HOW TO DEVELOP THE HABIT OF WRITING DAILY 2

I wonder how great a writer Anne Frank, the German-Jewish diarist, would have being if she had not died at the age of fifteen. She died of typhus at a concentration camp during the World War II (1939-1945).

In June 1942, Anne received a diary for her 13th birthday. Every day, she wrote down her thoughts and experiences in the form of letters to an imaginary friend. One month later, she and her family went into hiding from anti-Jewish persecution. In a confined place and in great fear, they lived together with four other Jewish families, for the next two years. All through this difficult time, her hopes of becoming a professional writer did not dwindle. Anne continued to write down her experiences in her diary along with various short stories.

The Gestapo later discovered and sent them to concentration camps where she died. Her father, the only one who survived, compiled an account of the hiding period from Anne’s two incomplete diary drafts. Later, the diary was published in Dutch in 1947. It was followed by the German and French translations in 1950 and two years later, an English translation, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, was published. It was made into a Pulitzer Prize winning play in 1956 and then into a motion picture in 1959.

A dead 15-year-old girl’s diary! Amazing!

Reading it, I wonder at her deep insight, wit, wisdom and clarity of expression. Quite admirable for a girl that young; but then, she had a dream to be a writer and she wrote every day.

You don’t have a choice but to do well what you do every day.

Anne frank wrote in her diary: “All Great Achievements Require Time.” How true!

If you must be a successful writer, daily writing is important. Experts say, “if you do something every day for twenty one days, it becomes a habit.”It’s all about discipline. Everything is difficult at first, but by the time you do it the second time, it becomes easier. Habits are formed by doing the same thing every day.

Here are a few more ways to make writing a daily habit.

ENJOY WRITING

Before writing can be a habit, you have to see it as something you enjoy, not something you must do. Ask yourself these questions: Why am I writing?

Is it because I have to or want to?

Is it to satisfy some educational or official demands?

Is it for money?

Your reasons will help you prioritize your time and place writing in its proper place in your schedule.

You can’t excel doing what you don’t enjoy. Purpose is important in everything we do. When you find your purpose in life and align yourself to it, you are on your way to fulfillment. If you have tried to enjoy writing and you still can’t flow, it’s most likely not your calling. You can begin to hire writers for your writing needs and get busy with something else you enjoy. Life is too short to be wasted.

FLOCK WITH WRITERS

One of my native adages says, you can’t hang around a burning bush and not smell smoke. If you move with writers, you will most definitely write. When you are together, you talk writing. There is a kind of synergy that is created when like-minded people flock together. You discuss ideas, review works, teach and learn. Join a writers’ club in your area or start one. There are also many good ones online. 

SHOW YOUR WORK

You experience joy and satisfaction when you see your works published and read by others. It reinvigorates you and propels you to write more. Many talented writers will remain unknown because they write and keep their works. Written words that are not read by others are as good as not written. You need to show what you write. That is what keeps it alive.

Start by showing your friends and family members whatever you write.

Ask for their input. Then go ahead and put it on your church board if it is a spiritual work, or send it to a newspaper editor for publishing.

An easy and fast way to get your writings published is to go on the web. There are many websites looking for written materials, search for them, and be a published writer at no cost. You may even get paid if you want.

The comments that come from your readers will help you improve. 

SET DEADLINES

Even if you are a freelance writer, you must set targets and deadlines for yourself. If you are like me, then you work best under pressure. When there is someone breathing down your neck for that finished script, your creative juices flow. This was actually how writing became my habit. I had always loved writing and I started writing from a very young age but I never got serious until I took a job as a TV reporter and programs producer. If you have ever worked in a media house, you know all about tight and breakneck deadlines. I got so used to writing that even when I left the job, I couldn’t do without it.

So if you want writing to be a habit, decide how much you want to write daily, set a due date for anything you are writing and ask people around you to help enforce it. 

John Maxwell said, “Do something you hate every day, just for the practice.”

You can learn to do anything by practice.

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right.” Henry Ford

Grace Olumayowa Aideloje

©2012 PenParables

Publishing Rights: You may republish this article in your web site, newsletter, or eBook, on the condition that you agree to leave the article, author's signature, and all links intact.