After Tiny Writing: How to Make Your Writing Habit Stick
Once you’ve worked your way through the 30 writing prompts you might be wondering, what comes next? What happens after Tiny Writing? If you’re not sure what Tiny Writing is, go back and read Tiny Writing Can Yield Big Results, Getting Started with Tiny Writing, and https://lisamwalton.com/tiny-writing-rules/Tiny Writing Rules. Then come back here and learn what to do after Tiny Writing.
If you don’t want to go back and read, I’ll give you the Cliff’s Notes version. Tiny Writing is a 30-day process of writing for twenty minutes every day. It is designed to help you form a writing habit and get to yourself better. There are 30 writing prompts (plus one bonus) to help get you started.
I know a lot of people go through the Tiny Writing program and then think, now what? Do I keep writing? What do I write about? Do I still write for twenty minutes a day? I’ve tried to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about what to do after Tiny Writing. But if you’ve got a question I didn’t answer, just email me and ask.
Do I keep writing after Tiny Writing?
Yes! Assuming that you did Tiny Writing to establish a writing habit, you must keep writing even after you finish the Tiny Writing prompts.
I strongly encourage you to keep going without taking a break. The key to forming a solid habit is consistency. And taking a few days off now will make it harder to start writing again. So on Day 31 (or 32 if you used the Bonus prompt), keep writing.
Do I still only write for 20 minutes after Tiny Writing?
That’s up to you. And it depends on WHY you are writing. Remember, the point of the 30 prompts was to help you discover your WHY for establishing a daily writing habit. If your why is recording your thoughts and feelings or recording a win for the day or making a plan for tomorrow, then twenty minutes might be enough time to do that even after Tiny Writing.
In that case, I’d recommend continuing the same practice you used for the last thirty days. Write at the same time, in the same place, in the same way. You are well on your way to creating a writing habit.
If, however, your WHY for writing is to start a side hustle, to write screenplays, or to live your job and become a blogger, then you will likely need to devote more time to your writing. Tiny Writing helped you find your WHY and also showed you that you can write every day. But now, you need to expand upon Tiny Writing and find a bigger chunk of time to devote to writing. (If you need help finding this time, email me and we can talk about how I can help you do that).
If I want to devote more time each day to writing, do I do Tiny Writing too?
Again, that’s up to you. In my former life, I was a lawyer. My standard answer for everything was “that depends.” I’ve found it’s a pretty good answer for questions about individual writing habits too.
If you are working full-time, taking care of children, managing a household, or doing one of a million other things that take up a large chunk of your day, then you may want to take a break from Tiny Writing and focus instead on your Big Writing. But if you have an extra twenty minutes (or even ten) and find you get a creative boost or extra clarity from writing freely about something unrelated to your big writing project for a few minutes each day, then by all means continue Tiny Writing aven after you’ve completed all the prompts.
Some coaches call these writing sprints. And they are great for flexing your creative muscles. But, at the risk of mixing metaphors here, don’t bit off more than you can chew or you’ll get a really sore jaw.
What do I write about after Tiny Writing?
Again this is entirely up to you. What you write about after Tiny Writing will be determined by your why. If you want to write a novel, then your writing time will be devoted to working on your story. If you want to start a freelancing business or a blog, you’ll use your writing time for articles. If you want to continue the process of self-reflection you can journal.
Can I use the Tiny Writing prompts again?
Sure. Some people find they don’t really hit their groove until ten or twenty days into the Tiny Writing program. Others say that the first time through just scratched the surface and after they started thinking about the questions they realized they could have gone much deeper with their answers. If you think that you will benefit from using the Tiny Writing prompts again, by all means, go ahead and do so.
Feel free to revisit the prompts each year or so or whenever your circumstances change for additional insights about yourself.
But, the prompts are not intended to be used on repeat. The purpose of the prompts is to help you establish your writing habit and understand the purpose of that habit. You should be able to continue writing after Tiny Writing without relying on those prompts.
Can I use other prompts after Tiny Writing?
Yes! In fact, I highly recommend using prompts from time to time to keep your creative juices flowing. You can follow #tinywriting on Instagram to see monthly prompts. There are also a number of monthly writing challenges on Instagram as well.
Another good place to get writing prompts is Writer’s Digest.
And don’t be afraid to use your own life for inspiration. A snippet of conversation. A lone shoe lying in the street. A dream about aliens. Your mother’s trip to the hairdresser.
Writing prompts are all around. You just need to notice them.
