Tips for Writers to Stay Focused & Build Discipline.

This article may contain affiliate links. This means we might make a small commission on anything you buy through a link on this page. This comes at no extra cost to you. Commissions help us to run our free 7 Day Story Writing Challenges.

Article by: Raeesah Chandlay, freelance writer at Globe Soup.

Today is the day. You carved out some time in your busy schedule and a quaint little space in the bedroom, lounge, or home office—perhaps in bed— your idyllic writing haven. Your very own literary sanctuary. You burnt the sage, lit the incense, and poured a cuppa your favourite warm beverage or glass of red, maybe even a tot of the green fairy to get the juices flowing. Then you proceeded to listen to an hour-long podcast on “How to Stop Procrastinating,” “Motivation Hacks” or “Interesting Facts about the Hundred Years’ War You Never Knew.” 

Believe me, I get it. Whether you’ve always wanted to see your name on the spine of a book cover in a Barnes & Noble, or you just have a burning story idea (or several), slowly rusting away in the back of your mind with all the others you neatly boxed, catalogued, and packed into the dream vault, never to see the insides of any bookstore. One thing is becoming clear—getting the words out is not as easy as Wednesday Adams makes it seem as she prods away at her annoyingly awesome vintage typewriter.

While preparing your environment for an impending literary onslaught can be helpful, you may have realised your need for a new or different approach to sharpen your focus and cultivate discipline—two very important arrows in the quiver of an aspiring fiction writer.

Why do Writers Procrastinate So Much?

Well, give us a break. Everyone procrastinates. But it certainly seems like as writers, we deserve a special award for el arte de la procrastinación. And yes, of course, it is an art—one we’ve spent years honing and perfecting, and we are now master-level procrastinators who can put off writing by listening to history podcasts or by organising our organisers.

But this is what they don’t tell you in the Procrastinator's Anonymous class you never got around to attending. You’re NOT lazy. Recent studies have shown that procrastination is, in fact, an emotional regulation issue and has little to do with laziness or time management.

We tend to put off things we find difficult or intimidating. The more passionate we are about something, the greater our fear of failure. And so, we turn to activities that make us feel better in the moment. This fear-based response gets us caught in a dreadful cycle of procrastination and guilt. The good news is that understanding why we procrastinate can help us overcome it. And yes, you can actually learn to stop procrastinating. Huzzah!

Neuroscientist Dr Christian Jarrett and editor of Psyche Magazine says, “The key is to make your focus as simple as ‘What’s the next action?’” The idea behind this approach is that the “simple next step” is less scary and “will take your mind off your feelings and onto an easily achievable action.” Getting started is the hard part. Once you’ve taken the first step, the floodgates tend to open, and it becomes easier to build momentum.

But What is the First Step?

Just start writing. You’ve heard this one before, and if you’re a sceptic too, you probably rolled your eyes. No doy, right? I mean, if it were that simple…

So again, we turn to science and glorious, wonderful, sexy biology.

Did you know that writing by hand improves cognition and stimulates creativity? If you’re struggling to get the first words out, try putting good old-fashioned pen to paper. It doesn’t even have to be full sentences. You could create a brainstorm or do a word or brain dump or a concept sketch—whatever you fancy. Offload your ideas into a veritable, Jackson-Pollock-style hodgepodge of creativity, then let your brain elves work their magic.

Find your Writing Motivation (Or Create Your Own)

It is said that motivation often arises as a result of action. However, as we’ve established, many writers genuinely struggle to take that all-important first step. The pressure of a deadline can be a lot sometimes, but it can also be a helpful kick in the butt for those who need it. And it need not be a drag. 

Contests and challenges are a fun way to push yourself to write. Of course, the prizes make for cool incentives but merely participating can be a thrilling experience, and at the very least, you will have a completed story at the end. 

My very first story was for Globe Soup’s 7-day Short Story Writing Challenge. Before that, all I had was an accumulation of idea bunnies and unfinished stories collecting cobwebs around my frontal lobe or growing mould amid old pictures in the abyss of an old hard drive.

You can also set your own deadlines and targets. Just be sure to keep them realistic, even if that means starting with a hundred words per day until you figure out your process and start to build discipline. Because that’s the goal here. Ultimately, you cannot keep waiting for the motivation to strike. A very wise woman (or dream ghost or magical forest fairy—can’t remember) once said…

“Motivation is fickle. Discipline is something you can bank on.”

The Process of Finding Your Process

This is likely not the first blog post, article, or piece of advice you’ve turned to while dawdling around your first (or next) chapter. And perhaps you’re tired of hearing about every other new method or technique or app (or hack) to help you get words onto the terrifying blank canvas before you that makes you feel like maybe you are just not cut out to be a writer. I mean if you are a “real writer” why is it so hard? It should come more naturally, right? Wrong! Many great writers have had to a) overcome their personal writer demons and b) figure out their own writing process, whether consciously or subconsciously.

But this sounds like a lot of work. Is there perhaps an easier way? Don’t be silly. Figuring out your process is often a process in itself. There are, however, ways in which you can make this process simpler. And the first step is getting to know you and understanding your individual writerly needs.

A Tailored Approach to Building Discipline as a Writer

There exists in this world a marvellous creature. One that wakes up before the first rooster cocks its doodle doo. This creature makes its bed and does its morning yoga while the rest of us are still fumbling for the snooze button. It pours a mugful of matcha, then plops itself behind a desk where it voraciously stabs away at a keyboard for hours. Yes, a marvellous creature indeed. But man, do we hate that guy. Of course, we want to be that guy. Or maybe we are that guy. That is, up until the part where he drinks the weird green tea and becomes a productive force of nature (no correlation), and we have no idea how in the hell he is doing that.

But discipline does not look the same for everyone. Most writers have day jobs, mounds of responsibility, or just general life to deal with. And that last category may include things that make aspects like discipline and focus very challenging. For some writers, issues like chronic pain, or mental illness, or even a chaotic home life can make “writing time” seem like a luxury well out of reach. But what it often means is that you likely have very specific needs—things that would help or enable you to show up and write. This could be true for all of us, although for some, definitely more so than for others. 

Techniques such as Time Blocking and the Pomodoro Method can be highly effective in helping us become time-management pros or achieving Master Shifu-level focus. But because we’re all so different, there really is no one-size-fits-all approach.

Many of us thrive when we have some form of structure to help us break down our daily lives into manageable chunks. But others would sooner eat their calendars than follow a schedule. And for some, it is just not possible to plan their time or set aside a specific time of day for writing, so they have to grab whatever spare moments crop up amid the chaos and run with it.

We also differ in that we all “function our best” at different times during the day. So if you’re not a morning person, no matter. You don’t have to join the 5 am club. Part of this introspective exercise could be determining your very own circadian rhythm.

Figuring out your individual needs and then finding ways to meet them can take time. And that’s okay. Remind yourself that while writing comes with its challenges, it can also be an incredible outlet. And once you have put into place whatever it is that you need to show up, and once you have worked out your process, you will have your own personal cathartic egress in which to channel your energy and from which to create your masterpiece.

Discipline is a Work in Progress

Like with most things in life, discipline is something you have to learn. Sure, we envy that matcha-chugging, early-rising guru-like litterateur who seems like he always just has it together. But if it doesn’t come naturally, then it is something we have to cultivate, and that doesn’t happen overnight. Especially if, like me, you are easily distracted. You can turn off your phone, shut out the world, and block out every potential distraction. But then a weird squirrel runs by your window, and of course, you’re going follow it into the veld because it is in your nature to chase random squirrels when you should be writing.

Discipline is something you have to consistently work on improving. Everyday. This is how habits are cultivated. You will suck at it in the beginning. You will veer off course, you will chase the squirrel, and you will get mad at yourself. But then you scratch the day off the calendar and try again. And before realising it, you will become the crazy, day-seizing slayer of a writer you never thought you could be.

Forget About Your Novel (For Now) & Write a Short Story

You may be tempted to dive right into the novel you’ve always wanted to write, but it might be a good idea to start with smaller goals. Writing a novel can be daunting for both novice and experienced writers. For many would-be novelists, the mere thought of where to begin such an endeavour can be enough to keep them from putting pen to paper. This is but one reason why short stories are just the coolest, most magical, most awesome pieces of literary art in the whole world, for reals. 

Not only is a short story something you could read while waiting for your beans burrito or taking a quick fifteen, but it is also something you could write in a short space of time—an achievable goal right at your fingertips.

In the Globe Soup course, How to Write Stories that Win Contests, a short story is defined as “a piece of prose fiction consisting of a self-contained incident (or series of connected events) that evokes a specific feeling, conveys a particular mood, addresses a theme, explores a concept, or creates some combination of these effects while maintaining a unified, singular focus.” Short stories can be anything from a thousand to ten thousand words in length. You could also dabble in drabbles, try your hand at flash, or even microfiction—teeny-tiny, bite-sized stories comprising just a few words. 

None of this necessarily makes writing shorter works of fiction easier, as each of these types of stories requires a specific approach to be executed effectively.  But they allow you to break into the literary world, dip your toes in different genres, develop your skills as a writer, and most of all they can give you that satisfying feeling of completing a task. According to research, such “rewards” help keep you motivated. So your next story is just one delicious dopamine hit away. 

In this way, you can gradually work up to the challenge of writing a novel (if that is something you’re aiming for). And as a bonus, by then you will have become an even better, more disciplined writer, having taken the time to work on your craft and find your groove.

Final Thoughts

Many creatives view methods, tools, and processes to cultivate discipline as rigid and may see them as obstacles that could block their creativity. But in actual fact, building discipline can really help us learn to focus, find our flow, and increase our productivity as creators so that we may put our stories out into the world. And to quote Maya Angelou on creativity…

“The more you use, the more you have.”

Now marshal your mind and write that story!

Raeesah Chandlay is a somewhat feral conservationist and climate activist, channelling her burgeoning eco-anxiety into art, short fiction, and other creative escapades. Follow her on Instagram!