The exponential discipline of scheduled writing time

This morning I wrote about emailing quick freewrites to yourself as a way to beat writer's block. Along with the quick ones that you can do anytime the mood strikes you, I think the exact opposite is important as well. What I mean is scheduling a specific time each day or each week that you sit down to write.

You might be thinking, Sure, I can schedule the time, but what if I'm not inspired then? Well, this is my point. Keeping to a scheduled time when you know you are going to sit down and write is a discipline that will help push you through the times when you are not feeling inspired. Here's why:

1. Routine: Sitting down at the same time each day or week (and actually sticking to that clock) will be tough the first few times. But as you do it, you begin to build it into your schedule. This has an effect on your brain, and you start to prepare for it unconsciously. Over time, your freewriting will improve because you'll be getting ready for it, knowing it is coming.

2. Writing Anway: You won't always have something you are buring to write about, and that's fine. Write about whatever is on your mind. It will steer back to your main project. Sometimes you just have to clear the cobwebs with a few pages of the fog in your head before you can make room for the good stuff that you want to be writing about.

3. See Progress: There is a subtle power in watching your freewrites accumulate over days, weeks, and months. You start to have a stack of writing that you can see and touch. It's different than having a whole bunch of ideas that constantly swirl around in your head. You see that you are creating words, and that makes you think of yourself more as a writer than as someone who has a bunch of ideas who wants to write. It's subtle, but very powerful.

Do you have a scheduled time when you write? How does it help you beat writer's block?

Image source: gudmd.haralds via flickr