Day 22: 3 Reasons Why Starting Small Is The Best Advice For Your Writing Career
Follow along my Ship 30 for 30 journey as I learn what it means to be a writer in this digital age.
When starting out, it is advisable not to hit the road running with a deep and complicated 70k-word novel.
It would be like going to the gym for the first time and picking up a 50kg dumbbell. You are going to hurt yourself.
Instead, you want to build your writer's momentum and stamina. And you can do that by starting small.
Here's why:
It builds your writing habit.
When starting out (or restarting) as a writer, you don't want to aim so high that you fall flat on your face.
Start slow with 500 words/10 minutes of writing time and steadily increase it to your final desirable result.
The goal here isn't to write x amount of words or for x amount of time. The goal is to show up daily at your desk and gradually make writing your second nature.
It builds your writing muscles.
As a new/returning writer, you must let your mind get used to churning out words. You must get comfortable sitting at a desk and let your fingers do all the talking.
Find out your comfortable range - it can be in terms of word count or time spent. A week later, turn it up a notch. And repeat.
We are trying to train our writing muscles to get used to the daily output.
You start believing in yourself when you say you're a writer.
In his book, The Atomic Habits, author James Clear says,
"Every action is a vote for the type of person you wish to become."
I wholeheartedly agree with this.
Every time I finish a writing session, an article, or a short story - I feel accomplished. I feel proud of myself because I am doing what I said I'll do - writing.
