Defeat your writing demons and turn writing from a hobby into a daily habit

A gamified plan to become a Writer Warrior

Moon Arica

Aug 12, 2024

The Perfect Scenario: A Day in the Life of a Writer Warrior

Imagine waking up each morning with a sense of calm and clarity.

Like every day, you know you'll make progress on your writing goals.

You don’t have to wrestle with excuses or search for motivation

They come as natural as breathing.

As the sun rises, you brew your coffee and sit down at your favourite writing spot.

It could be a cozy corner in your home or a quiet café you favour.

The blank page no longer intimidates you; it invites you.

Your fingers move effortlessly across the keyboard.

Or your pen glides smoothly across the paper.

Words flow naturally because writing has become a part of your routine

It is a daily ritual that you’ve come to cherish.

Your writing habit is built so seamlessly into your life that something is missing on those days you don’t write.

It’s no longer a chore or a daunting task.

Instead, it’s a moment of creativity that you look forward to.

You start each session with a clear mind and a focused purpose, knowing exactly what you want to achieve.

The goals you once dreamed about

finishing that book
growing your audience
honing your craft

They are no longer distant aspirations.

They’re milestones you’re steadily approaching, day by day.

The time you spend writing, whether it’s 30 minutes or a few hours, is productive and satisfying.

You can see your progress in the pages you’ve filled and the projects you’ve completed.

This consistent practice has transformed your writing.

You have:

developed a distinctive voice
sharpened your skills
confidence in your abilities

Opportunities start to arise:

publishing deals
invitations to speak
growing readership

Best of all, writing has become a source of joy and fulfillment.

It’s your creative outlet to express thoughts, ideas, and stories that resonate with others.

Each writing session leaves you energized, empowered.

The struggle to find time and motivation?

A thing of the past.

Instead, you’ve created a sustainable habit that fits perfectly into your life.

Now you achieve your writing goals with ease.

Every day, you inch closer to your dreams.

Your writing habit is no longer a mere hobby.

It’s a powerful tool that drives your success.

Does this sound like a fantasy to you now?

It is not.

This fantasy can come true when you defeat these 5 writing demons:

🤖 Time Thief

🤖 Perfectionism Phantom

🤖 Motivation Mirage

🤖 Overwhelm Ogre

🤖 Procrastination Parasite

These demons are standing between you and your writing goals.

Let’s face these adversaries one by one and crush them with the following strategies.

🤖 Time Thief

The time thief is relentless and thrives on your lack of structure.

It lurks in every corner of your day, stealing your precious moments behind your back
It convinces you that you have no time to write, tricking you into thinking other things are more important
It encroaches your schedule with distractions and other obligations, pushing writing to the bottom of your priority list.

Without a clear plan, time slips through your fingers as you juggle tasks and responsibilities.

It’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of daily demands, leaving no room for your writing.

It leads to fragmented work sessions and stalled progress.

But by implementing the “Focused Flow“ strategy, you can take control and steal back time.

You can create a seamless flow that maximizes your writing time and minimizes interruptions.

Structured and uninterrupted writing sessions are the key.

Triumph over the Time Thief

Round 1 - Establish a “Prime Writing Time”

What’s your peak productivity hours when you feel most alert and creative?

Schedule your writing in there.

Take advantage of your natural focus.

Whether it’s early morning or late at night, these hours are your sacred time for writing, free from distractions.

Round 2 - Designate a “Distraction-Free Zone”

A dedicated writing space will bar the interruptions and distractions.

A specific room, a cozy corner, anywhere that is conducive for you.

Equipped it with what’s necessary and keep distractions at bay.

Focus thrives when you’re in your environment.

Round 3 - Implement “Time Blocking”

Allocate blocks of time to write.

It could be 2 hours non-stop.

It could be two 45 minutes sessions with 10-minute breaks.

It could be an hour after your morning coffee, or an hour just before you sleep.

Experiment and find out what works best.

Create a structured routine with time blocking.

Stop the time thief in its tracks.

Round 4 - Adopt the “Single-Tasking” Approach

Multi-tasking saps our energy more than we know.

Switching tasks eats up your brain cells.

Instead, focus.

One task at a time.

It will increase your efficiency and productivity.

Round 5 - Use “The 5-Minute Trick”

Now we reduce friction on our focused work.

Commit to just 5 minutes of writing.

A simple commitment is easier to get through.

Once you’re engaged, longer writing sessions follow.

Overcome your initial resistance and leverage on the mounting momentum.

🤖 Perfectionism Phantom

The perfectionism phantom is a sneaky adversary which feeds on your fear of failure and self-doubt.

It haunts you with whispers that nothing you write is ever good enough and

makes you second-guess every word

stalls your writing progress
leaves you stuck in an endless revisions and self-doubt

This enemy

feeds on your fear of imperfection
keeps you from moving forward
hides behind every draft whispering negativities

You are convinced that nothing is ever good enough.

You think your work is not worth sharing.

This mindset can paralyze you, leaving ideas trapped in your mind and your writing goals unmet.

When we wait for perfection, our creativity and progress are stifled.

Use the "Imperfect Progress” strategy to embrace progress over perfection.

Purge the Perfectionism Phantom

Round 1 - Use the 80/20 Rule

80% of our results come from 20% of our efforts.

Focus on that 20% of what’s impactful and effective and achieving 80% of an ideal outcome.

Perfection is an illusion.

Rather than obsessing over every minor detail,

complete your drafts to something good enough to share
know that your writing can be improve upon

Move forward with this mindset shift and not be bogged down by chasing unattainable perfection.

Round 2 - Set Incremental Milestones

You are in the long game of writing.

Set markers and indicators to guide and spur you on.

Markers that guide you could be:

number of published posts
how many notes did you write
your website design

Markers that spur you on could be:

likes and subscribes
comments
reposts

Use these markers to set incremental milestones instead of aiming for the perfect piece.

Set small goals like:

publish 3 posts a week
write 500 words a day
add one item to your website

But what about the spurring markers?

They will be tackled in Round 3.

Pay attention to guiding markers first.

You could increase the number or intensity for incremental milestones.

Each milestone reached is a victory, and incremental progress reduces the pressure to be perfect.

Round 3 - Adopt “Draft and Revise” Mindset

Approach your writing as a process of drafting and revising.

Treat it like a work in progress which you can improve on.

Allow yourself to write imperfectly, knowing that the real magic happens during the revision stage.

This reduces the fear of making mistakes and encourages you to get words on the page without self-criticism.

And that’s the beauty of draft and revise.

What about the markers that spur us?

Those are out of our control.

But they will be built on the guiding markers.

The more we build on that, the faster the spurring markers appear.

Round 4 - Share Early and Often

Make it a habit.

Share with a writing group, a trusted friend, or the Substack community.

Gather feedback and see your work from different perspectives

Combined that with the draft and revise mindset to continuously improve.

The perfectionism phantom will vanish.

Round 5 - Celebrate Small Wins

Set a reward for your progress, no matter how small.

You’ve published, received likes, gotten encouraging comments.

Appreciate all these achievements.

Reward yourself.

Reinforce the value of progress and keep going.

I wanted to complete this post on batting all 5 enemies.

But I’m implementing my own “Imperfect Progress“ here.

Publish what’s done.

I can continue my battles tomorrow.

Good news is, the demons are static.

They are not thinking of strategies to overtake me.

But I am, so it’s a sure-win battle.

So, rally for the writer warrior.

Thanks for reading.