The 8-Minute Writing Habit

Steemit has really rekindled my love of writing. Being able to get paid for writing about things that interest you and you are passionate about is amazing. However, my increased writing has only been for Steemit. While this is, overall, a positive thing, there are still other projects that I want to get started that have fallen to the wayside.

For instance, for the last month, I have been wanting to write a short ebook on cryptocurrency, but have never got around to it. No matter how much time I have available, I never seem to get started. Maybe you have experienced this phenomenon as well.

So I had to think of a way to get started on this thing once and for all. And then I remembered a book that has been sitting on my Kindle for about a year. It is called The 8-Minute Writing Habit. I went searching for it and found it, sitting there next to the unread biography of Steve Jobs and the partially-read collection of Hemingway short stories.

It was at this point I decided to do something highly unusual. I decided to actually read an entire book that I had paid for. Crazy, I know.

In a nutshell, the book lays out the argument that while we all say that we have no time to write, we all can carve out eight minutes to dedicate to one project. Eight minutes may not seem like enough time to get anything of significance done, but you would be surprised.

Today I decided to give it a try and was pleasantly surprised to see that I had written 215 words in only eight minutes. That is 215 more words than I have written for the project in the entire month since I decided to begin.

Writing for those eight minutes in the morning has also given me some momentum that I have taken with me throughout the day. I have also been thinking about the ebook and have a lot more ideas to add to it. I am actually excited to get back to work on it and that hasn’t happened in quite a while.

The 8-Minute Writing Habit has already paid dividends and I highly recommend it.

Love this idea. Once writing becomes a habit, I bet you'll be doubling that word count.

Procrastinating -- an 8 hour habit -- is one I have to kick!

In all seriousness, when I am working on a book project I try to leave off for the day on a paragraph I'm excited about so that starting the next day does not feel like torture. Instead, I'm motivated to get back to it.

Upvoted!

That's a good idea. I need to try that.

Ooo, like a personal cliff-hanger. I like this idea too. Will likely help me when it comes time to write out episodes. Thanks for sharing! ^_^

That's a much better way to describe it. Exactly!

Great advice! I find that I can get a lot done if I just make myself start with a promise that I only have to work for 10min. Sometimes I only work for those 10 minutes but often I find myself working longer and getting even more done.

I want to get to that place. It was a little difficult to get started but the eight minutes went by pretty quick.

I appreciate your content! Upvoted and following you now!

Thank you so much! Followed you right back.

I like this 8-minute idea. In my experience, if I can get started, I can slip into a groove of sorts and keep going until something forces me to stop (usually something to remind me that I'm living in a biological body). So maybe this can be the way that gets me started every day. Thanks for the tip. ^_^

I've heard that, too. Once you start writing you get into a flow and pretty soon you realize a lot of time has passed.

Finding out about Steem was exactly what I needed to get back into the habit of writing daily.

I've come across some really nicely formatted posts, with images and icons, and people requesting a more advanced editor but I personally love how simple and minimalist the process of creating a story on Steemit has been designed to be.

Just type away. Don't think too hard. And publish.

Simple and elegant.