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There are a million different approaches to writing, but many writing systems fail. Here’s why and how to deal with the problem…
Have you ever told yourself you needed better discipline or better habits?
Here’s the issue: Sometimes the problem isn’t the writer — it’s the systems around you. Yes, really. Blame the system, not yourself.
And by identifying where systems fail us, we can find smarter ways to work around them and even help change them. Here are six writing systems you might want to re-evaluate — and possibly divorce:
1-Inspiration-based systems
These systems sound like:
- “I write when I feel like it.”
- “I just need to be in the right mood.”
- “I’ll start when I have more time.”
They depend on emotion instead of structure.
The problem? Inspiration is unreliable. It shows up occasionally and unpredictably. If your system requires it, you will write occasionally and unpredictably.
What fails: consistency
What suffers: momentum
2-Overly ambitious planning systems
These systems look impressive — on paper, at 4 p.m., fuelled by optimism and a third coffee:
- Write 2,000 words a day.
- Wake at 5 a.m.
- Write seven days a week.
- Finish draft in 30 days.
And they work … for about three days. (Four, if you’re stubborn.)
Then, when the plan exceeds your real-life capacity, you break it. And once broken, many writers abandon the system entirely. It’s the writing equivalent of a crash diet — impressive in theory, catastrophic in practice.
What fails: sustainability
What suffers: morale
3-Vague-goal systems
These systems rely on fuzzy targets:
- “Work on book.”
- “Make progress.”
- “Do research.”
- “Tighten draft.”
The brain doesn’t know where to start with vagueness. So, it stalls. And then it checks Instagram.
Writers often misinterpret the stall as laziness — when the real problem is a lack of specificity. “Work on book” is not a task. It’s a vague gesture.
What fails: clarity
What suffers: forward motion
4-All-or-nothing systems
These systems operate like this:
- Miss one day → week ruined.
- Write badly → scrap entire draft.
- Fall behind → quit project.
These systems confuse imperfection with failure. They are, to put it plainly, overdramatic.
In reality, resilient systems expect off days and build in recovery.
What fails: resilience
What suffers: long-term completion
5-Isolation-based systems
These systems assume:
- “I should be able to do this on my own.”
- “Real writers don’t need accountability.”
- “If I were serious, I wouldn’t need support.”
But writing is cognitively demanding and emotionally exposing. Most humans perform better with:
- Deadlines
- Colleagues
- Light social pressure (the kind that makes you open your laptop rather than explain why you haven’t)
What fails: follow-through
What suffers: completion rate
6-Tool-obsessed systems
These systems focus on:
- The perfect app
- The ideal template
- The right software
- The optimal method
Writers can spend months — sometimes years — building the system instead of using it. The irony, of course, is that all this careful preparation produces exactly zero words.
Tools support writing. They don’t replace it. A beautiful notebook is not a book, dissertation or even a blog post.
What fails: output
What suffers: actual pages produced
The pattern beneath these saboteurs
The systems that fail writers typically rely on motivation, perfection or heroic effort. They rely on you being a different, better, more disciplined person than you currently are.
But the systems that work rely on:
- Modest daily commitments
- Specific, concrete tasks
- Built-in recovery
- External accountability
- Emotional neutrality (“I’ll write even if I don’t feel like it”)
Good writing systems reduce drama. They don’t require a perfect Monday, a clear diary or a lightning bolt of inspiration. They just require you to show up imperfectly, repeatedly and preferably with tea or coffee.
Recognising broken writing systems is the first step to fixing them.
BONUS
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My video podcast last week addressed how to find an angle. You can watch the video or read the transcript, and you can also subscribe to my YouTube channel.
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Have you ever used any writing systems that failed? Or that worked? We can all learn from each other, so please, share your thoughts with my readers and me in the comments section, below. If you comment on today’s post (or any others) by March 31/26, I’ll put you in a draw for a digital copy of my first book, 8 1/2 Steps to Writing Faster, Better. To enter, please scroll down to the comments, directly underneath the related posts links, below. You don’t have to join Disqus to post! Read my tutorial to learn how to post as a guest. (It’s easy!)
