30-Day Writing Habit Challenge!

Missy Tippens

Are you looking to develop or maintain a writing habit? This post is for you! Whether you’re writing madly right now with NaNoWriMo and want to continue the habit, or you’re not writing at all, I hope today’s post will help. PLUS! I have a challenge for you at the end to assist in forming your new habit.

When researching how we develop habits, I checked out the Psychology Today blog. I’ll be sharing my takeaway from these two posts and will include some tips from the articles:

The Habit Replacement Loop by Bernard J. Luskin, Ed.D., LMFT.

Stop Making New Goals--Create Habits Instead by Marcia Reynolds, Psy.D.

In Dr. Reynolds’s article, she quotes a study by Neal, Wood and Quinn that says we humans are creatures of habit—and in fact, nearly half of what we do each day is out of habit (repeated behavior). So I think we need to choose wisely what we make into a habit rather than just falling into a pattern by default.

Want to be in the habit of watching TV? Watch TV daily.

Want to be in the habit of checking email? Check email daily (or 45 times a day!).

Want to be in the habit of writing daily? You get the picture. :)

But often we’ll set a goal of getting up early and writing each day (or of writing after dinner or during our lunch break or while in the carpool line or at soccer practice with the kids). And then we’ll jump into that new schedule we’ve committed to. But before we know it, we hit the snooze figuring we need the sleep more. Or we get caught up in a new series on TV that’s all the rage. And quickly, that new goal goes by the wayside (New Year’s resolutions, anyone?). Before we know it, we’re back to our old habits.

Dr. Reynolds says, “You must take deliberate, consistent actions repeatedly over time to defy your brain if you want to achieve the results you desire.” She says we basically have to trick our brain into accepting that the new habit is “achievable and worth the effort,” so we don’t start rationalizing (I need sleep more than I need to get up and hit the gym).

Crazy how our brains work! That’s why working gradually, and daily, will help us change our habits or form new ones.

In his article, Dr. Luskin says: “The good news is that we now know that, through repetition, it's possible to form and maintain new habits.  Enter ‘The Habit Replacement Loop (HRL)’.”

He talks about habit memory as if it’s similar to muscle memory. And says repetition is the key to creating an automatic habit response.

Luskin specifically mentions the 3 components of habits:

1.  A trigger/cue (for me, this would be finishing my devotional/prayer time, and then sitting down at the computer with my coffee and opening Word).

2.  The behavior (the actual writing—aiming for attainable goals repeated over and over).

3.  A reward which causes our brain to remember (keeping track of and cheering my successes as well as reminding myself that I’m doing something positive that is helping my productivity)

This reward fits in nicely with Reynolds’s idea that we need to demonstrate to our brain that what we’re doing is GOOD and something we can succeed at.

We can do this! We can replace old habits with new. We can train/re-train ourselves to consistently write.

To help you do that—should you choose to accept this mission!—I’ve come up with a 30-Day Writing Habit Challenge! I’ve created a tab at the top of the blog. Click it and you’ll find a daily writing prompt for the next 30 days. Some are short and fun, some will make you think, some will help you with craft. I tried to come up with a variety to keep you interested and writing each day. And I hope that by the end of 30 days you will have tricked persuaded your brain that writing daily is a good thing and you’re going to be great at it!

Feel free to check in to encourage each other in the comments section on the Challenge tab (comments only, not your writings). Then we’ll celebrate at the end. Even if you don’t take the time to comment daily, I hope you’ll let us know if you finish the challenge! And if you’re NaNo-ing, feel free to join us any time you can.

So, do you think daily repetition with rewards can help you change or create habits?

While we're chatting today, let's be sure to remember our Veterans. I'm grateful for them and their families who have sacrificed so much for our country! I hope you'll thank a Veteran today.

Missy has a recently-released Christmas novella! His Perfect Christmas.

Unlucky in love, police deputy Hardy Greenway has spent his life in the friend zone. But now he’s fallen hard for the girlfriend of his nemesis. Dori Blanchette has been waiting for a proposal from her boyfriend, but how can she say yes when she has feelings for Hardy? With Christmas tree ornaments playing spontaneously and secrets being revealed, there’s no telling who will end up together at Christmas!

Welcome to Dahlia, Georgia, where everyone feels welcome!

 Bio:

After more than 10 years of pursuing her dream of publication, Missy Tippensmade her first sale to Harlequin Love Inspired in 2007. Her books have since been nominated for the Booksellers Best, Holt Medallion, ACFW Carol Award, Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, Maggie Award, Beacon Contest, RT Reviewer’s Choice Award, and the Romance Writers of America RITA^® Award. Visit Missy at www.missytippens.com,

https://twitter.com/MissyTippens and http://www.facebook.com/missy.tippens.readers.