Why I Write Every Day

One ordinary afternoon, I’m walking across my living room when, in my mind’s eye, I start to see a setting from my novel. Sunlight is streaming through my apartment windows while my protagonist simultaneously steps into a room full of people at night. I can practically hear their voice saying the first words of the book. There it is, clear as day―a revised version of the opening scene: one that finally feels right. 

I had previously written this scene a few times. Each draft had all the same ideas, but, in execution, none of them felt like the compelling moment I envisioned opening my novel with. 

Chalking it up to the struggle of first drafts (“The first draft of anything is shit.” -Ernest Hemingway), I continued writing forward, developing other parts of the story. Of course, I knew that someday I’d have to come back to it and give it another try. 

The opening scene can make or break a book. If it doesn’t capture the reader’s imagination, what’s to keep them from putting the book back on the shelf or deleting the Kindle preview and never discovering everything else I had in store for them?

I hadn’t looked at the opening scene for months. Yet, here it was, exactly what I’d been looking for. 

Was it a random flash of inspiration? Yes and no. While it was certainly unplanned, I don’t think there’s anything random about inspiration. I think we earn our inspiration through consistent effort. 

This brings us to the first reason I write every day:

1. My story stays with me. 

At the time, consistency was all I had. Between a new project I was giving my all to develop and the work I do to earn a living, I didn’t have many hours each day to write. Some days I only had 15 minutes. But I wrote every day, without fail. This meant that my story stayed with me, even as I spent a lot of the day on other things. 

When I’m writing consistently, ideas for my story have a tendency to appear throughout the day: when my mind is wandering in the shower or when I’m accelerating on the freeway and a song comes on that reminds me of a scene. 

I don’t think inspiration is as mysterious or mystical as it seems. It’s our subconscious mind picking up where our conscious mind has left off, playing with our ideas in new ways. Writing every day, even a little bit, means that my subconscious mind has the opportunity to work on my story every day too. 

2. It reinforces my identity as a writer.

For a long time, I saw myself as a writer, but the way I spent my time didn’t reflect this. So I found it difficult to really feel like a writer. 

Nowadays, because I start my day with writing, it’s clear that I’m prioritizing my writing. My choices are aligned with my identity. Not only do I greatly enjoy my writing sessions themselves, but the rest of the day is more fulfilling because I’ve expressed myself as a writer first. Later in the day, when I’m working and doing other things, I’m content knowing that I started with the endeavor that matters most to me.

The value of living within your core values is infinite. I discuss this in more detail in my article, Core Values: What Matters to You Most?

3. It gives me the feel of progressing every day. 

Writing a novel takes a really long time. It’s easy to get caught up thinking about what it will take to reach the finish line. It can be discouraging to compare where you are now to where you want to be.

I’ve found focusing on steady progress instead to be the key to staying motivated. 

So far, writing everyday is what has worked most effectively for me. Of course, everyone is different. In practice, writers try all kinds of schedules and techniques to make progress. The best way is whatever way works for you personally. The best way is whatever turns your ideas into reality.
Check out my next article, where I share how I write everyday, 10 Tips for Developing a Daily Writing Habit.