Writing Every Day
A common question I see posed to authors on various social media outlets is, “Do you write every day?”
I believe the theory of writing every day stems from advice/craft books popular with fiction writers. It’s sound advice – if you can find the time to fit in a bit of writing time with everything else cramming your schedule. Sometimes it’s difficult. A bad day at work, a sick child or spouse, an unexpected family emergency, or any number of other things can derail even the best laid plans.
My honest answer to the question is: I try.
Some days it just doesn’t work out, but most of the time, I write something.
Sometimes my current story/novel project isn’t cooperating and I’m not able to add anything to it on a given day. Instead, I’ll write a blog post or work on content for my newsletter. It’s all writing in some form, and I believe that counts. I don’t like forcing my stories if the words aren’t flowing. If I think it sounds rushed, forced, or otherwise, readers will pick up on that too.
I’ve had some of my coworkers and family members act genuinely surprised that I manage to write novels, regular blog posts, and a newsletter all on top of my 40-hour per week day job. But the fact is, I love writing.
On those rare days when my novels aren’t flowing well, having a blog post to fall back on is wonderful. Writing is my version of release and my greatest escape from reality. We all have something like that, whether it’s reading, watching movies/tv, video games, tabletop games—my preferred method just happens to be this.
When I first started my blog in July of 2020, I wasn’t sure where to begin or what to post. My posts were irregular at first, but in January of 2021, I decided to make a commitment to posting once a week. I thought it would be difficult to find enough content to write about, but I was wrong. The more I work on my blog, the more inspiration I find for posts. It’s become easier over time.
If you go back to read some of my earliest posts, you’ll see there’s also a big difference in what content I published versus now. At the start, most of my posts were promotional because I didn’t know what else to do. Now I have a decent variety of content, and while a significant portion is somehow related to my books, it’s more about taking an in-depth look at various characters, species, or how I draw inspiration for certain elements in my stories. I think the later posts are much more interesting.
As many seasoned authors will tell you, writing something each day makes your art better. My blog posts over time are a testament to that. However, I also firmly believe that you can’t force your writing. If you’re having an off-day, it’s okay to take a break now and then. Not doing so can lead to burn-out, and then where would the story be?
In my experience, it winds up abandoned in my “Started and Stopped” folder, or back in the days prior to having my own computer, it would wind up in my filing cabinet of doom. (Okay, doom might be a little dramatic, but the truth is, most of those stories won’t be worked on again. They’re essentially kept because there are good ideas within, and maybe because I’m sentimental and reluctant to let them go.)
Burn-out is not fun, no matter where it stems from. So I take the advice of writing every day with a grain of salt. If I can’t manage it for a day or two, it’s okay. I don’t want to wind up in the same place I was back in 2015 where I wanted so desperately to write, but I was exhausted, stressed, and just couldn’t manage it for months. It wasn’t a good place to be.
If I’ve learned anything during my writing journey, it’s this: My mental health has to come first. When my stress is low, my creativity is so much better. Forcing words onto a page when I’m not mentally in the right space does more harm than good.