goals can be a saving grace. NaNoWriMo is a great example. Writing 50.000 words in a month is hard, but can be a great motivator – and the true benefit in it, for me, is that it’s more of a sprint in the grand scheme of things. A month of doing that extra work, and then you’ve achieved it.

What I would suggest – and what I’ve done myself over the years – is to combine the two kinds of goals when you feel like it. Start with the Daily 30 as your base. Then, if you want to change it up for a week or a month, add a word count goal.

Partake in NaNoWriMo, but don’t let go of your thirty minutes a day by the time the first of December comes around. Remember: always go back to that base.

Keep Good Company

Want to be held accountable? You might want to join a writing group! If you’re not sure where to start looking for writing buddies, I can recommend Shut Up & Write. The idea is simple: Gather with a bunch of writers, write for an hour, then chat and network (or not! It’s up to you).

This global writing community has online writing sessions as well as local chapters all over the world. There might even be one where you live!

I’ve been a part of my local Shut Up & Write group for six years now, and it’s great for keeping up that consistency and making some new friends along the way.

Writing Prompt: Time’s Ticking…

Want to get started right away, but you don’t know what to write? Here’s a little themed writing prompt to get those creative juices flowing.

“You have 60 seconds. Your time starts now.”
Your character has just been given a time-sensitive task. They need to think quickly. Write what happens.

The Daily 30: Second Nature

Just 30 minutes per day! That’s the idea behind the Daily 30.

Some days, you might feel super motivated and keep going for an hour, two, three. Other days, you might not feel like writing even a single word. And then there are the days when you’re so busy it’s hard to write at all. A full-time job, a family, or whatever else you’ve got going on in your life — a day fills up quickly.

But it’s just 30 minutes. The secret to keeping up a daily habit is ensuring it becomes second nature, even on the hard days. Remember: it doesn’t need to be finished. It doesn’t need to be good. It just needs to be 30 minutes.

You can do it!

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Priscilla Kint