The Insane False Belief About “Writing Routine” That Is So Silly
This needs to be stopped
There is a lot of debate about “Writing Routine.”
We can literally talk for hours or even days on this topic, and the conclusion will never end. A lot of writing gurus will tell you…
- “Your writing routine should be like this.”
- “Your writing routine should be like that.”
- “You should write in the morning.”
- “Oh, you really should write in the evening.”
So much BS.
I also used to be that writer who suggested other writers to write at a particular time. Man, I was damn wrong. How the hell can I suggest someone write in the morning if the person doesn’t feel like writing in the morning? How the hell can I suggest someone write at night if the person doesn’t like to wake up late at night?
This is completely wrong.
Coincidentally Yesterday, I was watching a podcast by David Perell where he interviewed a writer (The Cultural Tutor). The writer talks about his writing routine.
He says he wakes up at 4:00 p.m. and smokes a bunch of cigarettes per day (part of the story, I don’t encourage smoking cigarettes, to be clear), but he gets the work done. Every. Single. Day.
And as a result, In 14 months he grew his Twitter from 0 to 1.4M followers. Insane, right? And that’s when I realized, this trap that we live in “Writing Routine” is the completely wrong mindset we have.
So in this post, I want to be extremely clear about this debate “Writing routine.” Here’s what I believe:
See Who You Actually Are
I want to let you decide whether you should write in the morning, evening, or night. I can’t say “This is what you need to do” so I leave everything up to you. And you can confirm it by seeing yourself.
Here’s how…
Are you a morning person? Great, the morning might be a great time for you to write. Are you a night person (Nocturnal)? Great, night might be a great time for you to write. Are you a person who feels more productive and energetic in the evening? Great, the evening might be a great time for you to write.
Do you see what I mean? It doesn’t matter who says what. You need to figure it out for yourself because if something works for others, it doesn’t mean it’ll also work for you. And that’s the point.
Test Things Out
Writing routine is something that you can’t figure out in one attempt.
What do I mean by that? Well, to find the best and the most appropriate time for you, you need to write and try at different times. Try writing in the morning for a few days and see what happens, try writing in the late noon for a few days and see what happens, try writing at night for a few days and see what happens.
Find the one that feels the best to you and stick to it.
The point is you really have to test things out to find your writing routine. Because once you find it, then it doesn’t matter what environment you’re in, how you feel, and what your mood is — you will get the work done. Always.
One more thing, I don’t recommend writing randomly. Like, some days you write in the morning, some days you write in the noon, and some days you write at night. This doesn’t work. You’ll miss a deadline and hardly get any work done because you have no “writing routine” which you absolutely should have.
So will you do it?
