Set a goal. Write it every day. Earn your links. Forge a magnificent chain. And that’s Write Chain in a nutshell.

Need more than the CliffsNotes version? Then begin your daily writing journey with this step-by-step guide to the Write Chain Challenge.

Step 1:

Choose Your Target

Time to create a concrete and measurable goal, one that’s going to do you wonders.

When setting your daily target, choose an action you can take (e.g., writing or editing) and a specific amount to aim for (e.g., a certain number of words, pages or time). It might be to write 200 words, edit one page, write one blog post, or plot for 30 minutes a day. Choose something that fits where you’re currently at in the writing process, and don’t worry—you can adjust your goal at any point, should your priorities change.

There are two things you should remember when picking a daily writing goal.

• This is a daily minimum. In other words, you should write at least this amount, but are very welcome to write more than that.
• This is something you should be able to reach on your worst writing day, not your best or even your average one.

That’s why I recommend you pick a small target, one you know you can stick to, one so easy that you can’t say no.

Step 2:

Write Every Day

Put aside time to reach your target each day, every day.

Do you struggle with this? Check out the Write Chain archives and use psychology to master the secrets of daily writing.

Step 3:

Earn Links

If you’ve written at least your goal amount in one day, congratulations! You’ve just forged a link in your Write Chain.

Do bear in mind that you can only forge one link a day, so writing double your target in one day will still only get you one link, not two. (We’re all about consistency over quantity here.)

Step 4:

Forge a Magnificent Chain

For every consecutive day you reach your target, your links form a chain. Two days in a row makes two links in your Write Chain, three days makes three links, and so on.

BUT should you miss a day or fail to reach your target, your Write Chain will break, leaving you to start over again. (Uh oh.) That’s why it’s important to make your target something you can reach even on a bad day.

Step 5:

Rise Up the Ranks

Once you’ve joined the challenge and made your pledge, you’ll be entered into the Leaderboard. Let me and the Write Chain community know how you’re doing by reporting your current link count on Twitter, using the #WriteChain hashtag, or through the comments on the Leaderboard. As you build up your chain and rise up through the ranks, you'll achieve new titles and prestige.

Will you make it to Write Chain Idol? It all starts at Day 1, so go out there and forge that chain.