How I Write

I’m currently sitting in a solid streak of over 40 days of writing. Some days I write more, some less. Some days I’m happy with my writing, some I’m not. But I’m still writing, and I’ve gotten into a good routine of coming up with things to write. I would have never thought I’d be able to have something new to say every day, but the following pattern works for me.

I often come up with my best writing ideas while I’m out running or cycling. Because of this, I try to make sure (it doesn’t always happen) to have my laptop open and waiting for me to start typing as soon as I get home. This way, I can come in, sit down, and let the ideas flow from brain to keyboard.

If I have a hard time coming up with something to write, I try to think of what the most impactful or noteworthy event, thought, or conversation was from my day. Why was it so impactful? Why did it catch my mind? Why would I want to share it with others? I take these questions and run with them, and I the writing usually starts flowing.

I’ve also become a big proponent of the idea of “done is better than perfect” when it comes to my writing. If I tried to make every post perfect, there would never be any posts, just a giant folder of drafts. I get the ideas out, make sure there mostly coherent, and hit “post”. If there ever a post that I want to develop further or want to add more to, I can always come back and write a follow up to it at a later time.

Finally, and this will be somewhat ironic, but I don’t worry about writing a elaborate conclusion. Most of my writing are small bits of thought, and as such, I leave them kind of raw at the end. I finish my thought, and let it go. Again, if I want to develop these writing me later, I can always do that, but for now these little bits work we’ll just the way they are.

Photo by Lukas Balzek on Unsplash