Write Every Day?

 

For writers, the best way to paraphrase today's poster quote is to say this simple sentence. 'Write something every day.' 

Writers from beginners to pros have heard this advice over and over again. There's a reason for the constant repetition. It works!

If you write on a Saturday, then skip Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, then write again on Thursday and not do so until the Wednesday of the next week, what do you suppose will happen? It becomes easier and easier to spread the time between days that you write until you finally realize you're not writing at all. 

The admonition to write something every day is to help you establish a habit. If you write, even a little, every day (or almost every day), you will not even have to consider whether you have time to write. You will make time, create time. Think about how much time we all waste every day. Take 30 minutes of those wasteful moments and use it to write. 

Some writers have a certain period of the day when they write. Mornings only, after lunch, evenings into the wee hours of the morning. Others do it whenever they can fit it into their schedule of that day. Writers have other things in their daily routines, appointments to keep, and sometimes a lunch with friends or a movie to see. 

I did read an article once that suggested that writers needed to learn to say no to social invitations if they wanted time to write. That might be a bit extreme. I would say accept the social invitations that are the most attractive to you and learn to say no to some others. Or accept the opportunity to be with friends and family and get up an hour earlier or stay up an hour later than usual. Learn to adjust. Your social life is important for mental and emotional health.

Do you have to write a whole story every day? An entire nonfiction article? A draft for a picture book? Of course not. Start a project and build on it a little more each day. If you have a day when you have more time, great. Keep working on your project. 

As the quote tells us, those small daily efforts will end with success. Meaning you have finished a writing project and are ready to submit.