Write every day without burning out

Most books aren’t finished in heroic weekends. They’re finished in ordinary mornings, a few hundred words at a time. These are the habits that make those mornings easier to show up for.

Make the target small

Set a daily word goal you could hit on a bad day. You’ll often go past it, and on the days you don’t, you still win. A small target you keep beats a big one you dread.

Sprint for 15 minutes

When you can’t start, don’t commit to an hour. Commit to 15 minutes, with no editing allowed. Starting is the hard part, and a sprint makes starting small.

Start where you left off

Stop mid-scene, even mid-sentence, so tomorrow begins with something to finish. My Day in Salt of the Page opens with the chapter you left off in, your words today against your goal, and a writing spark if you need one.

Protect the streak, gently

A streak is a great motivator right up until it becomes a source of guilt. Count it, enjoy it, and when it breaks, start the next one the next morning.

A small target you keep beats a big one you dread.

Give your brain a cue

The same sound every time you sit down tells your brain it’s time to work. Sounds in Salt of the Page mixes 19 focus tracks with 13 ambient sounds, from ocean and rain to a campfire and brown noise, with a fade-out timer for the end of a session.

End by reading aloud

Finish the session by listening to the last page read back to you. You’ll hear the clunky sentence your eyes kept skipping, and you’ll know exactly where to start tomorrow.

Writing habitProductivityFocus