[WoD] Make It a Routine

If you're still with me, we're four days into NaNoWriMo now. Are you writing everyday? Are you writing around the same amount each day? Do you write at certain times each day? Do you write a certain amount when you write at those time? If so, you have found your routine, and you should consider yourself lucky. For those of us who haven't found it yet, we still have time.

Some people work better with them while others can get more done without them, but I find having a routine makes me more productive. There's just something about them. I get used to doing a specific task at a specific time, and my body just wants to keep doing it then. It's a lot like sleeping. After a going to sleep and waking up at the same time for a while, sooner or later you can do it without alarm clock. It's just something the body wants us to do.

But our routines are something that we need to test and grow. Are you a morning person? Do most of your writing in the morning then. Night owl? Then attempt to do it in the evening before bed. Also, try doing it at different times throughout the day. You might think that you're a night owl, but that you can get a lot more done in the morning than you thought. Or maybe you think that you're  morning person, but your brain is most active at night before bed. You'll never know if you don't give it a try.

Yes, I know. It's very a cookie cutter thing to do. Maybe it kills the creative process by not allowing enough spontaneity in a person's life. But it is helpful by bringing substance, by sitting them down at certain times and cranking out so many words in a set amount of time.

A routine is a habit. They need around a month or so to grow in intensity into something you do everyday without thinking, but only one day to bring it crashing to a halt. So try to keep writing each and every day you can. It doesn't have to be the full 1,667 words. If you even get in 500 words, that's more than nothing. And it keeps you in the habit of doing it. Try to make it routine if you can, but try not to break the chain.