The writing habits you need to make your dream happen

When I was younger, I spent a lot of time imagining myself as a best-selling author. I pictured days pouring my ideas into my laptop at a coffee shop with a steaming Chai Latte beside me. I imagined myself signingbooks for fans at my favourite book store. There was just one problem. I didn’t have any of the habits I needed to make any of this a reality. I was stuck in dreaming when I needed to be doing.

Habits are small, consistent steps that are often challenging for us, but when we commit to them, they can lead us little by little to our dreams. If you’ve imagined yourself as a future author, consider what you’re doing today or this week that will take you in that direction.

Here are some healthy habits that helped me step out of dreaming and into doing:

Write consistently

I’m not going to tell you to write every day. It’s really not possible for most of us who juggle family, full-time jobs and writing. But the heart of that advice is talking about consistency. I struggled for a long time with writing consistently. I only wrote when inspiration hit me, which wasn’t very often. And it was never easy to find writing time because I was a single mom juggling a lot. But I started intentionally blocking out time for writing. It wasn’t perfect. It was messy. I missed days and got weighed down with guilt and shame. But I kept coming back to my schedule, even when I fell off. Now, consistency is a habit I don’t even think about. Something that once felt really difficult for me, is now second naure because I made it part of my routine.

Read in your genre

As writers we need to be readers because we need to understand our audience. What do they expect? What do they like? How does a story keep their attention? I’ve always loved reading. It was an escape for me, especially when I was a kid and teenager. That’s exactly why I wanted to be an author. That’s exactly why I write YA. But I didn’t always read in the genre I write in. I read it when I was a kid, but I had to come back to YA as an adult to learn about what teens like to read now. It was hard to get back into it, but I soon found a range of stories and authors I love. Now I have a list of YA authors I aspire to write like.

Study your craft

One of the hardest lessons I had to learn was that my writing was bad. When I sat down to write my first novel, I assumed I would be good at it because 1) I read a lot more than most people and 2) I had been told that I was a good writer. I thought the process of writing a novel would come naturally, but when I got feedback on my first book, I was forced to acknowledge how much I needed to learn. Without humility you will never be a good writer because you won’t be in a position to take on the learning you need to improve. Once I realized how much craft knowledge I was missing, I began to seek out workshops, books, courses and classes on writing. They all helped my writing more than I could have imagined!

These habits won’t guarantee you become a best-seller. There is no formula for becomimg a best-seller. Even publishers don’t know how it happens. They are always taking a risk on the books they choose. I no longer care about becoming a best-seller. I have found a more solid foundation for my writing life. My biggest hope is that my writing encourages and entertains others. I can’t tell you you’ll become a best-seller with these habits, but I’m quite sure it won’t be possible without them.