If you’re new to writing (or even if you’re not) you’ve definitely received this advice: write every day. People tell you about Stephen King and how he writes several thousand words a day. And of course you want to be successful like Stephen King, so you need to do that too: write a thousand words, every single day, whether it’s Christmas or you’re sick or you’re on family vacation.
Except…this is terrible advice.
Consider this scenario: You’ve decided to start running. While asking for tips for new runners, you’re continually told to run every day. Run five miles every day, regardless of the weather or how you feel.
That’s crazy, right? We have been taught that our bodies and muscles need a break—you can’t push them to their breaking point every single day, or eventually they’ll just break. It takes time to build up stamina, and even when you’re an experienced runner, you still need to take a break so you can rest and give your muscles time to recover. This may look like not working out at all that day or it may mean cross-training.
But somehow when it comes to writing, we’re told to write every day, and specifically work on your main project every day. While this sounds like a good goal, in reality it will burn out your creative muscles, just as running long distances every day will be detrimental to your physical muscles.
This advice comes from a good place, and the idea behind it is correct. You should be writing regularly. Especially as a new writer, it can be easy to think you should only be writing when you feel “inspired,” when really you need to learn how to force yourself to write even when you don’t feel like it. If you decided to start running, but only run when you feel like it, you’re not going to be running very often! So the advice to “write every day” is meant to teach new writers that you can’t just wait until you feel inspired to write, but you need to write regularly.
Just like you can build up your muscles and stamina by running regularly, you can do the same when you write regularly. It’s even possible to write daily, without burning out. The key to doing this is the same as exercising daily: mix it up.
You don’t need to write 2,000 words on your main project every day. That will lead to burnout. Rather, make your goal to do something related to writing every day. Mostly, this will be writing your main project. But it can also mean editing. Or working on a side project, or smaller projects like short stories. If you have a blog, writing a post is still “working out” your writing muscles, but gives you a break from the more intense process of writing your novel. Even when you exercise regularly, you need to incorporate what are called “active rest” days. This means you’re not just sitting on the couch all day, but you’re not doing intense workouts—maybe you go for an easy hike, or walk for several miles. In writing this might be working on something like fanfiction, spending some time journaling, or even reading a good book with the critical eye of a writer to see why it works. These are all useful and can help you become a better writer, but are a little bit easier on your creative muscles.
So, the advice to write every day stems from good intentions, but take it with a grain of salt. I tend to make weekly writing goals as opposed to daily writing goals. This way, if I have a crazy busy and exhausting day, I don’t need to feel guilty about not writing—I can focus on using time on less busy days that will be more productive, and still hit my goal. Ultimately, your goal should be to write consistently, not constantly. If you stick to this, you’ll see yourself begin to grow, and the chances of burnout will lower significantly.
How often do you write? Have you ever felt burnt out before? How did you recover from it and how do you prevent it from happening again? Let me know in the comments!
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Featured image by Dmitry Ratushny
I never set myself writing goals. That said, I tend to write nearly every day, and I tend to work on my wip nearly everyday. Usually, I write more than 2000 words per day on my novel. In 3 years, I’ve written twelve books – even though they’re parts of severeal series. I’m not bragging, I’m just trying to state that everyone being different, what works for some will be bad for others. Writing my novels is my job, and besides motherhood and housechores, it’s what I do with my days, this writing thing. It has led to burnout, but not because of the writing, what set me on a course of severe creative self destruction was not the writing per se but everything else around the business: the editing, the revising, the publishing, the endless promoting and marketing, the trying to find readers willing to review, etc. etc. etc. I had to put a plug on these other aspects of writing by deciding not to publish any more for the time being so I could heal myself with… constant writing! Because that is what works for me, but I would never tell some one to write EVERY SINGLE DAY. I don’t know enough about others to dish out advice like that, right? Make it a habit of writing, train your creative muscles, yes, but find your own pace and what works for you, is what I always say. I tend to feel very ashamed of my writing habits and the amount of writing I produce in a day, because others are doing it in a slower, healthier pace, and I can’t. But have come to terms with it, I will always be a verbose writer and my need to put down stories and words along with the amount of time I have to do it, will have me dishing out word counts that are way too tremendous eheh.
That’s impressive! And I agree–everyone is different, and you have to find what works for you. I tend to be a faster writer as well, but I’m not a full-time writer yet so I have to balance it with my paid job, which can drain my mental energy. But I figure as long as you’re writing, that’s all that matters! For me, writing regularly (most days of the week) is important, or I fall out of the habit and start to loathe getting back into it. But I know another writer who will write first drafts in one or two weeks, then not do any writing for months, and be able to jump write back in–something that definitely wouldn’t work for me! Everyone is definitely different, which is why I think breaking down this common advice that is said so off-handedly can be important–it may work for you, or it might not, and you shouldn’t be discouraged either way!
Great post. Writers do need to write regularly, but the pressure to write every day is too much. A doctor doesn’t have to work every day to be considered a doctor. They get days off and holidays, and some are even part-time. Almost no profession has these kind of unrealistic standards. I love what you say about writing consistently, rather than constantly. That’s excellent advice.
Thanks! And that’s a great point about other professions not being expected to work regularly. Somehow for writing and other creative professions, we get the idea that we should push ourselves to the breaking point to create art, when really we need rest and time off just like anybody else.