10 Powerful Ways to Be a Better Writer in 2021

1. Start Your Day Early

Starting your day early will give your life the head start it needs.

How you spend the early hours of your day also sets the stage for your entire day.

So start rolling in the early hours and get your creative gears in full swing.

2. Build a Routine

Routines are energy savers. They require less of your precious willpower reserves. Cal Newport is a living example of making this work. Benjamin Franklin also attributed much of his success to his lifestyle.

Squeeze your ordinary non-value-adding activities into a routine. Don’t give them more than a specific slice of your life.

3. Write Every Single Day

If you ever feel like you need the motivation to write, remember that Steven King writes even on Christmas. And he is not alone. The daily writing habits of these authors are proof that it works.

4. Read Obsessively

Writing is a manifestation of what you read. The more you read, the stronger your writing becomes.

5. Carry a Notebook

Notebooks are the most underappreciated tools in a writer’s toolbox. They help carry your “mind junk” in written form. Authors have relied on “mind junk” in search of their best ideas over millennia.

Take charge of your mind junk today.

6. Put up a Meal Plan

Eating right could mean different things to different authors. For Agatha Christie, it included apples in the bath. Victor Hugo broke two eggs into his morning coffee.

The best thing about meal plans is that they take away the nagging worry about what to eat next and replace it with high-energy foods to fuel your entire day.

7. Overcome Perfection Paralysis

If you spend more time writing, editing and rewriting, you may be suffering from perfection paralysis. Perfection is good, but when it burdens you with unrealistic expectations, it becomes a recipe for disaster.

Address this head-on by learning your way around it.

8. Embrace Solitude

If there was ONE habit that sets the highly creatives apart from the crowd, it’s solitude.

In the absence of social relationship, the mind is forced to wander into places it dared not wander before.

Spend at least a few hours every week on your own. Take a daily stroll, watch the sunset at the beach, or stargaze into the night. Find your own formula that works.

9. Introduce Novelty

Novelty offers a fresh perspective to ordinary things. It sharpens your focus and increases the importance of your writing goals. Great authors are known to have practiced this.

Even better, lock yourself up in a secret hideout and flush out your best ideas!

10. Cut Back on Social Media

Social media is intended to be addictive. And the daily scroll is detrimental to your well-being.

Closely monitor the time you spend on social media. Self-imposed rules such as checking social only twice a day or spending less than 15 minutes every day can do wonders for your productivity.