Why Every New Writer Should Write Daily
This is the number one piece of advice I have for you if you are starting out
I again stared down the barrel of outlandish claims about writing in my morning feed. Some excellent titles got me to click through.
Yet, when I got into them, they were the same old garbage—telling me to write about wealth, health, and relationships—or encouraging me to check out the latest writing platform that pays.
Again, I found titles talking about making thousands of dollars a month with faceless YouTube channels, Instagram campaigns, and Gumroad. Every one of them made huge promises.
It’s all the same.
The problem is, it’s the same old information. Nothing is ever really brand new. Most of the time, people who do find a ‘new’ idea aren’t sharing about it until they have made a killing at it.
Then, people start copying their ideas/articles/models and make money off of them until everyone is doing it. We have seen this on Medium, NewsBreak, and other platforms.
Ultimately, every significant promise is a copy of the original but with fewer results because more people are doing this thing or that thing.
What makes the difference?
Okay, I am not going to provide you with a groundbreaking idea. What I will give you is the most honest piece of advice I have for you. It is the one thing that makes the difference for every writer.
Here is what you need to do every day to find success as a writer:
You need to write every day.
You don’t need to do much else other than write. And you need to do it every day. It needs to be something that will help you practice. The more time you spend writing, the better you will get at it.
To be successful at writing, you need to work every day. If you were to write every day for a year, you would be crazy better after 365 days.
What does it look like to write every day?
Now, here is my dirty little secret. Writing every day doesn’t have to be complicated. It only needs to be exponential. You need to improve or do more each day, week, month, or year.
For example, if you are starting, you may commit to writing 300 words daily. Do that for a week or a month. Then, the next week or month, up that number to 350 words per day. Keep this up until you reach your sweet spot.
Another example might look like writing one post a day for a month. It doesn’t matter if it is ten words or a thousand words. Just write it, do a quick edit and publish it. Then the next month, try to improve your quality and step back on how often you post.
If you write every single day with a goal, you WILL become a better writer and find success.
What happens over time is that your quality gets better with quantity. This will help you grow a following. It will move the needle closer to your goal or dream as a writer. But it has to be done every day.
Why do I say write every day?
Sure, you could write only on weekends. Or once every couple of days. But the problem with this approach is how easy it is to get derailed from your goals. You might do well for a month or two.
But then, you get a cold, or your day job gets tough. Suddenly, you miss a week or two in a row. And now, you have to restart. It is harder to continue when you have not written regularly for a long time.
So, I suggest you write daily and start with a small goal. Writing is like a water facet. It takes a little bit to get the hot water going when you turn the water on. The same goes for writing success.
It’s not hot right away. You need to turn it on and let it run a little while.
Final Thoughts on Writing every day
Ultimately, you need to do what will work for you.
However, it is in every writer’s best interest to write daily. Doing this one practice every day will multiply your abilities quickly and effectively. It will shorten the time it takes to become a better writer.
This is especially true for any writer who wants to write a book.
If you want to write books, you need to do some foundational work with growing an audience. That takes time. However, you can work on writing your book once you have started.
I share more about writing books with my paid subscription on Substack! I would love you to join me to start writing your book today!
J.R. Heimbigner is a #1 Bestselling Author on Amazon who loves helping people grow in their faith and help writers become authors. You can connect with him on Medium, his website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Substack!
If you like this newsletter, check out my free and paid offerings on Gumroad!
Wow, this was like reading something I wrote myself. It resonated with me deeply!
I'm with you. I've been knocking about long enough to be tired of the same ol' marketing and "make money online" methods. There is truly nothing new under the sun!
I'm at the point where I try to steer clear of anything that resembles the same old, like you say, garbage!
A few years back, my assistant did this thing where she wrote every day to her email list. She ended up writing an entire book with the content she created. I did something similar when I first started my YouTube Channel where I published a new video daily for 100 days in a row.
Writing every day makes you an absolute content and idea machine. It's a great way to avoid becoming one of those people regurgitating that hot garbage neither of us are fond of.
Great post, Jack!
Sometimes the best thing to do when you get started is to just do things. As time goes on, you will get better or realize it isn’t for you. I’m taking this approach with some other new projects that are coming up for me in October. I’m excited to see how it goes!