# Establishing a Writing Habit

By Randall Degges · December 13, 2011 · https://rdegges.com/2011/establishing-a-writing-habit/

> I'm building a daily writing habit: 30 minutes a day for 21 days in a row, tracked with HabitForge. Here's how the 21 day method works, and why I write.

![Feather Pen Sketch][]


I'm a big fan of personal growth and development.  My thought on the matter is
that each of us is only given a little time to live, so we might as well make
the most of it.  Improving yourself is always a good time investment.

A few years ago I started building positive habits.  I read a few books, and
learned that one of the most effective ways to cultivate yourself is by slowly
building positive habits into your daily routine, one at a time.  Shortly
thereafter I discovered [HabitForge][], a web application that helps you build
new habits by sending you daily email reminders and tracking your progress.

Let's say you want to read for 30 minutes every day.  According to the research
HabitForge has done, if you force yourself to read 30 minutes a day for 21 days
in a row, your 30 minutes of reading will have become a natural habit.  Of
course, your habit won't come *completely* naturally (you will still have to
put fourth conscious effort to do it each day), but it will be significantly
easier for you to maintain day after day.

The catch is that if you [break-the-chain][], you have to start your 21 day
habit building cycle fresh.  This means that if you read for 20 days in a row,
but on the 21st day forget--you're our of luck.  You'll need to start again
from day 1, and work through a full 21 day period before your habit will become
second nature.

The great thing about the 21 day method is that it seems to work (at least it
does for me).  Last year I built several habits that I've kept since.  My only
regret is that I didn't continue to add more habits after successfully
establishing a few great ones.

Which brings me to the topic of this article...


## Writing

I've always enjoyed writing.  It appeals to my sentimental side.  There's
something about writing that just feels great.  The best way I can describe the
way I feel when writing is:

Imagine [Leonardo DaVinci][] in his workshop in Italy in the late 1400s.  He's
been obsessively locked up in there for weeks on end building a new prototype.
It's late at night, and there are papers scattered across his desk.  He's
sitting on a wooden stool, hunched over the desk working by candlelight, madly
scribbling his discoveries using a feather pen into an extremely aged looking
notebook.

That's how writing makes me feel.

Unfortunately, while I have written quite a lot over the past few years--I've
come nowhere close producing either the quality or quantity of writing that I'd
like to.

A few days ago I started a new habit on HabitForge, my first one in a few
months--dedicated to writing.  I'm going to make "writing for 30 minutes" a
daily part of my routine.  It isn't much, but I'm hoping that 30 minutes of
intensely focused writing will help me grow as a writer.

If you're one of the few people who do actually read what I write on here, you
can expect to see more frequently articles in the coming days and weeks.

If you're looking to build new positive habits into your life, why not make an
account at [HabitForge][] (it's totally free) and get started?

**UPDATE**: I wrote some reflections on my writing habit progress so far, you
can read them [here][].

**UPDATE**: My writing habit is built!  I've written for 30 minutes for each of
the 21 days without fail.  I wrote another post which also includes some tips
and thoughts, you can read it [right here][].


[Feather Pen Sketch]: feather-pen-sketch.png "Feather Pen Sketch"
  [HabitForge]: https://web.archive.org/web/20110715172539/http://habitforge.com:80/ "HabitForge"
  [break-the-chain]: http://lifehacker.com/281626/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-secret "Jerry Seinfeld's Productivity Secret"
  [Leonardo DaVinci]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci "Leonardo DaVinci"
  [here]: /2011/what-ive-learned-about-writing-so-far/ "What I've Learned About Writing (So Far)"
  [right here]: /2012/writing-habit-complete/ "Writing Habit - Complete"