Don’t Write Every Day

Filed under Writing tips.

Don't Write Every DayI have noticed a growing trend for blog posts encouraging writers to write every day, and this worries me.

Writers are already bombarded with a plethora of writing and ‘get published’ advice, most of it repetitive, unoriginal and frankly unhelpful. To be honest, the feedback I am getting from writers is that this advice leaves them feeling guilty that they are not writing in every spare moment and then building an on-line platform in their sleep.

But let’s face it – I don’t care what anyone says, writers don’t need to write every day.

I don’t and I am a professional writer with an agent, multiple publishers, writing deadlines and a list of future proposals.

So if I don’t write every day, why should anyone?

Don’t get me wrong, I understand the argument regarding a writing rhythm and developing the ‘habit’ of writing, but this is NOT the same as writing every day. This is just self-discipline.

The way I write is to create windows of time that I dedicate to writing. The number and length of theses windows is adjusted to meet my writing demands.

But so what? Why does this even matter? This my system. It is the way I write. It is not your system. You need your own system, your own way of writing. Forget the rules, break them and make up your own.

So please gentle writer, ignore all the ‘write every day’ rubbish, relax and write when YOU are ready.

p.s. DO blog every day though!

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  • http://shortstoriesandmadrants.blogspot.com Diandra

    Maybe writing every day is like learning a musical instrument – as long as you’re still “learning”, you need regular practice (best every day), but once you have reached a certain level, daily practice is less important to your improvement and success?

    (I would say, “Write whenever you have the time and feel the need”, but it’s rather easy to convince yourself that “I can write once the laundry is done and I’ve cleaned the windows and made dinner and cleaned up that oil spill and…”)

    • garysmailes

      In Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers he pin points 10,000 hours practice as the target for anyone looking to excel in a pursuit.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks!!!! I understand the points made by people who defend then need to write every day, but really, if you feel inspired and you’re into the flow of your book you’ll be doing it anyway. Otherwise, you’re forcing yourself to write just about anything and you’ll probably have to delete it all the next day.I’m not with you on the blogging every day though. I think it’s best to have something interesting to say before you blog and too many posts can be overwhelming for people who follow several blogs at a time. So here I prefer a constant flow of interesting posts against an everyday inflow of vague digressions.
    Actually, you’re contradicting yourself, blogging is writing too, you still have to find inspiration and choose your words carefully, try to keep the reader interested… So you’re saying we should write every day.

    • garysmailes

      I am contradicting myself! However, I would say that book writing is a private and personal exercise that requires a different level of interaction than blog writing. Book writing is also producing a single product that will be sold through a defined channel. For me, blog writing is different. It has the goal of building your profile, the more you blog the more visitors you attract and the more interaction ensues. By blogging every day you are optimising your impact.

      Have you tried Google Reader to control your blogs?

      • Anonymous

        Point taken, thanks.
        And yes, I do use Google Reader, but the list gets longer and longer. There are so many interesting blogs out there which you kindly point out to us.

  • http://www.adammaxwell.com Adam Maxwell

    Interesting this cropped up just before I was going to start 100 days of writing. Made me think about what I was about to attempt. You are absolutely right, I think, for me it is about trying to increase self-discipline but also to let people know that as an author who predominantly publishes online what else is involved: site maintnenance, design, editing and most importantly of all… procrastinating!

    • garysmailes

      I think I was writing more about rules than writing. I think the key is to define your own writing rules and forget every one else. If you feel that 100 days of writing is a benefit, then go for it! Let me know how it goes.

  • http://shortstoriesandmadrants.blogspot.com Diandra

    Maybe writing every day is like learning a musical instrument – as long as you're still “learning”, you need regular practice (best every day), but once you have reached a certain level, daily practice is less important to your improvement and success?

    (I would say, “Write whenever you have the time and feel the need”, but it's rather easy to convince yourself that “I can write once the laundry is done and I've cleaned the windows and made dinner and cleaned up that oil spill and…”)

  • http://writeforyourlife.net Iain Broome

    I am completely with you on this. I’m sick to death of seeing supposed writing advice that comes from people who have absolutely no right or qualifications to be offering it. I know plenty of successful writers, and i mean genuinely successful writers, and not one of them writes every day.Yes, try and find a writing rhythm, but by no means feel in the least bit guilty for letting other parts of your life get in the way from time to time. Do whatever works for you and your writing.

    • garysmailes

      Iain – You are correct. What I find frustrating is that I don’t know a single writer who has the time to write full time. Every one, even the most successful, do other things. To put pressure on yourself to write every day is plain silly.

  • sarahcallejo

    Thanks!!!! I understand the points made by people who defend then need to write every day, but really, if you feel inspired and you're into the flow of your book you'll be doing it anyway. Otherwise, you're forcing yourself to write just about anything and you'll probably have to delete it all the next day.
    I'm not with you on the blogging every day though. I think it's best to have something interesting to say before you blog and too many posts can be overwhelming for people who follow several blogs at a time. So here I prefer a constant flow of interesting posts against an everyday inflow of vague digressions.
    Actually, you're contradicting yourself, blogging is writing too, you still have to find inspiration and choose your words carefully, try to keep the reader interested… So you're saying we should write every day.

  • http://twitter.com/ISayItsAdam Adam Maxwell

    Interesting this cropped up just before I was going to start 100 days of writing. Made me think about what I was about to attempt. You are absolutely right, I think, for me it is about trying to increase self-discipline but also to let people know that as an author who predominantly publishes online what else is involved: site maintnenance, design, editing and most importantly of all… procrastinating!

  • http://pandyapushpendrakumar.blogspot.com/ pushpendra

    I agree ! Since i am new in terms of writing the little bit which i have done o far. I feel so tense because every other person i come across tells me to writer everyday. Keep writing. It must not be like a punishment.

    Thank you.

    • garysmailes

      Just write when the mood takes you…

  • http://writeforyourlife.net Iain Broome

    I am completely with you on this. I'm sick to death of seeing supposed writing advice that comes from people who have absolutely no right or qualifications to be offering it. I know plenty of successful writers, and i mean genuinely successful writers, and not one of them writes every day.

    Yes, try and find a writing rhythm, but by no means feel in the least bit guilty for letting other parts of your life get in the way from time to time. Do whatever works for you and your writing.

  • http://pandyapushpendrakumar.blogspot.com/ pushpendra

    I agree ! Since i am new in terms of writing the little bit which i have done o far. I feel so tense because every other person i come across tells me to writer everyday. Keep writing. It must not be like a punishment.

    Thank you.

  • garysmailes

    Just write when the mood takes you…

  • garysmailes

    Iain – You are correct. What I find frustrating is that I don't know a single writer who has the time to write full time. Every one, even the most successful, do other things. To put pressure on yourself to write every day is plain silly.

  • garysmailes

    I think I was writing more about rules than writing. I think the key is to define your own writing rules and forget every one else. If you feel that 100 days of writing is a benefit, then go for it! Let me know how it goes.

  • garysmailes

    I am contradicting myself! However, I would say that book writing is a private and personal exercise that requires a different level of interaction than blog writing. Book writing is also producing a single product that will be sold through a defined channel. For me, blog writing is different. It has the goal of building your profile, the more you blog the more visitors you attract and the more interaction ensues. By blogging every day you are optimising your impact.

    Have you tried Google Reader to control your blogs?

  • garysmailes

    In Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers he pin points 10,000 hours practice as the target for anyone looking to excel in a pursuit.

  • sarahcallejo

    Point taken, thanks.
    And yes, I do use Google Reader, but the list gets longer and longer. There are so many interesting blogs out there which you kindly point out to us.

  • T.

    I have to admit that this is the first post where I’ve seen someone say that writer’s shouldn’t write every day. I agree and disagree with this statement. I think you SHOULD write every day. If almost everyone in the writing world says to do it then it wouldn’t be the best idea to go against that advice, but with that I think you should vary what you write. You don’t always have to work on your current manuscript.

    For instance, write a page or two of a scene that has nothing to do with the current story. Take the characters and put them in another setting. Drop them onto Middle Earth and write out their reactions. Write out backstory. Write something that has nothing at all to do with your manuscript. But write. A sentence, a paragraph, a page. Something is better than nothing.

    And on the note that when you reach a certain plateau in playing a musical instrument you can back off on your training, you only do that if you’re sick of playing well. I’ve played the cello for 16 years and I still practice every day the same as I did when I first started. You practice to get better and then you practice to stay good.

    • garysmailes

      This is a very valid point. However, I think the point I was trying to get across is that writers should follow their own rules and feel the pressure to conform to the ‘norm’.

  • http://busywriting.wordpress.com Julie Johnson

    thx! I agree with you.
    There does seem to be a lot of writing advice out there (causing anxiety) and I think we need to take what’s good for us and leave the rest…rather than trying to swallow all of it whole. I think we need to be flexible with ourselves.
    I also think once you get more confident in yourself as a writer (ie: that writing is not going to abandon you or you it) then you can relax a bit more about the process, not squeeze so tightly. Writing daily would be nice, but isn’t always attainable or always ‘right’.

  • T.

    I have to admit that this is the first post where I've seen someone say that writer's shouldn't write every day. I agree and disagree with this statement. I think you SHOULD write every day. If almost everyone in the writing world says to do it then it wouldn't be the best idea to go against that advice, but with that I think you should vary what you write. You don't always have to work on your current manuscript.

    For instance, write a page or two of a scene that has nothing to do with the current story. Take the characters and put them in another setting. Drop them onto Middle Earth and write out their reactions. Write out backstory. Write something that has nothing at all to do with your manuscript. But write. A sentence, a paragraph, a page. Something is better than nothing.

    And on the note that when you reach a certain plateau in playing a musical instrument you can back off on your training, you only do that if you're sick of playing well. I've played the cello for 16 years and I still practice every day the same as I did when I first started. You practice to get better and then you practice to stay good.

  • garysmailes

    This is a very valid point. However, I think the point I was trying to get across is that writers should follow their own rules and feel the pressure to conform to the 'norm'.

  • http://stories.osterin.com Richard

    I agree.

    And yet, I completely disagree.

    From your point of view, there is no reason to write every day. You already possess the necessary self-discipline to write when you have to, even if you don’t feel like it. You can already force yourself through blocks. This advice is not meant for you, nor for any successful writer.

    It’s meant for those who are novices. I know it helped me. There were times, not too long ago, where I would get stuck. Telling myself that I would write 1000 words every day forced me to work through those places. Do I still do that? No. But it helped to develop those self-discipline techniques.

    Thing is, if you tell a budding writer to just write when she wants to, she’s less likely to develop such techniques. She’s more likely to just quit when the going gets tough. If this happens enough times, you’ll be left with someone who doesn’t even bother to start something, because she knows she won’t finish it.

    And this is far worse than the “stress” of writing every day, or the “guilt” of not.

  • http://busywriting.wordpress.com Julie Johnson

    thx! I agree with you.
    There does seem to be a lot of writing advice out there (causing anxiety) and I think we need to take what's good for us and leave the rest…rather than trying to swallow all of it whole. I think we need to be flexible with ourselves.
    I also think once you get more confident in yourself as a writer (ie: that writing is not going to abandon you or you it) then you can relax a bit more about the process, not squeeze so tightly. Writing daily would be nice, but isn't always attainable or always 'right'.

  • http://stories.osterin.com Richard

    I agree.

    And yet, I completely disagree.

    From your point of view, there is no reason to write every day. You already possess the necessary self-discipline to write when you have to, even if you don't feel like it. You can already force yourself through blocks. This advice is not meant for you, nor for any successful writer.

    It's meant for those who are novices. I know it helped me. There were times, not too long ago, where I would get stuck. Telling myself that I would write 1000 words every day forced me to work through those places. Do I still do that? No. But it helped to develop those self-discipline techniques.

    Thing is, if you tell a budding writer to just write when she wants to, she's less likely to develop such techniques. She's more likely to just quit when the going gets tough. If this happens enough times, you'll be left with someone who doesn't even bother to start something, because she knows she won't finish it.

    And this is far worse than the “stress” of writing every day, or the “guilt” of not.

  • http://write-and-wrong.posterous.com/ Victor Finch

    There’s a lot of advice out there that just seems to be rehashed platitudes padded out into blog posts, so I’m always glad to read something like this (if I read another bland “show don’t tell” post I’m gonna hurt somebody). Back when I had a fixed minimum daily word-count sometimes I’d wind up with a load of crap, in one case an entire week of painful brain dredgings wound up being worthy only of deleting.

    The only danger is in not letting the odd day off not turn into a couple of days off, that winds up as a week off. I always find it harder to settle down to work if it’s been more than a couple of days.

    • garysmailes

      The reason I suggest writers don’t write every day is because of the reasons you highlight. I feel strongly that writers need both a desire and focus, just writing for the sake of writing is fair enough but can quickly become uncontrolled and without a defined goal.

  • Cjglover63

    What gets me is the word count agenda. I don’t always make a goal of X words per day because I am cutting, editing and shifting goop around. I try to work at least a half an hour minimum per day, but the off days are there for a reason. They let my mind chill and help me figure out a problem or solve a story issue subconsciously.

    Thanks for the post!

  • http://write-and-wrong.posterous.com/ Victor Finch

    There's a lot of advice out there that just seems to be rehashed platitudes padded out into blog posts, so I'm always glad to read something like this (if I read another bland “show don't tell” post I'm gonna hurt somebody). Back when I had a fixed minimum daily word-count sometimes I'd wind up with a load of crap, in one case an entire week of painful brain dredgings wound up being worthy only of deleting.

    The only danger is in not letting the odd day off not turn into a couple of days off, that winds up as a week off. I always find it harder to settle down to work if it's been more than a couple of days.

  • garysmailes

    The reason I suggest writers don't write every day is because of the reasons you highlight. I feel strongly that writers need both a desire and focus, just writing for the sake of writing is fair enough but can quickly become uncontrolled and without a defined goal.

  • Cjglover63

    What gets me is the word count agenda. I don't always make a goal of X words per day because I am cutting, editing and shifting goop around. I try to work at least a half an hour minimum per day, but the off days are there for a reason. They let my mind chill and help me figure out a problem or solve a story issue subconsciously.

    Thanks for the post!