LitHabits for Writers

Cultivate Patience to Write with More Consistency and JOY [Podcast]

What blocks your flow when writing?

For a lot, if not all of us creative writers, we write a few sentences, a few paragraphs, and immediately start picking apart everything on the page.

Ugh, this is awful! Total garbage! Who would want to read this trash, this word salad, this dumpster fire of the English language!

I’ve had these thoughts. My students have had these thoughts. If you read the biographies and memoirs of your favorite writers, they’ve had them too.

But here’s the truth about what’s going on here…

The Writing Life, The Science of HabitRenee LongJuly 6, 2022Comment

Embrace Growth Mindset to Become a Phenomenal Writer

Many of us assume you must be born with a high degree of natural talent to become a great writer. That you have to be gifted by the gods before you can write work that moves people.

It’s not true! Rather than being gifted with a finite supply of talent and skill, we are born with potential.

And all of us have potential. If you have a desire to write stories, that’s all the proof you need to know you have the potential to be a great writer.

The Writing Life, Writing Routines, The Science of HabitRenee LongMay 14, 2021Comment

How to Choose the Perfect Time to Write & Stick with It

As a writing coach, I get asked about time & consistency a lot. Here are two questions I received just last week from writing students:

“How do you designate time to write and keep that same writing time?”
“How do you maintain a consistent writing practice?”

Here’s a short training addressing those questions with simple, practical solutions:

The Writing Life, The Science of Habit, Writing Routines, Writing HacksRenee LongApril 2, 2021Comment

5 Ways to Grow Gentle Consistency & Discipline for Creative Writing – Part II

I believe in creating consistency that feels good. I believe writing should be JOYFUL and FUN (most of the time). I believe in creating a writing routine that feels like a sacred, energizing ritual that fills you up, not a chore that you have to show up to and leaves you depleted of energy. Here are five simple ways to create a gentle and consistent writing practice.

The Writing Life, The Science of Habit, Writing RoutinesRenee LongMarch 16, 2021 Comments

5 Ways to Grow Gentle Consistency & Discipline for Creative Writing – Part I

I believe in creating consistency that feels good. I believe writing should be JOYFUL and FUN (most of the time). I believe in creating a writing routine that feels like a sacred, energizing ritual that fills you up, not a chore that you have to show up to and leaves you depleted of energy. Here are five simple ways to create a gentle and consistent writing practice.

The Writing Life, The Science of Habit, Writing RoutinesRenee LongMarch 16, 2021Comment

How to Create a Roadmap For Your Novel & Never Lose Steam with Bestselling Author Jessica Brody

Bestselling author Jessica Brody will show you the 15-point “Beat Sheet” that functions as your road map for writing a novel and what to do when you’re overwhelmed by how much ground you have to cover in your book.

Interviews, The Science of Habit, The Writing LifeRenee LongSeptember 2, 2020Comment

How Even the Most Distracted Writers Can Access Deep Focus

Joyce Carol Oates says that Public Enemy #1 of writers is... Interruptions. Fun fact: It takes about 25 minutes to re-focus on your writing task after an interruption. That's a half-hour lost. Here's a simple and wildly effective strategy to access deep focus during your precious writing time.

The Science of Habit, The Writing Life, Writing RoutinesRenee LongJanuary 23, 2020Comment

How to Get Over Perfectionism Without Writing Crap

My dad is visiting from Florida this month, and like many handy fathers, generously spends his time fixing things around the house.

One of his projects was to fix the door leading into the garage. The seal was falling off and the door wasn’t shutting properly, which was a big PITA.

So Dad got to work. After an hour or so of banging, clanking, and scraping, I heard the door shut smoothly, followed by a long sigh and this nugget-of-wisdom:

“Still sucks. But it’s better than it was.”

I burst out laughing. Like many fathers, my dad is notorious for zingers. This one struck me as particularly relevant to writers and artists.

To me, the mantra of “Still sucks. But it’s better” is a snappy equivalent to the popular credo of “Done is better than perfect.”

Plus, it acknowledges the inevitable reality that for many artists, we’re never really satisfied with our work. But at least it’s better.

Writers: We don’t have to be paralyzed by perfection and we don’t have to sacrifice quality in our writing.

The Writing Life, The Science of Habit, Writing HacksRenee LongSeptember 3, 2019Comment

How to Stand Up for Your Work: A Conversation with Author Sophfronia Scott

Author Sophfronia Scott's latest novel is Unforgivable Love, a vivid reimagining of the French classic Les Liaisons Dangereuses. She’s also the author of an essay collection, Love’s Long Line, from Ohio State University Press’s Mad Creek Books and a memoir, This Child of Faith: Raising a Spiritual Child in a Secular World, co-written with her son Tain, from Paraclete Press.

Her essays, short stories, and articles have appeared in Killens Review of Arts & Letters, Saranac Review, Ruminate, Barnstorm Literary Journal, Sleet Magazine, NewYorkTimes.com, and O, The Oprah Magazine. Her essay “Why I Didn’t Go to the Firehouse” is listed among the Notables in Best American Essays 2017.

It was so cool to talk to her about the importance of taking our work seriously, because, as you'll see in this interview, there's a lot at stake when you're called to creative work.

Sophfronia is a paragon of consistency and devotion to her craft as a writer. It was so cool to talk to her about the importance of taking our work seriously, because, as you'll see in this interview, there's a lot at stake when you're called to creative work.

In this interview, we talk about:

what to do when essay or story ideas come to you in the shower
how to breathe new life into a classic tale
steps you can take to honor your writing life
the importance of non-writing writing and what she calls "creativity play dates"
how being a "project-oriented" writer can ease overwhelm so you can show up and do the work

Plus, Sophfronia offers a kick-in-the-butt pep-talk for writers at the very end, so you'll want to watch all the way through.

The Writing Life, The Science of Habit, Spiritual Writing, InterviewsRenee LongAugust 20, 2019Comment

How to Jump-Start a Writing Habit in 60 Seconds

Creative work requires risk. It requires vulnerability. It requires an unmooring of epic proportions. It requires dancing with the lightest of light and the darkest of dark.

This is why great writers cling to grounding habits because ritual provides certainty and a refuge from the uncharted space of creation. Writers cling to ritual so they can show up to the page with courage… where the most intense nightmares and fantasies come alive.

As Flannery O’Connor said, “Routine is a condition of survival.”

If you’re ready to start showing up for your creative work, ready to create a consistent writing routine that overcomes procrastination and helps you finish projects, here’s a simple way to make your writing habit stick in 60-seconds.

The 7 Muscles of Highly Fruitful Writers

Many non-writing writers are so weighed down with fear, unworthiness, and overwhelm that “just write” sounds like “climb Mount Everest without oxygen.”

They give up before they begin.

Fruitful and productive writers have an intrinsic muscle set that helps them write with courage, keep the ass in the chair, and finish their most cherished projects.

Writing Routines, The Writing Life, The Science of HabitRenee LongJanuary 11, 2019Comment

The One Tool You Need To Overcome Fear Of Uncertainty

I love a good plan. I love checklists, maps, itineraries, and tables of contents. Why? Because I want to know what I’m getting into. I want to be prepared.

Because I hate uncertainty.

Uncertainty by nature involves risk and potential for pain and suffering. This makes me very scared. Uncertainty makes me want to crawl into my solid bed, under my real covers, and remain in the present moment in the fetal position. This helps for a few minutes, but if I stay there, I don’t move forward.

Writing Routines, The Science of HabitRenee LongOctober 11, 2018Comment

How to Overcome Writer’s Block and Burnout

Recently, I watched an interview with Roxane Gay where she was asked if she’s experienced writer’s block. She responded, “Yes, I’ve been having writer’s block for two years now. I can write through it, but it’s shitty writing. It’s hard.” This incredible writer, who has inspired millions, writes through writer's block, and has produced a lot in the last two years, including her best selling memoir, Hunger.

1 Simple Thing You Can Do Today To Help Your Writing Practice

One reason it’s hard to get “butts in the chair” and “just write” is because, unless we have a solid routine in place, we must choose to write. Decision making eats up precious glucose in the brain. Each decision you make throughout the day is a deposit from your willpower bank account. Habits remove decision making from the equation.

The Science of Habit, Writing Routines, Writing HacksRenee LongJuly 17, 2018 Comments