It is a commonly shared sentiment among writers that to be a good writer, you have to write every single day. For years, I have considered myself a writer, but I kept running into roadblocks with my own writing. I had to change my approach if I wanted to pursue my dream of writing.
After diving into the web and doing some personal research on the best tips for improving my writing, the one that came up repeatedly was establishing an everyday writing habit. Daily writing doesn’t just benefit writers. Writing every day will bring your life fulfillment, self-improvement, and provide you with the skills to build the life and lifestyle you want for yourself.
I decided to give it a try.
Since I began writing every day, I haven’t encountered these same issues. More than that, I have found benefits to writing every day that extend beyond just improving my own writing! By forming a writing habit, some useful life skills have also started to develop and advance for me.
What are some of the benefits of writing every day and how do they relate to different aspects of life? Check out the table below to see what skills daily writing improves.
| Writing Improvement | Self-Improvement | Life Skills |
| Makes you a better writerBuilds vocabularyClarifies thoughts and ideasHelps with writer’s block | Improves memoryRelaxing and stress reducingPromotes self-discipline Increases self-awareness and self-reflection | Refines communication skillsImproves persuasion skillsLeads to better decision-making skills |
Benefits of Writing Every Day
It might sound almost surreal, but if you look at writing as a basic form of communication, it begins to make sense.
Communication is essential for forming relationships, expressing yourself, and having a successful career. Communication is essential for reaching a wide audience with any message you have to convey, repairing relationships, and opening opportunities for yourself to change what you don’t like in your life.
It isn’t just about communicating with your community, family, friends, peers, and coworkers. It is also about communicating with yourself. The University of Rochester published a study on the benefits of writing daily for mental health, elaborating on how to journal and communicating with yourself.
By making the decision to write every day, you are offering yourself the chance to make a difference in your life. Positive Psychology did a study that covers 83 different benefits of daily writing.
The list of benefits for writing every day goes on and on, expanding on the topics listed in the above table. Prominent, published writers have posted videos on why they write every day and the benefits they’ve gained from it.
How You Can Include Writing into Your Daily Routine
So, now you want to know how to establish your daily writing practice? Truthfully, it isn’t going to happen overnight. You are going to need to put in some time and commitment to make it a habit. You might have to sacrifice, or rearrange, some of your social time and relaxation time to fit in writing.
Fortunately, your daily writing practice doesn’t need to be time consuming. You could start with something as simple as writing one “true” sentence every day. Sit down with a journal or notebook and write down the first sentence that pops into your mind, as it will likely be the truest.
You don’t need to begin with the expectation of writing 10 pages or 1,000 words a day. The idea is to make this practice enjoyable, something you can expand on, not something that will feel like an added chore. Otherwise, you won’t reap some of the benefits of daily writing, like stress reduction and relaxation.
Why Should You Include Writing in Your Daily Routine?
While the overarching answer to why you should write every day is about self-improvement and life fulfilment, you’re probably curious about how writing every day achieves these benefits.
- Writing daily makes you a better writer and expands your vocabulary. Just like with any skill, writing needs to be practiced.
If you are a writer and looking to improve, the best way to do that is to practice. Even if you aren’t a writer, for the sake of improving your written communication skills, writing is your best option. Well-rounded vocabulary is also important to anyone who wants to be a career writer.
- Writer’s block is the bane for a lot of writers and authors, one that can seriously impair deadlines, publishing dates, and even finishing a story or blog post.
By making it a habit to write every single day, you can actually train your brain to respond to certain stimuli to get ideas flowing and cut right through writer’s block.
- The best way to brainstorm and clarify your own thoughts and ideas is to write them out in a steady stream of consciousness. When you write, you don’t necessarily need a plan or an outline. Free writing, or just putting conscious thoughts down on paper, can generate more thoughts, leading to brainstorming.
That kind of stream of consciousness writing also provides insight into your thoughts and feelings, bringing you clarity and even solutions or resolutions you might not have considered before.
- A regular writing habit improves memory. This is commonly seen when keeping a journal where you record specific events, thoughts, and feelings. Although, writing in general can improve memory simply by encouraging you to recall details as you write.
- Writing is very zen, leading to relaxation and stress reduction. So many people live fast-paced, high-energy lifestyles. Heck, it is almost expected in this day and age to be neurotic and stressed out. Writing is a meditative practice, where you can be alone with yourself and your thoughts, leading to deeper relaxation and inner peace.
- Sticking to a daily writing practice promotes self-discipline. This is a big one. How easy is it to get sucked into a television or movie marathon with easy access to streaming services, rather than making dinner or walking the dog?
How easy is it to “blow off” responsibilities when a friend wants to hang out? Truthfully, it is very easy! By taking on the task of setting a daily writing goal for yourself, and sticking to it, you’ll find that self-discipline will manifest in other aspects of your life as well.
- Writing down your experiences and your thoughts about them allows you to reflect back on yourself and also increases your own self-awareness. Writing down thoughts, feelings, and experiences allows you to have a written record to reflect back on in regards to why you did something a specific way, or how you felt about a certain scenario. That kind of reflection leads to personal growth and self-improvement.
- Writing is a common and necessary form of communication. Writing regularly helps to improve your ability to communicate both with written words and verbally. Being an effective communicator is key to getting what you want in life and also in expressing yourself in a way others can understand.
- You can use your improved writing to advance your own persuasion skills. Writers use words to convince their readers of a story. When you write for yourself, you are basically working on convincing yourself of a story. If you can convince yourself, then you can also convince other people, thus improving your persuasion.
- Regularly writing can even help improve your decision-making skills. The answer “I don’t know” is rather commonplace when someone is asked why they did something a certain way, why they said a certain word, etc. It is common for people to act or respond without clearly thinking through the situation.
Becoming aware of the “why” behind what you do and by writing out your decision-making process ties right back into self-awareness and personal growth.
You see, there is a lot more that goes into, and comes out of, writing daily than just getting better at writing.
Making Time and Space for Daily Writing
All writers, artists, and crafters know the importance of having creative time and space. Regardless of whether you want to be a career writer or not, establishing the right time, space, and goals for your daily writing practice is vital to making it a success.
Pick a Space. Finding the right space is crucial. You should find a space that you feel calm and relaxed in. Remove all distractions and temptations. Some writers recommend turning your phone off or leaving it in another room while you are writing. You shouldn’t have easy access to screens, television, internet, or social media.
It is recommended that you write in a notebook or on paper. If you do choose to write on your computer, either disable your internet connection or close out of all computer applications except your writing processor. Now, if you’re writing for a blog or a book, you might need the internet to do research. It will take more self-discipline and self-control not to get distracted by the vast offerings of the world wide web. You might find it easier to start out without the temptation of the internet until your habit is more ingrained.
Your space should also be set apart from the rest of your household, especially if you have a family or housemates. You’ll want to set the expectation that you can’t be interrupted while you are writing and make other arrangements if there are children on the premises.
If you like working at a desk but don’t have one, set yourself up at a dining table. You might be the type that prefers a more comfortable setup, so find a chair or couch you can curl up on with your notebook.
Maybe prepare yourself a cup of tea, put on some relaxing music, and invite your cat into your lap. Make the creative atmosphere and environment your own.
Set a Time. Habits develop because of repetition. You should begin with setting a start and end time to your daily writing. Depending on your schedule, you might need to adjust this time every day.
If you can pick the same time every day, that is the best option. Your mind and body will get used to falling into a writing and creative mindset when the time strikes.
If needed, set yourself alarms and reminders of when you should start writing and when you should stop writing. Sticking to the predetermined time table is going to really help with your self-discipline and in making a daily habit easier to build.
Choose Your Goals. When you begin writing, set your bar low. This is where the exercise of just writing one sentence a day is helpful. You want to give yourself realistic expectations in the beginning, perhaps goals that are even too easy to accomplish.
By starting with tasks and goals that can always be accomplished, your mind will create a joyful and excited relationship with your daily writing task. You’ll start to look forward to it, and then even be able to expand on it and grow your goals.
What to Write and How to Write It
Another concern you might have may be in regards to what you should be writing and how to go about writing it. It’s true, there are countless ways to write. Experiment with different forms of writing and find the ones that resonate with you most.
Journaling or Keeping a Diary. Journals have been kept for centuries. Scientists, philosophers, academics, and just your run of the mill average Joes would keep journals of their thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
The practice of journal keeping has fallen out of favor in recent generations. It is still one of the best ways to establish a regular writing practice. In the age of technology, vloggers are talking about the joys of keeping a journal.
To journal, you’ll want a designated notebook with lines pages or blank pages that will be used only for journaling. Every day, begin your entry with a date, then start by writing about what you did, how you felt, and see where it takes you. Write clearly with complete sentence structures and avoid text and internet abbreviations.
Writing Lists. Keeping lists is another great way to just get words on paper. Don’t just limit this to shopping lists and to-do lists though. At the top of a notebook page, write a category like “farm animals” and then make a list of all the farm animals you can think of. You can do this leisurely or set a timer for yourself to write as many as you can in a set time. Choose a different category every day to make a list about.
Daily Writing Prompts. A lot of writers use writing prompts as ways to spark creative thought and get to brainstorming. A lot of writing prompts are meant to get you to interact with your environment and get your brain working.
A common writing prompt is something like “write down what you see looking out a window.” You’re meant to sit by a window and write down everything you see. Writing prompts can be found easily online.
How to Write Daily FAQs
To wrap up the key points of this post, consider the answers to these common questions in regards to writing every day.
What Are the Advantages of Writing Every Day?
The results of various studies and investigations have shown that writing activities lead to several physiological, intellectual, psychological, and emotional benefits. This includes improved memory, increased feelings of happiness and fulfilment, and a decrease in symptomatology.
How Do I Start Writing Every Day?
To motivate yourself to start writing daily, try scheduling a time in your calendar, make a creative space for yourself, set writing goals every day, and/or try joining a writing group. Participating in writing challenges can also motivate you to write every day.
Keep an eye out for more content about writing, books, self-publishing, and self-improvement!