Three Little Things I Did To Quadruple My Writing Output And Paychecks

Maybe they could work for you, too

When I was first home with a new little baby, I knew I would go crazy if I didn’t find an outlet, and ideally one that paid. I had been a stand-up comedian for nearly two decades, which had been my creative and financial bad habit-slash-job, but I understood I was going to need to take a break. Writing was a natural parallel go-to. I could literally do it sitting on my butt — something unbeknownst to me, I’d be doing for awhile.

But how would I create a writing habit where there hadn’t been one before? Even with my stand-up, I admit a regular writing schedule wasn’t something I put concerted windows of time into. I wrote when the mood struck me. So how would I hold myself accountable for writing, while coupled with a new schedule crunch that didn’t exist previously?

1. I Started A Writer’s Accountability Group

I knew that I was going to need some help from my friends and colleagues if I was going to actually get serious about writing. So I started an accountability group on Facebook with the simple idea that we’d check in nightly, almost like punching a cyber clock. I doubted it would work, but what did I have to lose?

Two years later, we are still checking in every night at 8 PM. The group has grown to nearly 600 people from all over the world, and a regular corral of writers chime in. It’s empowering as all get out, and is probably the single-most useful thing I’ve done to increase my writing productivity and paychecks. Seeing what everyone else is up to shoves me onward. I’m naturally competitive, and I hate the check in nights where I have nothing to show for myself.

It has also boosted my confidence, raised my Medium views and led to having my work featured in bigger paying and higher-profile publications, like The Week, The Atlantic and McSweeney’s. I don’t know if I would have created and stuck to a committed writing schedule or had the courage to submit stories to the bigger publications if not for that group.

All women-identifying writers and wanna-be scribes are invited to join.

2. I Wrote For 21 Days In A Row