You’ve probably heard the advice to “write every day” to really improve your craft.
It’s great advice, and a lot of writers swear by it.
But it’s easy to lose steam and let life get in the way. That’s why for some of us, a visual kick-in-the-pants works wonders.
You can get that with the “Don’t Break the Chain” method. It comes from comedian and writer Jerry Seinfield, who used it to motivate himself to write new material regularly.
It works like this: Start with a big calendar — ideally one you can see from your writing desk. Then for every day you write, you draw a big red “X” over that day in the calendar.
The goal is to create a chain of consecutive red X’s. As your chain starts to grow, so will your motivation to never break the chain.
It doesn’t matter what you write. Could be a journal entry or a blog. Maybe even a short story or a poem. As long as you’re practicing your craft every day, you earn your red X and you won’t break the chain.
The best part is, you’ll actively and consciously be making writing a part of your life. It will become your daily habit. Once you do that, your capacity to improve your writing skills and land paid writing projects will grow exponentially.
