Writing Tip: Write Five Minutes Every Day

Writing five minutes a day doesn't seem hard, does it? We can all certainly do more than that, but to have some discipline about writing, five minutes a day is a reasonable, reachable goal.

Jerry Cleaver

This is a tip I learned from one of my writing coaches, Jerry Cleaver, and it's a good one. The least that happens is we get five minutes of writing done per day. But mostly you'll find, as I do, that once you start you just keep going, and the sky's the limit; maybe you'll finish a story/novel/article/poem, write a new chapter, discover new characters...it's all about sitting down and not being distracted by the Internet or TV or a book or the state of our nails or what the Bears are doing. It's all about just doing it.
And if it turns out it's only five minutes, well...it's gotten you back into your story and it will be rolling around in your brain until tomorrow's five minutes. Thinking about it is part of the writing process.

Make this your new year's resolution and think about what you can accomplish if you pledge to write at least five minutes a day. Perhaps you'll be typing "The End" as you finish your first (or second or third) novel this year.