How I Use a Writing Group to Embrace My Writing Routine

Use a writing group to help you achieve your writing routine goals.

Cultivating a writing routine that honors your vision and works for your life can boost your confidence. You might write every morning, only on Saturday afternoons, or when you're commuting to and from your day-job.

Whatever the routine, we often work by ourselves.

And that's my problem.

I've found that being alone in this practice has drawbacks--so much so that when I finally had the time to write, I was struggling to maintain a regular writing practice. (You'd think I would have jumped in with both feet--at last! Nope.☹️ ) Instead of writing, I'd find anything else to do--weed (and I hate weeding!), or doom scroll (🤮), or read (in full disclosure, I enjoyed that distraction). Still, I didn't write.

For a while I thought I was a failure because I couldn't meet my schedule. But then, I learned how helpful my writing contacts can be--especially an accountability group that I belong to. Each week, I get the chance to check in with generous folks who don't judge but understand the challenges of prioritizing writing. As a result, I've been better able to maintain a schedule and produce work. (Check out a few highlights here.)

This is what worked for me:

1. Set Goals. I set weekly writing goals, and I share those goals with writing buddies. Sometimes my goals are a number of words. Other times, I target a milestone (say, edit a particular chapter) by a certain date. Just articulating what I want to achieve with other writers is very motivating.

   
   

2. Write Together. Writing with others is one of the most effective ways to build a good writing habit. I'm very lucky as a member of Sisters in Crime, which holds write-in sessions every week. I make a plan and block the time in my calendar. To be honest, I don't always make these sessions--sometimes I'm on a roll with my work and I don't want to disrupt my focus, and sometimes my schedule doesn't cooperate and I can't be at my laptop at the designated time. But when I do, I find the shared experience energizes me on my project.

   
   

3. Share Your Fails. Nobody fulfills their writing routine perfectly all the time. Schedules change. Weather interrupts. Jobs demand. Families and friends need attention. But I discovered when I shared with my writing buddies what's not working, they responded with empathy and stories of their own. This normalizes any hiccups, and instead of stewing in what I didn't do, I'm back to writing with more enthusiasm for the next week.

   
   

All this to say: Your writing group can be a wonderful resource for encouragement and support so that you can set up a routine that works for you and keep at it.

Let me know in the comments how you maintain your writing routine.