My Writing Goal & Jerry Method

You probably know Jerry Seinfeld. He is one of the most successful American stand-up comedians of our time – also an actor and a writer.

I’m a big fan of his work.

Why Jerry?

Because we can learn the best writing tip from him. From my own experience, he has the best advice for all the bloggers who want to publish more on their blogs and overcome the writing fear.

We all want that, right?

Then you should try this “Jerry method.” Maybe this method was invented by someone else, but I learned it from him. So, I want to call it the Jerry method.

Jerry method

For his stand-up comedy, he needs the best jokes because it is not easy to make people laugh. To produce the best jokes, he needs to have a lot of jokes. Then he can cut them down to the best ones.

How he produces a lot of jokes every single day?

As he said, he needs only two things for that.

1. Giant wall calendar
2. Red marker

The joke-writing goal has already been set.

If his goal was five jokes a day, once he finished his five jokes goal, he would take the red marker and draw a cross on the calendar.

Then the next day, he would do it again after he achieved his writing goal. Then, the next day and the next and the next.

At the end of the day, you can see the progress of your writing when you look at the wall calendar. It is nice to see thick red marks on the days like an unbroken chain.

Do you know the best part? You’ll feel pain when you see a broken spot of the chain on your wall calendar (that means you’ve not achieved your writing goal on that day).

I do not know anything about human psychology, but I believe that feeling pain is how your brain motivates itself to keep going.

If you could stick to your writing goal for at least a week, you’ll work harder and harder not to break the chain and stay away from that pain.

Most importantly, you have developed a writing habit after one week of continuous work. That is what you wanted so badly, right? The Jerry method works if it looks so simple.

So, don’t waste a second. Just start writing today and follow this excellent Jerry method.

Writing goal

It does not matter how good your words are or how many words you write daily. You must stick to your writing goal and try not to break the chain.

First, develop a writing habit. Then you can think about the words, writing style, and how to become a good writer.

My goal is 500 words per day, but still, I’m struggling to write my 500 words sometimes. The most important thing is I do not give up.

Maybe you work two jobs, or you have kids. So, 500 words is an impossible goal. I understand that. What you have to do is set the most realistic goal for you. Whether your goal is to write 100 words or 500 words per day doesn’t matter.

If you want to build a writing habit, you have to stick to your goal.

First few days, you might not be able to achieve your writing goal, and it takes hours to write the first 100 words. It feels like an impossible goal. Don’t worry! Even the best writers have gone through this pain. Just stay calm and keep going.

But, after a few weeks, it becomes much easier. I feel more comfortable doing it, and the process becomes much faster. 

You get a better sense of how you start and finish your article. You feel like you have something to write every day.

Knowing you have progressed over time makes a huge difference in your writing. The sensation you feel when you have achieved your goal is priceless. I want you to feel that.

Wrapping up

Before you start writing, you need to free your mind. I am writing this post while I’m writing my thesis because I want to free my mind and get rid of my professors and examiners living inside of my head.

If I allow them to comment on my work when I’m still writing the messy first draft, probably 100 words will take a day or two. It happens to me all the time. So, I don’t want them around my table at this level.

So, do not try to please the audience with your writing. You must free your mind and vomit everything on the paper/word processing app.

One more thing! Do not even think about editing your first draft while writing. If you do that, it’ll become an endless process.

Writing and editing are entirely different processes. First, you write. Then do the editing. If you want to become a better writer or an editor, I recommend a few tools to make your life easier and refine your messy first draft. 

Please find those awesome writing tools here.