How Writing 1000 Words a Day Changed My Life
(Why behavior matters more than outcomes)
by Srinivas Rao
Nov 20, 2013
Update: In February of this year, an acquisitions editor at Penguin found this post and I’ve just finished a manuscript on the first of 2 books. The second book will be called 1000 Words a Day. If you’re interested in learning more, sign up for weekly newsletter.
About 6 months ago** I found myself in a challenging situation**. Writing has never been particularly difficult for me. But I was suddenly getting paid to write, which meant deadlines and expectations.
I had to produce one piece a week for a freelance writing client.
I had to produce blog posts for a startup that I held an **equity stake **in.
I had to write a weekly newsletter for The Unmistakable Creative Podcast, the podcast that I’m the host and founder of.
I had to keep writing for my own blog, and the books I wanted to write.
My production requirements had increased significantly and I didn’t wake up every single day with ideas for new posts, articles or newsletters.
If I waited to be inspired, I would be screwed.
So I decided, there was only one way I was going to be able to pull this off: write 1000 words a day. It had to go from being a task on my to-do list to a habit. What I didn’t realize is just how much that was going to change my life.
It wasn’t long before I figured out the necessary elements to easily write 1000 words a day. I would wake up every morning and I would just put my fingers on the keyboard. Most of what I wrote was garbage. It mainly still is.
But when I powered through the garbage(sometimes the first 200 words), I ended up with gold. I figured if I was willing to produce enough garbage, I would come with just enough gold to meet all my deadlines and expectations. In his book Unthink, Erik Wahl calls this creating for the trash can. If you create for the trash can, some of what you create will probably be worthy of being in a museum.
*If you’re interested in hearing an interview with Erik Wahl, click here.
In this process a few things happened.
Momentum kicked in. On many days I found myself writing more than 1000 words. Things just flowed. My voice got refined.
I’ve been blogging consistently for almost 5 years. I’ve learned from the best writers on the web. But through this process of 1000 words a day** I found my voice**. One of my friends said “the progress in your voice is like you’re 10 years ahead of where you were 6 months ago.”
I started to get withdrawal symptoms on the days I wasn’t writing.
If I woke up hungover, I wrote 1000 words.
If I woke up at a place that wasn’t home, I wrote 1000 words.
If I had no idea, what to write, I put my fingers on the keyboard, my ass in the chair, and I wrote 1000 words.
If I didn’t feel like it (this one is really important), I wrote 1000 words. Some of my best work was produced on those days.
If you do anything enough, it has byproducts
My writing got me invited to speak at my friend AJ Leon’s Misfit conference, where I gave a talk titled the Art of Being Unmistakable.
I compiled all of my work into a collection of essays called The Art of Being Unmistakable. I self published it on Amazon.
I ended up creating my first poster titled 15 Principles for Living a Creative Life (which was born in one of my writing sessions)
I learned how to be vulnerable, honest, and transparent without being a hot mess.
I started planning a conference called The Instigator Experience. We opened up applications this week and in 24 hours received 50 applications for 60 spots.
And the universe delivered a life-changing moment. Glenn Beck found my book on Amazon, **raved about it **on his show and it went on to become a #1 Best seller, selling over 10,000 copies in a week. I even ended up **making an appearance **on Glenn’s show.
You could argue that this was a stroke of luck. And it was. But the quality of my words wouldn’t have been what they were when Glenn read it, if I hadn’t put in the work of committing to a craft. The only part of any of this I had any control over was showing up, and putting in my 1000 words.
Note: The Art of Being Unmistakable hit the Wall Street Journal Best Sellers List on November 7th. I didn’t even know until a friend told me because I was so* caught up in** writing 1000 words a day.*
Developing the 1000 Word Habit
I received quite a few questions on twitter about how I turned this into a habit, so I’ve outlined some hacks below.
- Using Activation Energy:
In his book The Happiness Advantage, the author Shawn Achor talks about how reducing the amount of energy it takes to do something increases the likelihood you’ll do it. Something as simple as decreasing the number of mouse clicks to do something will increase your odds of doing it.
The simple hack for this is using a distraction free writing tool like Macjournal（Mac app）. Set it up the night before, so when you turn on your computer in the morning, it’s the first thing you see. Then you just write.
Another variation of this hack is to write one sentence the night before, ideally right before you go to sleep. Then your brain can **dwell on **that idea. It also tricks your brain into thinking you’ve made some progress already when you wake up and see a screen that’s not blank. - Dealing with Writer’s Block
This is one of the most common challenges that I hear about from content creators. The simplest way to overcome this is to put your fingers on the keyboard and move them. Write whatever you are thinking. Don’t stop until the screen has 100 words on it. I don’t know why this works, but it does. Maybe it’s the principle of momentum. - The Willingness to Create Garbage
One of the other questions I was asked is how I know what to keep and where it will go. The way I see it, I just produce a lot.
Some of it will be good.
Some of it will be crap.
But I’ll **have so much to choose from **that it can be used for books, blog posts, etc. That best selling book of mine was written using ridiculously long Facebook status updates.
Writing 1000 words a day changed my life. I don’t know how it will change yours. But I’d recommend doing it.
Interviews about Writing That You Might Find Valuable
词串摘录：
1
I found myself in a challenging situation我发现自己处于进退两难的境地
getting paid to write专栏作家，接受报酬，为钱写作
a freelance writing client自由编写客户端
blog posts博客文章
equity stake（公司）股份
a weekly newsletter（某组织的）内部通讯，每周一篇简讯
every single day每天
If I waited to be inspired, I would be screwed.如果我等着灵感来，那就死定了
pull this off熬过这一关，做成这件事
a task on my to-do list 列表任务
2
It had to go from being a task on my to-do list to a habit我必须把写千字文从一项任务变成一个习惯
figured out发现
the necessary elements必要元素
powered through the garbage越过垃圾，越过垃圾阶段
ended up with最终找到啥
meet all my deadlines and expectations满足稿件截止日期和期望的需要
the trash can垃圾桶
be worthy of being值得（在）
Momentum kicked in动量涌现，动能启动
My voice got refined我的语言精练了
3
I found my voice我找到了自己的语言风格
get withdrawal symptoms感到上瘾的症状，断了毒品一样的症状
woke up hungover睡醒后浑浑噩噩
compiled all of my work into a collection of essays把所有的作品编辑成文集
without being a hot mess不把事情搞砸
raved about it热烈赞扬
making an appearance出现在
a stroke of luck被幸运击中，幸运一击
caught up in沉浸在，忙于
If you do anything enough, it has byproducts如果做任何事都极为认真，那么就会产生副产品。
4
outlined some hacks列出一些技巧
reducing the amount of energy it takes减少需要花费的能量
increase your odds of增加你啥啥的几率
a distraction free writing tool防干扰的写作工具
Another variation of另一种变体
dwell on 驻留，停留
tricks your brain into thinking让大脑以为思考了很多，欺骗大脑让潜意识发挥作用
Dealing with Writer’s Block处理写不出来的瓶颈
content creators内容创作者
the principle of momentum动量定理
5
Some of it will be crap有些就是碎碎念的胡扯
have so much to choose from 有很多材料可以筛选
status updates用户状态更新
recommend doing it推荐做某事