Honorée Corder
If you’ve been reading this column for a while and focusing on shifting your money mindset, you might have experienced a shift in your productivity too.
Perhaps you are now thinking, “How can I take it to the next level?” More specifically, “How can I get into some serious writing abundance?”
As an author, you want more words … because more words equals more books, right? More books means growth for your author business and a chance to see that shift in your money mindset pay dividends. The good news here—and it’s all good news—is that stepping into the flow of abundance can be fast and easy.
It may take time, but in just three steps, you can train yourself to write with abundance.
Step One: Choose your word count. You need more words, but how many more do you need? Pick a word count you can, almost without effort, write every single day. Hint: make it easy to succeed and hard to fail. Stephen King writes 2,500 words every day, so that’s easy for him. For me, when I’m writing a book, I strive for one thousand words a day. That’s after almost twenty years; if I were starting now, I’d focus on writing one hundred words—yep, just one hundred. It shouldn’t be an astounding number; pick a goal you know you can hit, no matter what.
Step Two: Start your streak. Set a goal to write your words every single day for thirty days. One day will become two, seven will become twenty, and twenty will become thirty. Print out a calendar and mark off the days you’ve completed your writing, or use an app like Habit Tracker. The bonus benefit of using an app is you can set a reminder for later in the day, just in case you get off-track. More than once, I’ve kept one of my streaks in the very last moments before my head hit the pillow.
Step Three: Schedule your writing. An intention without an appointment is like a wish without a plan. My daily writing hour begins at 5:30 a.m. The coffeepot and teapot are set up the night before, my work-in-progress is the only document open on my computer, and my alarm sounds at 5:25 a.m. that it’s time for refills and words. What gets measured gets done, as does what is scheduled. Make your writing the priority you say that it is, and the words will indeed flow in abundance.
Of course, life happens. If you miss one day, just don’t miss two. If you miss two days, press the reset button, and for the love of book launches, don’t miss three! Remember why you wanted to do all of this writing in the first place. Take a deep breath, put your shoulders back, and write.
The Benefits
There are tons of benefits to setting a word count goal, having a streak, and checking off those thirty days of writing. But allow me to share one very important benefit: you will feel absolutely incredible. You will have proven to yourself, beyond any doubt, that you can write an abundance of words—because you will have done it. The self-confidence that will follow this accomplishment will astound you.
With some focus and dedication, an abundance of words will flow from your fingertips, and when they do, I hope you’ll write and tell me all about it.
Honorée Corder
