This article is part of my guest post blog tour. You can find this article on Beverley A. Baird’s blog https://beverleyabaird.wordpress.com
Do you remember always asking your parents, “why?” You wanted to know why you had to eat your vegetables, why you had to go to bed so early, and why you could not play longer outside. When you wanted more information, you always asked why.
As a writer, I realized that must be just as persistent when something in my writing life is not working. When I find it hard to write blog posts, magazine articles, or my next book, ask myself, “why.”
In my work as a certified Six-Sigma communicator, I love helping people find new ways to improve their plans, projects, and writing. Change is my thing, so when I hear writers tell me how hard it is for them to finish their writing projects, I immediately ask “why?”
Change begins with me
Last year I wanted to understand my inability to finish personal writing projects. I started by asking myself why I lose interest so easily. My list of reasons included too much work, family obligations like taking my son to swim practice, and two workouts per day. The list was long and revealed one important thing—most of my reasons were excuses.
But why have I relied on these excuses for so long? I turned to an exercise I like to use with clients to solve problems called “5 Whys.” You begin with a problem and with each answer you ask “why” to drill down to find the root cause of the problem.
Here’s a glimpse at my “5 Whys” exercise on my inability to write my book.
Question #1: Why did you stop writing your last book?
Answer: Because I was waiting to find the right time during the day to write.
Question #2: Why did you wait to find the right time each day?
Answer: Since every day is different, I am afraid I cannot get anything accomplished because of possible interruptions.
Question #3: Why do you allow possible interruptions to stop you from writing?
Answer: Because I want to write at least 2,500 words every time I sit down to write.
Question #4: Why do you want to write 2,500 words every time you sit down to write?
Answer: Because I read articles about writers who can write between 2,500 to 3,500 words per day. If I can write 2,500 words per day, I can finish writing my book in 30 days.
Question #5: Why is it important for you to finish writing your book in 30 days?
Answer: I don’t know.
Whoa! Did I stop writing because I was afraid I wouldn’t meet a daily word count and finish writing my book in 30 days? It blew me away.
At that moment, I knew I had to change my approach to writing.
How I improved my writing life
The first thing I did to improve my writing life was to get rid of the idea I had to be like other writers. Second, I stopped focusing on writing 2,500 words per day. With those two decisions, I completely changed the trajectory of my writing life.
I created a new writing habit which included one key component: I focused on writing in the morning for two hours every day. I chose two hours in the mornings because it’s when I have the most energy to write.
Whether I wrote 500 words or 2,000 during that time did not matter. What mattered most was showing up every day to write for two hours.
The result: I finished writing my first book in less than 90 days.
Time to act
Analyze your current writing life to determine what works and what doesn’t work. Once you find the problem, ask yourself “why” to find the root cause. Be honest with yourself. Determine what small actions you will take to improve.
Karen Brown Tyson is the author of, Time to Refresh: A 21-Day Devotional to Renew Your Mind After Being Laid Off, Fired or Sidelined.
She works online, in person and by phone as a communication and writing coach and helps her entrepreneurial clientele focus on business and nonfiction writing.
