Five good writing habits to practice on Fridays in 2022

I want to start this article off by saying that it is not about getting writing done, but having good writing habits. These habits can be started on any day of the week, but it is especially important to do them on a Friday since that is the end of your workweek.

Getting writing done isn’t necessarily a habit, of course. It’s an action item that needs to get taken care of before you can move on. You need to write regularly in order to hone your craft, but if you do that with bad habits in place, then it all becomes pointless.

So let’s say that you’re trying to get writing done and failing because of certain problems in your writing habits. What are some things that might be holding you back? Here are five good writing habits to practice on Fridays in 2022.

1. Finish up your work week strong by writing 500 words on anything you want (editing is allowed)

The best way to end the week is by getting some writing done, but how can you do that when you’re already at the end of the workweek? If you’ve had a lot of distractions during the day and haven’t been able to get any writing done, then you must have a lot of free time right before midnight that you can use to write.

You might not have anything particular in mind that you want to write about. That’s okay! If it’s Friday, then just go ahead and write 500 words on anything at all. It doesn’t even have to be related to your novel. If you’re more of a poet, then go ahead and write some poems. If you don’t want to write at all, then just edit whatever work you did get done earlier in the week.

2. Read for 1 hour every day (20 minutes if it’s inconvenient)

It doesn’t matter if you read every day on the weekends, but if you read anything during the weekdays then it’s going to be a struggle to keep that up. How can you find time for reading when your schedule is filled with meetings and deadlines?

If you’re able to squeeze in an hour of reading each weekday, then do that. We all know that we’re not going to read during that once hour break that we take at work. However, if you manage to find 20 minutes throughout the day to read something, then do it. It’s better than no reading at all.

3. Put together your writing schedule for next week before Saturday rolls around

Before you know it, it’ll be Saturday and you’ll be wondering what you’re going to do differently the next week. The best thing to do is look at your writing schedule so far and pick out what you’ve been doing well with.

If you can’t think of anything, then that’s okay too! Just plan out a general idea of what you want to accomplish during the week. It doesn’t have to be anything specific, just some vague sense of what you want to get done next week so that you know what to work on when Sunday rolls around again.

4. Read your favorite writing blog for 10 minutes before bed

If you’re really struggling with procrastination and distractions, then this is the perfect solution for you. Just set aside 10 minutes to read your favorite writing blog before bedtime. It can be an article that you had bookmarked, or a comment on someone else’s blog that you want to read more of.

However, there is one rule: don’t ever read comments! That will just end up giving you more things to worry about and it’s all too easy to get sucked into a comment section war.

5. Write for 30 minutes on your novel before you do anything else

Just write! Don’t worry about editing or revising your work, just write as much as you can during those 30 minutes. It might be difficult at first if you’re not used to writing in long stretches, but it’s a great way to get yourself warmed up.

Again, you don’t want to spend too much time on this exercise. At most, just write 1,000 words every day before editing or doing anything else. It’ll be hard at first to get into that mindset of just writing without thinking about revising, but you’ll find it helps you to get your thoughts down on the page so that you can work with them later.

If this still doesn’t hold your attention, then try something else: write 100 words a day and see if that’s enough to motivate you. Or try writing for 20 minutes each weekday and an hour on Saturday instead. You have a lot of options! Just pick one and stick with it.

Conclusion

These are just a few things that I’ve found to be helpful when it comes to getting writing done. It’s difficult but not impossible, so the next time you feel tired or sleepy, then open up your word processor and start typing away! You’ll thank yourself for it later.

I hope this helped someone out there, and feel free to comment below if you have any questions or suggestions of your own!

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