Five questions writers ask.
Typically, new writers ask themselves several questions. Questions that never go away entirely. When I started, other writers, either in person or online, gave me their answers to these questions. After I had been writing for a few years, I realised that there are no fixed rules. Success (in my own terms rather than financially) would only come, if I found my own way and my own routines.
After a few more years, I understood many of the emotional ups and downs can trip you up and how easy it is to burn out if you are not careful.
I found myself asking the same questions again, and to my surprise, my answers were different. Now I review my writing routines and habits every few months to keep me out of a destructive rut.
Let me unpack each question, so we can compare our answers.
Question 1. Do I need to write every day?
There are good reasons for creating a daily writing habit. Books take a long time to write, and most of the time it’s about sitting down at your desk and ploughing on. If you only write when you are in the mood, your book will never get finished.
You need to train your creative reflex so that inspiration comes when you sit down to write, not the other way around.
The more often you write, the more your writing will improve. It doesn’t matter how many writing techniques you have learned; repetition is the greatest teacher of good writing.
Writing every day reduces the pressure to perform. When writing becomes a habit, like washing up, it doesn’t matter if you have a bad day. Sometimes you need to delete a whole load of words because they don’t work, and if you write every day, there is always tomorrow to write new and better words.
You stay connected to your work in progress so that you don’t waste time rereading the last few chapters to orient yourself every time you sit down.
Honestly, writing a book takes a fair amount of stamina even if you love the process so you need to build in self-discipline. No one can help you with that.
Let’s be realistic now; life gets in the way of that. Medical issues, the needs of your family, running a household, and unexpected events all mean that you miss days or weeks. At the moment, for example, my old dog Rowan, who is fifteen, is very poorly. I am writing still, but my heart isn’t in it. I don’t believe in treating dogs like children, but even so, I don’t want him to die alone, so I’m spending as much time checking on him as I do sitting at my desk.
I am waiting for an eye operation with a long recovery time that will not allow for a daily writing habit. I could go on. You will have your own restrictions, and this isn’t an all or nothing occupation. Remember that you need to be kind to yourself don’t let rules get in the way of living your best life.
So do I write every day? No, but I do have a Plan B. If I know I’m not going to write the next day, I make a few notes to help me get straight into the story the next time I’m at my desk.
I don’t rely on feelings; if I can write, I do, even if I’m not feeling it.
I set long-term word targets instead of daily ones, so that it doesn’t matter if I write loads on one day and not very much the next.
We are all different, and in my experience, it takes a long time to work out a pattern that works for you and your circumstances.
The most important thing is to enjoy what you are doing; don’t let it become a burden or a chore. Your emotions and your attitude to writing will find its way into your story, that’s what makes your writing unique. In the age of AI the one thing that makes us stand out is the joy that seeps into your work.
What do you do? Do you write every day?
Next time we’ll talk about question 2 : How to pick up your project again after a disruption.
Abigail Thorne 