3 Ways to Use the First 15 Minutes of Your Writing Practice

So that you can write more, for longer, every time!

When you sit down to write, just like when you make a commitment to any kind of practice, often the first 15 minutes can be crucial as to whether you keep on track or let it slide.

The difference between grinding your way through the first 15 minutes – and then grinding to a halt – or using that time to get into a state of flow that carries you through the full hour and beyond, can be the difference between sticking with the practice for long enough to write a book or giving up after the first week.

Entering into a writing state of mind isn’t always easy – it requires structure, support and a soft transition out of everyday thinking into the receptivity required for inspired writing.  

How many times have you sat down in front of your laptop screen with the hopeful timer counting down your ambitious 60 minutes, just watching them tick by and wishing you could write? There’s a coffee going cold on the desk beside you and a candle burning down in the jar. Everything you’ve done to create the focused serenity of this writing moment feels like it’s mocking your blank silence with its relentless flight through time.

Ugh, I’ve been there. Four long years writing my PhD thesis, where I spent most of my time sitting at the MacBook, and barely any of that actually writing…

Until I was asked to start teaching other researchers how to write their thesis, and I knew I had to figure it out!

Writing & Thriving is about supporting Visionary Writers to get your words onto the page, where they belong. So here are 3 practices I developed to help myself – and other writers – make the most of those first 15 minutes to get more words onto the page, every time.

Photo by Jess Bailey on Unsplash

1)    The Ritual Writing Warm Up. This is my first go-to practice for creating a soft transition into the writing state of mind. Starting in my journal, I will use the first 15 minutes to move through 3 phases of a writing practice that support me to:

·      Relax my mind and attune to my receptivity

·      Release my emotions and move through any subconscious blocks to saying what I need to say

·      Recalibrate my focus to begin writing with my chosen themes and topics

After the first 15 minutes, I am ready to keep writing and let the words keep flowing!

You can find out more and get The Ritual Writing Warm Up here.

2)    Black Screen Writing Practice. This is the practice I will use if I want to get straight into writing on-screen, without starting in my journal first. I’ll open up a blank document and turn down the brightness to black, then start free-writing without looking at the words on the page. This helps me to:

·      Warm up my fingers on the keyboard and prepare for purposeful writing

·      Let go of the inner critic that wants every word to be perfect

·      Open to the flow of words that wants to move through me in this session

I find this a powerful and productive way to spend the first 15 minutes of my writing practice, and I always end up writing more for the rest of the hour if I’ve started with this first.

You can read my previous article for a full description of the Black Screen Writing Practice, here.

3)    List-Writing and Intention Setting Practice. This is one that I’ll use less often, but it’s really valuable if my mind feels full of things-to-do when I sit down to start my writing practice. That list of things that needs to be done can become a reeeeaaaal distraction when it comes to those tricky first 15 minutes of a writing practice. If my mind is distracted or easily interrupted, I’ll create space within my writing practice to acknowledge those other parts of my life that also need to be addressed. It looks like this:

·      On screen or in my journal, I’ll start with a few minutes of the Ritual Writing Warm Up or Black Screen Writing Practice

·      Then I’ll start a fresh page or put the brightness up and start listing out all the things that are on my mind, or need to be done. Just a bullet point list that acknowledges and addresses each item. Knowing that once it’s written down, I can let it go and come back to it later.

·      I’ll complete this practice with clear Intention Setting for the remaining time of my writing practice. What is my goal for this session (one focus)? What is my long-term intention for this project? Why is this writing important to me (values, passions, motivations)?

I find that once I’ve acknowledged the most pressing concerns on my agenda, and set a clear intention for what I am writing and why it matters to me, I can make the transition into my writing practice with greater ease and productivity.

Finding creative and purposeful ways to navigate that transition into writing through the first 15 minutes can help you to overcome any blocks and obstacles that might slow you down, and help you connect with the courage and confidence to keep coming back to your Visionary Writing Practice.

If this feels resonant for you and you’d like to explore more, you can subscribe for regular updates, or go here to get my book, Writing & Thriving: Writing Tips and Wellbeing Tricks for Visionary Writers.