If you want to become a better writer, all you need to do is practice. Write a little bit each and every single day.

15 minutes.

30 minutes.

An hour.

Dedicate to writing a certain amount of words per day. There’s even websites that help you keep yourself accountable, like 750words.com.

Of course some days are harder then others. Well all experience the occasional “funk” (I know I do). But it all comes down to structure and practice.

Creating the Perfect Environment

You need to create the perfect environment for yourself. For me, that includes:

• A clean desk with nothing but the keyboard and an outline of what I’m going to write on a sheet of paper.
• Pandora (set to Techno, Jack Johnson, or Nora Jones – yes really).
• Redbull, Rockstar, Monster or a Grande Americano with two brown sugars (not all at once of course).
• A Timer (this helps me stay focused – you should try it).

I don’t like to be disturbed. And when I’m in the zone, I’m in the zone. Other times, I really have to work hard at it. That happens. But like I said, the more you practice, the easier it gets.

But also, what time of day you write matters too. For example, I prefer to write between 8:00 – 10:00am or late at night between 9:00 – 11:00pm. I try and have posts written and saved as a draft at night so that I can edit and publish first thing in the morning. I use Sunday evenings to outline post ideas for the week ahead and write for my Real Estate Blog Topics Community.

Sometimes, it’ll take me 1-2 hours to write a post and I’ll spend 30 minutes to an hour editing and re-writing. (Your time will vary).

Some Stats: 

Here are the numbers for the last couple of months:

• 14 blog posts on the company blog (September)
• 9 blog posts here – my personal blog (September)
• 16 blog posts on the company blog (August)
• 9 blog posts here – my personal blog (August)
• 8 full-length PDF’s/newsletters for my Real Estate Blog Topics Community (August & September). Here’s a preview of one the weekly lessons.

That’s not including newsletters, Forum posts and emails. But I think I can safely call myself a writer. Some days, the words come out easily. Others, I wrestle with myself. Not for a lack of ideas, but rather, struggling to articulate what I want to say via written form.

Some Tips To Help Your Write More:

• Show up. Meaning “do the work.” Write a little each and every day.
• Keep to a writing schedule as if you were booking an appointment at that time, at that hour of every day.
• Create the perfect writing environment for yourself. (I prefer the office or the local cafe)
• Cut distractions (the Timer helps and Pandora keeps me focused).
• Know what time of day you tend to be most creative.
• Schedule writing time, but also time to edit, refresh and refine your work before you publish.
• Start with the title, then add bullet points (talking points) to go with the title. I’ll often sit for a day and draft 10 – 15 post titles. Call it an “idea bank.”

Over to you…

What would you add? Do you have a set schedule for writing? A routine? How often do you write per day, per week, per month?