‘Creativity is a wild beast, it needs some discipline’
The word routine never appealed to me much, how about you? As an Aquarius ruled by spontaneous Uranus, I have a natural tendency to do things differently. Though let me tell you dear writers, creativity is a wild beast, it needs some discipline. Establishing your writing routine is one of the best gifts you can give yourself, literally. Finding it is not always easy, for me it took around a year of trial and error, different times, places, countries, now it as much a part of my life as brushing my teeth and I take very good care of those. I am going to share with you now the magic that will arise when you start sticking to yours.
- You become your own muse
Now I am not firmly in the same camp as Bret Anthony Johnston, who claims; “I don’t believe in talent”, no amount of singing lessons will ever get me sounding like Taylor Swift. That aside, he has a point. Writing like any art takes time, commitment and a strong internal connection. Many writers will point to an external source of inspiration for their work, a muse that without the words don’t flow.
When you establish a writing routine and showing up to consistently, something magical happens in that you become your own muse. You somehow pull the inspiration from within you. As creatives we are always absorbing what is going on around us, in life, books, even movies. That all becomes a part of us and when we sit down at to write, it is all accessible. A strong internal connection and commitment to your routine dissolves the need for any outside source, you become your own muse.
- Your writing becomes a priority
Our writing journeys start very differently for all of us. My first book was written around working as a real estate agent, living in diverse countries and navigating through my twenties figuring this life stuff out. It was pretty chaotic, the magic that happened when I finally established my writing routine was that precious time became a priority. I got ok with telling people this is my writing time and blocking other commitments to truly immerse myself. Naturally the quality and quantity of my work got better. I truly believe it’s your writing routine that tells the world and yourself, it’s a priority.
- You tap into your creative intuition
The more you show up at your routine, the more magic happens. Another powerful change that occurs is you tap into a creative intuition that has profound effects on your work. The creative choices you make on and off the page start to become stronger. You develop a natural ability to know where and who to go to for inspiration and to feel creatively charged, the habits and places that nurture you. A writing routine, magically, encourages you to start taking better care of yourself creatively, it may even tell you what time to go to bed. This will pour out in your work.
- Your energy and passion for your work increases
Another magical occurrence of showing up to that writing time, is the energy and passion for your work will start shining out of you on and off the page. You will find yourself talking about it more to your friends, family basically anyone that will listen. There is no bliss like creative connection to a project, this will naturally attract other creatives and sends out positive vibrations to the universe that responds, sometimes loudly.
- You meet your writing goals
And when all is said and done, that’s what it’s all about right? Too many wonderful idea’s and stories never make it out into the world as they haven’t been given the discipline they deserve. I never said writing is easy. Like any goals they require determination, effort and rising to the challenge even on the days you feel like running the other way. The magic of a writing routine is that it is always there keeping you on track and moving in the direction of your dreams. There is no feeling like typing that last word, and the best means of transport to the finish line is a writing routine.
Whether its four am to seven am like Tony Morrisson, the night run like Michael Chabon or seven am to eleven am, and lots of coffee, like me. Find what and where works, it may take a while, once you find it, you will thank yourself.
