The Number One Reason You Aren’t Truly a Writer

Lots of people say they are writers, but they aren’t. Not really. After all, writers write, and they aren’t writing consistently. If, like them, you claim to be a writer but don’t produce written words several times per week (or daily), you are not a writer…yet.

I’m not talking about being an author. An author is a writer who has published their work. I’m talking about being a writer—someone who writes consistently. And the number one reason you aren’t one yet is because you aren’t writing.

But that fact can be changed. That condition can be remedied.

A Simple—Not Easy—Solution

So, how do you become a writer? Write.

Sounds simple, right? Yes, but not easy.

If it was easy, more self-proclaimed writers would be writing. Instead, they procrastinate, avoid, start and stop, question themselves and their ideas, feel like imposters, and never complete what they start.

That’s why I thought it was time to address “how to be a writer.”

Develop a Writing Habit

I bet you’ve tried to develop a writing habit…and failed…or you wouldn’t be reading this post. Yet, writers have the habit of writing. So, to be a writer, you must develop this habit.

Experts say it takes a long time to develop a habit. In many cases, that’s true.

It could take a month; some claim a habit is formed in 30 to 40 days. It could take you most of a year; others claim it takes 200 days or more.

Everyone agrees you have to start doing the thing—in this case, writing. And then you have to repeat that action over and over again. Eventually, the action becomes rote. You do it without thinking about if you should, will, won’t, want to, or can.

As Nike likes to say, you “just do it.”

Two Habit Formation Factors

How long it takes to develop a writing habit depends on many things. However, two facts play a foundational role in whether or not you develop a habit.

The first is your motivation. Why you want to write. Why is writing important to you? What do you hope to accomplish by being a writer?

If you aren’t writing consistently now, it is likely unimportant to you. If it were, you’d be writing. So, ask yourself if writing is important to you or if it is just a nice idea or something someone told you to do. Is the motivation internal or external?

Second, developing a writing habit often hinges on your commitment level. You might say you are committed to being a writer, but if that were true, you’d write consistently. You’d already have a writing habit. So, are you really committed? Answer that question.

If you want to know what you are committed to, look at your current habits. The activities to which you are committed become habits. If you are committed to writing, it’s already a habit. But maybe you are committed to something else, like procrastination, social media scrolling, or making excuses about why today is not a good day to write.

Get really, really honest with yourself.

Then, put your motivation and commitment to use and start forming a writing habit.

How to Create a Writing Habit

You probably already realize that to develop a writing habit, you have to write consistently on some sort of schedule. Daily, every other day, four times per week…whatever schedule suits you best.

Set a writing schedule, and stick to it. That’s it.

No excuses.

After you write consistently for a while, you will discover you no longer ask yourself daily, “Should I write today?” or “When will I write today.” You will no longer say, “I think I’ll take today off and write tomorrow instead,” or “I don’t feel like writing today,” or “I have too much to do today; I can’t write.”

“To write or not to write?” will no longer be a question you ask repeatedly.

Instead, you will write…as writers do.

The Fastest Path to a Writing Habit

There is another…faster…way to a writing habit. It involves a reversed process.

The abovementioned process involves writing consistently, so you develop a writing habit and become a writer. Most experts and coaches advise this route.

Instead, become a writer. Be a writer. Choose “writer” as your identity—who you are. Then, you will naturally have a writing habit because writers write consistently.

If “writer” is your identity, then you are someone who writes. Again, there is no need to question if or when you will write today, tomorrow, or the next day because that is what you do. You have the habit of writing because you are a writer.

With this process, you don’t need to wait for a habit to form or work hard or long to create one. That habit of writing flows naturally out of your identity.

After all, writers write. If you are a writer, it logically follows that you write and have a writing habit.

Not only that, but because you are a writer, you feel motivated to write. You are committed to writing.

You write. Period.

Writers write.

That reason you aren’t a writer…because you don’t write? Poof! It’s gone!

As long as you identify as a writer, you will write. When you tell people you are a writer, that description will be true because you have a habit of writing. You write, and you write consistently without fail.

Are you a writer? (Do you write habitually?) If not, why? Tell me why in a comment below. And, please share this post with a writer who might benefit from reading it.

Photo courtesy of tinapob.