Consistency is a word that comes up often when people talk about writing. We're told that it's all about consistency, which means showing up every day and writing for a set number of hours or words.
I always believed that was true, yet I constantly struggled to maintain the discipline of a daily writing streak. Then I read something that blew that belief away and not only makes way more sense, but also makes building a writing habit so much easier.
This is the quote that I read:
"In theory, consistency is about being disciplined, determined, and unwavering.
In practice, consistency is about being adaptable. Don't have much time? Scale it down. Don't have much energy? Do the easy version. Find different ways to show up depending on the circumstances. Let your habits change shape to meet the demands of the day.
Adaptability is the way of consistency."
~ James Clear
Once I read that, it became so obvious how wrong the belief is that consistency means strictly keeping to a daily set number of hours or words. I mean, sure, it may work for some people, but it doesn't work for me.
Life gets in the way of my plans all the time, making it hard to stick to a rigid target.
And I was looking at it the wrong way.
Consistency doesn't mean adhering to a strict schedule. It simply means turning up every day, which is pretty much what I do. Some days I work more than other days, and some days I don't do much at all.
Just the other day I was feeling guilty because I'd slept badly the night before and felt tired all day. I had a meeting with someone that morning, which was scheduled for 2 hours but took an hour longer than expected, and then Dean and I had to go and buy a few things we needed for the work we're doing on our house at the moment.
By the time we got home, took everything out of the car, had lunch and did the dishes, it was late afternoon, and I was exhausted and almost fell asleep as soon as I sat down. So no writing got done. I just looked over a few things, made a few notes, checked my emails, and left it at that.
At first, I felt disappointed, but then I realised there's no point in stressing about it. I usually aim for a minimum of 2 hours of writing every day, but days like the previously mentioned one don't leave mental or physical room for 2 hours of focused work. Most days I do manage it easily - often I do more.
The reason I aim for a minimum of 2 hours writing every day is because that's all it takes to be a prolific writer.
But I also need to be adaptable to whatever life throws at me.
So for me, as James Clear said, consistency means showing up every day, no matter what or for how long.
That way I can keep writing fun, because if it's not fun, it's not sustainable.
Goodbye Writer's Block
How to Be a Creative Genius and Have an Abundance of Ideas Plus the Inspiration and Motivation to Writehttps://cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/WB.html
