Writing 10 Minutes a Day: Building A Writing Habit

 

One of the many reasons I started this blog is so that I can write every day. The goal is to build a daily writing habit, because for someone who claims to have an affinity with writing, I’m not actually writing enough.

And if I have hours to waste mindlessly scrolling through social media, I certainly can spare ten minutes to write thoughtfully. Therefore, having no time to write is not an excuse.

I completely agree with what Wendy Laura Belcher wrote in her book Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success:

“You are not too busy to write; you are busy because you do not write. Busy-ness is what you do to explain your not writing.”

It’s from this book that I learned it only takes ten minutes of daily writing to become a prolific writer — or in my case, a prolific blogger. In this blog, I’d like to put Belcher’s principle into practice.

Writing Is Intimidating

Blogging, of course, is different from the kind of writing Belcher discusses in her workbook — academic writing. Academic writing is scary and intimidating. It can be a tedious and painful experience, but suffering is a choice.

I have a very complicated relationship with writing. Sometimes I wonder: do I truly love writing, or do I just love the idea of writing? More often than not, our romanticized ideas don’t align with harsh realities.

I remember how I struggled to write my thesis in graduate school years ago. It was stressful, and I was in agony. Day after day, I sat in front of my laptop, trying to articulate unclear and unorganized thoughts in a language I didn’t quite master. I was deep in the dark abyss.

A blank page — that white Word document on your screen — can be terrifying. The longer you stare at it, the more it feels like it’s staring back at you.

Then, somewhere along the line, something clicked. The research project started to gain clarity and structure until the paper seemed to write itself. The experience was almost spiritual. And I miss it.

Through this blog, I hope to recreate and rediscover that experience.

The Irony of Writing

It’s true that writing can be scary and intimidating. I remember it being painful, difficult, and filled with stress and anxiety. Yet at the same time, writing can also bring joy and fulfillment.

Our lives are full of contradictions, and writing is one of them. Writing my thesis once caused me so much anxiety and agony, and I still feel nervous when I have to write an email, a letter, or a report at work. Yet writing is also my coping mechanism when I’m anxious.

Writing is therapy. It is meditative. It’s almost impossible not to be mindful when writing — you are in conversation with yourself, and you can almost hear your thoughts. In that sense, writing brings clarity.

I’m so jealous of people who write beautifully and effortlessly. They make writing look so easy and natural. Will I ever be even a half-decent writer? Perhaps not. Perhaps it’s already too late for that. But that won’t stop me from writing.

After all, I agree with Wendy Laura Belcher that “learning to write well is a lifelong journey.” So let’s walk that camino. Ten minutes a day is all it takes.