Happy Monday, everyone!

I’m interrupting my regularly scheduled programming of a productive workday to write this post. I’m not being sarcastic, I do tend to have productive Mondays at my day job. It’s Tuesdays that feel more like a slog to me.

Anyway, I’m in the middle of devouring my lunch as I type these words. That’s how forcefully this message entered my mind. Don’t worry, I’ll make up whatever time I’ve spent on this at the end of the work day (though Love Island All Stars may be playing in the background because I’m a great multitasker, what can I say?).

I’ve written a lot on here about the constant struggle of balancing creativity and productivity in writing. The feeling of “I should” is hard for most writers (dare I say all) to ignore. We all hope inspiration will descend upon us with such clarity that all we can do is reach for the nearest pen and paper to write the words down as they flow through us with ease. This flow state, or elusive creative genius, as Elizabeth Gilbert calls it, is not impossible. Many writers experience it. But it’s not reliable. It’s not consistent.

There is a lot of discourse about how to build a sustainable writing practice, whether inspiration decides to enter the chat or not. I have found success with a lot of these techniques. For example, writing at a consistent time every day, or building your practice around specific habits. Maybe you write first thing in the morning, before any clutter can find its way into your mind (that’s what I do). Or maybe you make a cup of coffee in the same mug, sit in a certain location in your home, and listen to a specific playlist to get the juices flowing. Whatever helps you be consistent, great! Keep doing it.

However, what has helped me the most hasn’t been about habits. It’s been about mindset. For a while, my mindset was focused on production. Reaching a certain word count every day. Finishing draft number one hundred (I hyperbolize, but it feels like that) by a certain date. Changing XYZ about my manuscript. I became so focused on finishing the latest draft of my first manuscript (that I started back in 2021 and kept telling myself I should1 be done with by now), that I wasn’t enjoying it anymore. I wasn’t enjoying writing anymore. I even structured my 2026 goals around song lyrics and short stories. Anything that wasn’t long-form writing because I was so burnt out.

But then I kept reading articles, watching TikToks, and cruising through books. And every time one of those formats mentioned writing a novel, or what it’s like to be a writer, and finding the courage to endure through the slog that writing can be (it’s just like a Tuesday sometimes, am I right?), I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was taking the easy way out. That I was quitting a dream I’ve had for several years now.

I was telling myself that it’s okay for my dreams to change. It’s okay to refocus my creative energy on other outlets (like singing!2). And it is okay. If that’s what I want.

It wasn’t.

I want to write a book. It wasn’t the writing of the actual book that was turning me off. It was all the noise around me and the pressure I was putting on myself about publishing a book. So I decided to forget all about that and focus on the actual creating. I brought myself back to the days when I was young, maybe eleven or twelve, and filling notebooks by hand with story ideas. I’d write as many pages as I had ideas for and when I was out of ideas, or tired of them, I’d move on to the next one. Younger me didn’t care about the finished product, younger me was looking for an outlet for her creativity.

Back then, I didn’t compare my writing to the books I was reading. I wrote because I had so many worlds inside my head that there wasn’t enough room for all of them. I was often daydreaming, choosing the one I wanted to spend my time in. So I plucked the best ones from the folds of my mind and put them on a page. Those worlds became as real to me as my own. And that was magical.

So the mindset shift I’m talking about is to remove the pressure that often comes with writing. There are so many resources available to help us learn how to craft the best book possible, how to hone our writing skills, or how to navigate the ins and outs of a very complicated, closed-door publishing industry. And while that’s a blessing, it can also be a curse.

Sometimes, improving craft or studying how the greats do it can be a way of procrastination. “I’m just going to read this book so I can learn all the tips and tricks before I start.” But the hardest part for a lot of people is starting.

So just start. Pick an idea and put it on the page. Take the pressure off of yourself and write because you have to.

Write a messy first draft. Pick the habits you want to cultivate and don’t focus on the end goal, just keep writing.

That’s what I’ve been doing with my latest work-in-progress. And let me tell you, the benefits have been immense. I don’t do it for the word count, but to put it in perspective, writing without the pressure has helped me write roughly 1,000 words a day (give or take, sometimes I miss a day. Sometimes I write way over 1,000 words). And rather than focusing on that word count, or worrying about my query letter already, and if this is the kind of book an agent will want to represent, I’m focusing on if I like it. If it’s a book I’d want to read. As long as the answer is yes, I keep going. And so far, I have kept going.

So it’s a combination of habits that work for you with a healthy, no-pressure mindset. I mean, I started doing this for fun! Once I realized I had stopped having any, I knew I needed to change something bigger than just my habits. Habits set the foundation, mindset keeps you going.

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