How To Write Every Day

Writing can be daunting. There is no buffer between you and the blank page. Nothing but your own vulnerable words; thousands of them, each specifically chosen and approved by you. If they're dull, uninspired, confusing, offensive, or brilliant, you only have yourself to blame.

I love writing, but it's not easy. At least, that's what I used to think.

In reality, writing is incredibly easy, and just about everyone can do it. The hard part is writing something good.

The difficulty in writing comes from our own standards, and fear of judgement. If we didn't care about the quality or coherence of our words, we could all write an essay, a poem, a short story, or a journal entry right now.

It seems a simple point, but it deserves understanding: we are the only thing stopping us from writing.

There are a few methods we love to use to get in our own way, so let's look at them and talk about possible solutions.

I don't know what to write about.

If you're lacking a specific direction for your writing, but you'd like to write something, a writing prompt can be a great way to get started. Finding a good prompt generator can be tricky, but there are plenty out there to try. More on this in a bit.

Alternatively, you could try stream-of-consciousness writing, and just begin writing down whatever thoughts or words come to mind without any filter, even if it doesn't make sense. This can be a great way to generate ideas and see where your mind goes when you let it wander and simply observe.

I know what I want to write about, but I don't know where to start.

While there are formal techniques and structures for different types of prose (which are certainly valuable to learn if you're interested in improving your writing), a simpler way to start is by finding a safe and private place to write, thinking about the part of your idea which excites you the most, and starting to write that.

It's important you write this with the mentality that no one will ever see it, and that you will likely rewrite it anyway. A first draft should be as unfiltered as possible.

Stop judging as you write, and just write the thing. Write the thing, then make it good. You don't have to do both at once.

I've been writing like a machine! Brilliant prose pours from my mind effortlessly, like a writing goddess bathing in the light of sweet literary ecstasy... but now I've hit a wall and don't know how to proceed.

Oh no! Writers block! You poor soul.

Oh wait...

Unfortunately writer's block is just you censoring yourself again. Lower your standards and just write something. It might give you some ideas and help keep your momentum going to a fresher part of your prose. You can come back and fix whatever monstrosity you wrote later on. Let's get words on paper first.

You might also just be burnt out. Have a shower, go for a walk, listen to new music, get coffee with a friend; anything to give your writing brain a break and give you a mini-reset. Often you’ll find inspiration away from your prose and come back with a fresh perspective.

How often should I be writing?

I think it's important for everyone to practice daily writing. Even if it's just for 5 minutes a day. Even if you don't consider yourself a writer.

Writing regularly can help with your communication skills, word literacy, creativity, and self-expression. It can also be a lot of fun, if you let it be.

How can I start a daily writing habit?

This question led me down a bit of a rabbit-hole. There are a lot of tools and techniques out there—writing sites, reminder apps, prompt generators—but none that I found offered a compelling or clean writing experience.

So call me Alice and push me down the hole, because in the end, I decided to just make my own web-based daily writing game.

justwrite.lol

As the name implies, I built justwrite.lol to really try and communicate the message and ideology expressed in this blog post; worry less, write more.

The idea of the game is very simple: everyone who visits the website will see the same writing prompt for that day (much like Wordle), and can write their own submission related to that prompt.

Submissions are private by default, but can be publicly shared if you write something awesome or funny (or mediocre) and want to show your friends or followers.

Coming back to something I mentioned earlier, good writing prompt generators can be hard to find. They are often generic and devoid of life. This is why justwrite.lol has interesting, hand-picked prompts every day, with the aim of stretching your creativity and writing style.

The site will also keep track of your daily streak with a neat little badge on your profile, to help keep you writing regularly, but no big deal if you don't.

I hope you'll consider giving it a go. Even just for a few days and see how you feel (it’s 100% free). You can write a 30-second response if you want. Start small, and have fun!

It's really not that hard, just write lol.