I have been trying to create a daily writing habit for more than a decade. When I look back on notes from my last business, “write more often” shows up a LOT. But writing and publishing consistently has continued to elude me.
I’ve read all the advice, I know what famous writers say:
“Real writers don’t wait for the muse. They write every day.”
“Try daily writing streaks and don’t break the streak.”
“Put it in your calendar and treat writing like a client.”
“If you want it enough, you’ll make it happen.”
Blah, blah, blah.
Nothing has worked. It’s become impossible for my neurodivergent and chronic illness-weary brain to write every day. In recent years, with the current version of my business, I’ve been weighed down by comparisonitis and a bad case of the “shoulds.” I tell myself I should be writing and publishing more because I have Things.To.SayTM.
I listen to writers who talk about publishing a blog post every day for 20 years (like Seth Godin or Mathew Dicks) and think, what’s wrong with me that I’m not able to do that?
It’s not for lack of ideas. I’ve got lots of excellent sources for writing ideas that I keep close by:
- Idea log kept in Notion
- Book quotes kept in Readwise
- Collection of writing prompt cards, ranging from tarot, oracle, quotes, and metaphor dice
- Random bits of paper or Notes in my phone (despite my best efforts and teaching advice to always put them in one place)
I’m drowning in ideas, but I’ve struggled to make writing a daily practice. I’ve been frustrated by the lack of consistency and my brain’s inability to cosplay a neurotypical person so I can write at the volume of my dreams.
In one of the many conversations I had with my writing retreat collaborator, Jane, she mentioned advice she had heard years ago that had helped her with the gap between wanting to be consistent and feeling like it was an impossible goal.
Her coach’s advice? Try being inconsistently consistent.
My first reaction was “What does that even mean? How could that be possible?”
But as I settled into it, I realized it could be true. While I haven’t been writing every day, I write consistently a few times a week. Never on the same day, or even on the planned day. But I squeeze it into other places or catch up on a Saturday morning.
The same is true of publishing my work. I don’t have any sort of consistency (which the algorithm monsters insist they need) but I have been getting articles, posts, and newsletter issues out into the world.
If I could embrace being inconsistently consistent, I could let go of someone else’s standards and simply write as I have. Occasional newsletters, blog articles, and LinkedIn posts. The odd big sprint, like writing the copy for my new website. And of course, lots of writing for clients.
Changing the lens of “consistency” from daily to looking at the output on a monthly basis changes everything.
When I look back on my writing history, I can see that I’ve kept going, over and over again. Through ups and downs at work, health crises (yes, plural), persisting through creativity droughts. I haven’t always published but I’ve been writing for more than 30 years, it’s just never in a straight line or daily consistency. (The same is true for my workout history, eating well, even sleep. All inconsistent, but still happening in fits and spurts.)
When I look at the span of a month, quarter or year, I’m doing the work, putting in the laps. But because I believed writing daily was the only benchmark that mattered, I’ve been focused (as usual) on what isn’t happening, instead of celebrating what is.
To quote Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy, I’ve been living in the gap and forgetting to celebrate the gains.
The beauty of embracing being inconsistently consistent? I’m already there, no changes needed.
Hold on, though. Will not writing consistently help me achieve my goals?
Even though I felt immediate relief at the idea of being inconsistent, my Enneagram 6 brain needed data to support this. Was this random advice that also wouldn’t work? Or do others agree that it might help me become more prolific?
When I tried to find quotes in my files to support inconsistency, they were all negative.
“It’s a weakness.”
“It’s a sign of poor systems.”
“It will hold you back.”
All likely true. But these comments were all in reference to the golden ideal for business owners—massive growth. It’s possible that meandering will get me to where I want to be.
The famous writers I mentioned earlier when researching consistent writing? The ones with daily posts for two decades? They’re short pieces about stories from their life. Often well-written, pithy pieces, typically 400-500 words.
That’s not my writing style. Or rarely my style.
I like to write deeply into a topic, and add layers of research, quotes, data points to round it out. Articles that take more time.
All that to say, there’s more than one way to write and publish.
Practicing inconsistency to build a writing habit
I’ve been experimenting with this for a few weeks. Here’s what being an inconsistent writer looks like for me:
Setting a low bar for a publishing cadence to give me flexibility on when to write.
My previous goal of 2-3 articles per week was impossible to meet. But when I look back, I have been writing most weeks and newsletter emails, blog articles, and LinkedIn posts do occasionally get published.
Instead of a punishing weekly goal that I’m never able to meet, I’ve set a goal to publish two articles per month and send an email to my newsletter list once or twice a month as well.
Give myself permission to write only once or twice a week.
Stretching the definition of writing consistently to use a weekly lens, instead of a daily one, has helped me in two ways.
If I’m hit with a chronic illness flair or client deadline, there’s still space in my week to keep on track with my writing cycle on other days.
Consider steps like research and outlining as writing.
There are some days when my brain won’t engage in writing, no matter how hard I try or set up the conditions for success. On those days, I’m trying to pick up the other tasks that feed into my writing. I’ll do some writing research and prep, like planning the thesis statement, subheadings, pull quotes or images.
That way, I’m stepping into a future writing session knowing what I want to say.
Work with a writing coach for accountability and support.
Even writing coaches need writing coaches. I realized in August that I would benefit from the same writing guidance and accountability I provide to my writing coaching clients, and found someone great in my network.
I’m going to continue to play with inconsistency and see what emerges. I’m doing the same with other habits like exercise and meditation as well and seeing the same benefits of feeling more satisfied with how often it’s happening and not beating myself up if it isn’t daily.
The beautiful surprise that has emerged in all of this inconsistency? I am doing a lot more writing now that I’ve given myself the freedom to write at my own pace, and I’ve been happier with the quality of my work as well.
I just needed a permission slip to do it.
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What’s the permission slip you need to finally do the writing work you’ve always dreamed of doing? Let’s talk about it. Book a free call with me to talk through your writing blocks and I’ll help you find quick solutions to try during our call.
