(2 min read.) You don’t have to write every day. I promise this is better. It helped me build a writing habit without burnout, and now I write a million words a year. Plus, I always have a “just tough enough” level of challenge.
This tip comes from the world of sports performance, which probably knows more about practice and training than almost any other industry on the planet. As a writing coach, I’ve tried this myself and I’ve shared it with others. “1-in-5” is a simple rule for building a writing habit that lasts.
Consider making one in five writing sessions difficult. Let four out of five writing sessions feel easy and good. Might seem soft, but this ratio lets you do more ambitious work in the long run and it’s a great investment if you want to build a writing habit that LASTS. When you make four-out-of-five (80%) of your writing sessions easy, you keep winning. When you make one-in-five (20%) of your writing sessions harder, you keep yourself challenged and stimulated so you also keep growing. Habits come easier when we’re winning AND growing in good balance.
An easy writing session is one where you write for a comfortable amount of time, aim for a consistently achievable number of words of pages, focus on topics and subjects that you’re familiar with, and aim to write in a style, tone, and genre that already feels natural to you. Write to practice your current strengths.
A hard writing session is one where you do ANYTHING BESIDES THAT.
You don’t have to write every day to build a writing habit. I encourage you to focus on what you’re writing, not when, and see if that shifts your practice. Showing up is important, but what you ask yourself to do once you’re at your desk matters too. The “one-in-five” plan will help you build a writing habit rooted in intrinsic motivation (I’ll blog about that soon), which is a lot more consistent than willpower (which vanishes when we’re tired or busy.)
The world of sports performance has a lot to teach us about creative practice. I first learned about the “20% Easy, 80% Hard” approach while studying the training regimens of elite athletes. When I adapted it to build a writing habit at a higher level for myself last year, the “One-in-Five” plan helped me BEAT all my writing records. This year, it’s helping me beat them again. I’m a better writer and a more productive one, and I didn’t wrench my guts out getting there. That’s to say: I’ve tested this in the real world, in the highest-stakes situation I can imagine (my actual career), and it really works.
80% of the time, it’s valuable to focus on maintaining your baseline by doing what’s easy. Run slow miles, lift weights you can handle, get simple wins. Yes, it’s true: you can write easy pages, in familiar styles, on simple projects, with short writing sprints, and THIS STILL COUNTS AS WRITING.
20% of the time, push yourself harder and do a bit more. Think of an athlete trying to run uphill, lift heavier weights, go longer, stretch farther, or do “one more rep.” Pushing that hard 24/7 would lead to injuries, but it’s crucial to test your limits sometimes so that you can get stronger. Try to write for longer, go faster, tackle a harder subject, work on your toughest project, or attempt a scary new thing. You might not always succeed at these things, but they’ll grow your strength and stamina.
Gradually, your baseline for what’s “easy” will increase.
So, if you want to build a writing habit:
1. Let 80% of your writing time feel easy.
2. Make 20% of your writing time feel hard.
In four out of five sessions, focus on practicing your existing strengths. One in five sessions, push past your limits. This creates growth without burnout.
If you wanna learn more about habit formation, the best beginner’s book is Atomic Habits by James Clear. (Using that shopping link supports me and a network of small independent bookstores.)
If you’re curious about the history of the 80/20 rule for athletes, check out this article from Runner’s World.
For some help figuring out what “easy” and “hard” look like for you specifically, come see me for a friendly, honest, sliding-scale 1:1 session.
xo, megan
Thanks for giving this a few minutes. I hope it felt supportive.
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curious/confused?: what does a writing coach do (and not do)
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