Beginning a Writing Habit for Non-Writers
By: Jeffrey Keefer
Tags: Writing Tips, Creativity, Habit Building, Writing, Self Improvement

Now that we have gotten this out of the way, namely that you do not have to classify yourself as a writer to still write and share, let’s talk about beginning some simple writing habit, one that can help you get the idea out of your head (where it does no good for anybody else) and puts it into a medium (yes, pun intended again!) that others can access.

Photo by Viktor Hanacek on picjumbo

To do this, I have found the following 4 steps helpful.

4 steps to developing a writing habit for non-writers

1. Write down your ideas and ignore what anybody may think about them

Find a spot to jot down some ideas.

Perhaps in a journal. In a computer program. On Post-Its. On index cards (I personally like blue or green unlined index cards myself, as I find them soothing). Just identify a spot you feel free to get out your ideas.

The place matters less than the opportunity to get the thoughts out of your head.

Ignore the little voice that wants ideas to be perfect, that imagines how others may receive these, or that ideas do not hold together as a single unit.

We just want to get ideas out. They may flow or plop into a bullet list. That does not matter — what matters is if they are out of your head and into some small portion of the world.

2. Gather or chunk ideas together

Once we have stuff out on paper, images, graphs, or the like, then start to seek connections. Do things flow together? Are they isolated ideas that can be expanded upon while you continue to move the materials into a different order? Perhaps themes may develop?

Draw pictures. Connect with lines. Insert links. Use different colours. Do whatever you need to do to help you make sense of those ideas you pulled forth earlier.

Remember, nobody sees this messy part of the writing process, though I guarantee every writer ever, professional and non-professional alike, has done some form of this step.

You are in great company.

You also may just be surprised by what you begin to notice about your ideas and how they connect.

If not, that is ok, too. There is no right or wrong at this point.

3. Choose one theme to focus on

Multitasking is a myth, so choose one theme or topic or area to work on for now. You can do another one tomorrow, but one, for now, is plenty.

When you choose, consider some questions to help you focus this:

✓ Who do you want to read your work? This is your audience.

✓ What do you hope they do as a result of reading it? This is your purpose.

✓ Where do you imagine they may actually find your work? This is your media outlet.

✓ What style is acceptable in those sorts of media outlets? This connects your publication venue with your writing style for the benefit of your readers.

Now, there are other factors to consider (payment, timing, etc.), but these steps are enough for now.

Remember, you are not a professional writer, so you do not have to get this all perfect as if your livelihood depends upon it, but once you match your main idea with some of these steps, you will start to bring some structure to your creation.

4. Repeat and remind yourself why you are doing this

This may move fast or slow. That is less important than that it happens at all. Once you write some ideas and group them, you begin thinking about who will read, what they may want or expect, and then like.

This leads to getting more detailed, and when we learn a little more through doing it, we then revising and expanding upon our ideas as we test them through spending more time with them. Developing them. Freeing them from our minds and making them real.

In one area of my professional experiences, this is called improvement work and involves trying something small, learning from it, and making small steps to continue improving upon it.

The key here is that it does not have to be perfect. It simply has to be.

We remind ourselves that we do this to express ourselves, and in the process, we begin to actually write.