How To Write More Consistently Without Anxiety
- Apr 28, 2022
- 7 min read
Updated: Apr 29, 2022
Written by: Megan Barnhard, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
As a writing coach, one of the most common refrains I hear from business owners is "I need to write more consistently."
Whether they're writing social media posts or a book, they beat themselves up for not writing every day.
And I completely get it.
If you're in the online space, you have to show up and be seen. You have to create a presence so your audience hears you above the noise.
When you're writing a book, it's scary to stop your forward motion. You wonder if you'll lose all your momentum or get lost in the middle.
So there are certainly good reasons for seeking consistency. But the way most people pursue writing consistency has the opposite results: They end up with doubt, anxiety, and writer's block. They start to dread writing. Marketing feels like torture, and they give up on writing their book.
So how do you achieve that mythical state of consistency without hating writing?
There are three key steps to writing consistency that I'll share with you from my vantage point as a 16-year-veteran writing coach. Embrace all three and you'll find that consistency is a natural byproduct. But getting started with any one of them will be game-changing for your writing.
Define Consistency for Yourself
For most writers, "consistency" is a vague feeling of dread rather than a concrete goal. Defining what consistent writing means to you takes you out of anxiety and into curiosity.
You can define consistency based on the outcome: I want to post on social media X times per week.
You can define consistency based on input: I want to spend 30 minutes every morning writing.
You can even define it based on the writing habits you're cultivating, like taking a walk to gather your ideas before you sit down at your computer.
If you're not sure what consistency looks like for you, you need to reconnect with your goals.
Separate what you're trying to achieve from the various voices telling you what you "should" do, or what "real writers" do.
I have a client who recently came to me because she has a book she's been developing for the last 17 years. It's based on her work, her personal and professional experiences, and her vast academic knowledge.
Her book was causing massive discomfort and anxiety because she knew she hadn't been working on it consistently. Maybe you relate to this. The thing we continually don't do gets heavier and heavier because we start to doubt whether we'll ever actually "make good" on it.
Why wasn't she writing? When we dug into the deep work of writing coaching, it turned out her beliefs around consistency were to blame. Beliefs like "real writers" write every day. Since that's simply not realistic for her (she's a busy parent, parenting coach, full-time professor, and spouse) she kept feeling like her book was impossible.
So we brought her focus back to her real desire of writing a book, and she let go of what writing a book "should" look like.
Then, I invited her to set input goals in place of outcome goals. Instead of focusing on finishing tasks like writing a chapter, she shifted to setting time-based goals: "I'll work for 30 minutes twice this week and write as many notecards as I can." "I'll sit down for two hours on Thursday and transcribe my notes into my outline and see how far I get."
Her new definition of consistency is always having a specific, time-defined goal. She doesn't need to be writing every day. She simply needs to keep her calendar appointments with herself. She has accountability to follow through, and she has guidance to plan her next steps.
Switching to time-based goals did two key things for this client:
1. It removed the pressure of completion. She was able to sit down without anxiety over whether she'd be able to finish. This allowed her to finally make progress. She was far more productive and creative, and she ended up completing tasks quickly because she didn't have to fight the mind gremlins.
2. It gave her vital data! Up until now, she didn't have a realistic sense of how long writing tasks would take. This led to setting impossible deadlines and a cycle of frustration, anxiety, and inaction.
She's far from alone in this.
Most of us have no clue how long it will take us to complete a task — writing or otherwise — until we've done it a few times. Yet with writing, we often make assumptions or create deadlines that are unrealistic and defeating.
This brings us to the second critical step.
Discover Your Writing Process
If you want to write with consistency, you need a plan that works for you. For the way you create, the time you have, and your preferred writing process.
Let's take the example of a business owner who wants to create social media content.
Here are some questions she needs to ask herself:
How am I generating ideas so I always have a full "idea bank" and avoid writer's block?
What kind of outline do I need so my writing is clear and compelling?
Am I leaving myself time to write a rough first draft and revise later? Do I have a plan for editing so I don't fall victim to perfectionism?
Do I prefer to write one post at a time or batch content once I get into "the zone"?
What's my marketing plan? Is my content getting results? Is there a skill gap I need to fill so I get more leads?
The answers to these questions will be different for every writer. You can't read them in a book or learn them in a TEDTalk. Of course, you don't have to flounder on your own to find them. A good writing coach will help you discover these answers faster by reflecting your process back to you. And giving you strategies to try so you're not reinventing the wheel.
When you know how you do your best writing, you can replicate your success. That's really the heart of writing consistency, isn't it? Being able to show up and flow when you want to.
Now that we've looked at your goals and your process, there's one final step in building consistency, and it may surprise you.
Cultivate Writing Joy
There are many things in life you can force yourself to do even if you don't enjoy them. Things like cleaning the toilet, exercising, and sending invoices.
My experience is that any task we force ourselves to do ultimately takes longer. You lose time by procrastinating. You don't enjoy the task, so your brain tries to talk you out of starting it.
In contrast, think of how eager you are to do something you enjoy. You rearrange your schedule for it. Maybe you even show up early. It's easy to follow through on your commitment because you want to.
What if writing could be like that for you? An activity you want to show up for. That doesn't mean you'll always have all the answers, or that you'll never need help. You'll still find yourself sometimes getting up from your desk, shutting your laptop with dramatic flair, and going to make a cup of tea while your ideas sort themselves out.
But you'll have a positive association with writing on the whole. The more you make writing enjoyable, the less you'll procrastinate. Which supports your goal of consistency, however you define it.
But there's another reason that forcing yourself to write doesn't work as a long-term plan.
Writing requires creativity. And creativity is shut down by anxiety. You'll have experienced this if you've ever put yourself under pressure to come up with a great idea under a tight deadline. Pressure-generated ideas pale in comparison to the brilliant ones that arrive out of the blue as you're taking a walk, meditating, or letting your mind wander while you shower.
The most inspired ideas arrive when you are relaxed, open, and curious.
When you build a writing practice that serves you and your unique thinking style, writing feels good. You show up for your writing dates feeling light.
Ideas flow to you with ease. You get those bolts from the blue more often.
You enjoy writing. So you feel called to do it more, and the cycle repeats.
If that sounds like a far-off dream, I invite you to pause your writing project and shift focus to cultivating some writing joy.
Light a candle and journal or free-write. Look out the window and craft a poem about what you see. Write a letter or email to a friend. Take your laptop to a coffee shop and enjoy your favorite beverage as you let your mind wander on the page. Write about how you feel about writing. Ask yourself questions and answer them.
The key is to play. Let go of expectations. Remind yourself what it feels like to flow.
You're not wasting time. You're exercising muscles that have atrophied.
And if you've been struggling with consistency, you're also re-building self-trust. It's like getting back on the horse and choosing a mild-mannered mare instead of a stamping stallion.
Ultimately, when you enjoy writing, your words have far greater power and impact. The more you relax, the more your authentic voice flows through.
If you're creating business content or the book that's in your heart, this is the holy grail.
You're stepping into palpable leadership energy that's magnetic to your audience, with your words as the beacon to guide them to your work.
Next Steps for Consistent Writing
Now you’ve seen that it’s possible to step into writing more consistently without anxiety. You don’t need to force yourself or rely on willpower. But if you want to see results, you do need to take action.
Commit to one next step you’ll take in your writing. What will it be for you?
Is it defining your goals so you can set down any judgments about how writing "should" look?
Is it exploring your personal writing process so you know how to replicate your success?
Is it rediscovering the joy of writing with a no-pressure writing date?
I'd love to hear your next steps and your insights. Drop me an email at megan@meganbarnhard.com and share what's coming up for you about writing consistency.
Megan Barnhard, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Megan Barnhard is an Intuitive Writing Coach and Story Magician. She helps transformational leaders write conscious business content and the book that's in their souls. As an empath channel, Megan connects her clients directly to their audience, allowing them to easily and authentically share their bold message. Her superpower is telling the best version of any story so that people see their own strengths and magic reflected back to them. Megan is the author of 4 books about the writing process, and she believes writing is everyone's birthright. She's on a mission to help soul-led women find their writing flow so they change the world with their words.
