The most necessary part of starting a regular writing pattern might be simply having a regular schedule and not waiting around to be inspired.

Right now I do four blog posts per day, five days a week.

On a one-off basis, I might put up five or six posts on a given day, but I am fried by Friday and look forward to the weekend break.

Unfortunately, at this rate, I am rarely unable to write and schedule post ahead of time.

If I could choose, I would write three or four posts per day but only publish one per day.

Maybe, I’ll do that when I hit 100,000 unique visitors per month. I have a way to go.

Basically, I am trying to post as much as I can, until I hit a sugnificant blogging inflection point.

Of course, some write more than others do.

Three pages a day, five days a week. When working on a book, this has been my pattern for my entire writing life. I spend most mornings writing my three pages, and I revisit them in the afternoon. I scribble in the margins, thoughts about edits, word choices. Sometimes I reread them before I go to sleep. I cross out paragraphs, I rearrange sentences. I ask questions that I hope to answer in the light of the next day. These pages are where I begin the following morning, because those notes give me a way in. If I begin by implementing the changes, before I know it I’m back inside the manuscript, already at work. I’ve evaded the pitfalls and distractions that often lie in wait for me.

-Dani Shapiro, Still Writing

One of the best writing skills out there has nothing to do with writing.

Did you know that?

Because for all the talk of tools, and technique, and time management, and the rest of the lot – 90 percent of people are going to get stuck in one of two areas.

#1.
Out of fear, they are going to never start.
This is where the fear of beginning is simply too insurmountable.

#2.
Or, out of impatience, they are going to quit showing up.
I mean, how many people do you know that wanted to write, started a blog or book draft, and then gave up after 3 to 6 months?

Showing up and doing the work is most of the battle.

Because most people can’t do it.

In fact, this is one of the most important qualities of an aspiring writer.

The best part is that, everyday, you get to decide if you have what it takes.

I find it helpful to think in terms of systems and not goals.

The more we have at stake, the harder it is to make the leap into writing. The more we think about who’s going to read it, what they’re going to think, how many copies will be printed, whether this magazine or that magazine will accept it for publication, the further away we are from accomplishing anything alive on the page.

-Dani Shapiro, Still Writing