On Writing
There is a “rule” that gets passed around a lot as advice for beginning writers. “You must write every day,” They say. Whoever They is. I never liked this rule. Instead, I say, “Write like it matters to you.” So that might mean you write every day or every other day or every weekend or maybe you write every day until you finish a project and then you take some time off. I don’t think you need to write EVERY SINGLE DAY of your WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE to be successful. That is a long held myth, and I think writers do themselves a disservice repeating it and passing it along as advice. It’s okay to let the field lay fallow for a while. It’s okay to sit and think. It’s okay to do nothing.
— Valerie Geary
Valerie is documenting the writing process from sale to publication on her Facebook page. I encourage you to follow along.
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Mille grazie for this permission! I’m actually consciously working at NOT working every day right now, because my brain-and-heart-field can really use a fallow stretch.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought about these words, especially the “write like it matters to you” part. Enjoy your rest!
I love this, simply because I can’t write every day. Thanks for sharing!
I don’t write everyday, either. It’s one of those pieces of advice that leaves me feeling inadequate rather than motivated. This is a much more generous approach.
Yes! I think we all need to remember this from time to time. Thank you. I felt guilty in decades past for letting months go by without writing, but now I write much more often, simply because I no longer have little ones at home. Every day, though, is a stressful regimen for slow writers like me who need time to let things marinate.
Thank you for mentioning not only the day to day but different life seasons. And any slow writer is a friend of mine.
That’s nice to hear, Caroline. And I gave you a tiny shout-out on my blog today.