Should You Write Every Day?

It’s probably one of the most debated questions in the writing world.

Should you write every day?

Do some research, and you’ll find the answers bounce from one side of the world wide web to the other – from the hard, “Yes” to the ardent, “No.”

To prove my point, here is a sampling of responses I’ve received to the question, "Should you write every day?” inside my Writers Salon community:

“Writing something every day helps us to be organized, process our emotions when we put them down in words, increases creativity and productivity.”

“For me it’s imperative I write daily, even if for just a few minutes. Otherwise, I feel like I’m not making progress and not being diligent to build my craft.”

“Nope. I know of many successful writers who don't write every day. Like them, I find writing has its own realities and rhythms. It's not a matter of waiting for inspiration; the act of writing is what brings the inspiration. But it is important for me to create a writing habit based on my life, priorities, and personality and not on a standard that makes me feel constantly guilty for not being able to meet it.”

“Not necessarily. I know many writers who insist upon journaling every day. I never liked doing that. I tried recently to commit some random thoughts and ideas to a Word file several times a week but it felt so stilted and artificial.”

“I think you should write every day because it gets you thinking about the story.”

“I believe it’s important to write regularly about anything and everything. Every day? Not necessarily. I write when I get inspired.”

“Although one must honor one’s self, I would agree that it is necessary to write something every day, just as it is necessary to breathe and to move.”

Feel like you’re on a teeter-totter?

For years I have bounced around this question, dreaming of being the writer who puts the proverbial pen to paper every day to at least tickle my own creative muse, keep my storytelling brain well oiled. Writing, like anything else, gets better with practice. To build a habit, we should work at it every day, right?

The only way the work gets done is to do it. The only way to be a writer is to write.

Yet, if our creative work becomes a law (think, “You should …” or, “You have to …”), how quick are we to dismiss it?

Should you write every day?

I’m not here to give you a hard “yes” or “no.” Writing is a creative and a subjective and an individual act. There is no ONE way to do it. There is no RIGHT way to do it. The one absolute:

To be a writer, you must write.

But how often or how regularly you write depends on a lot of factors. Let’s look at a few of them:

1)      Your overarching goal when it comes to writing. Not every writer aspires to be a serial novelist or a New York Times bestseller. If your goal is to pump out one book a year, then perhaps you should write every day. But if your goal is to finish one writing project this year and then wait for the muse to take hold again, daily writing may not be up your alley. And that’s okay. 

2)      Other responsibilities/obligations in your life, in this season. The novelist who has a deadline to send a finished manuscript to her editor by the end of the month is likely in a season of writing every day. The military wife who works full time and is anticipating a cross-country move in the next two weeks may not be in a season of writing every day. It’s not fair to compare yourself and your writing habits to anyone else. Stay in your lane. Determine your priorities, in this season.

3)      What kind of writer you are. I love what Allison K. Williams says about the freedom of flexibility when it comes to writing. On the Brevity Blog, she writes, “Notice how you work best, and work that way on purpose.” It’s more important to understand how you work best than it is to live up to an arbitrary ideal.

4)      What type of writing project you’re working on right now and where you are in the process. Are you gathering memories and research for a family history? Editing the rough draft of a novel? Waiting for feedback on some poems? Perhaps you have no specific writing project at the moment and are casting about for ideas. Where you are on your writing journey will influence what a regular writing habit looks like for you – or whether you have a habit at all.

Writing every day is a dream for some. It spells quick failure for others. No matter how often you put your butt in chair, it is important to celebrate those moments – to tell yourself, “Good job,” every time you show up to the page, for the act of showing up. There is discipline to the craft of writing, for sure, but I also think it’s too easy and oversimplified to say that, to be a writer, you must write every day.

However.

There is a lot to be said about building a writing habit.

In one of her weekly newsletters a while back, author and Funds for Writers founder Hope Clark did not mince words when she shared:

"The truth is, however, that if you intend to take writing seriously, then show up to work. Delays and gaps in between only makes your writing atrophy. Then you have to warm up all over again, often rereading and rewriting material because you lost track. Also, writing daily ingrains a habit in you such that every time you sit in the chair your brain knows to start writing. And yes, it does become easier. Not that writing is easy, but getting back into it is easier when you do it daily.”

You are the only person who can determine how and where writing fits into your life. If you want to make writing a habit, you’ve gotta show up, again and again. You’ve gotta write regardless of whether you feel like writing.

And, you’ve gotta find some fun and enjoyment in the process.

What feels good when it comes to your writing? Is it religiously writing your morning pages, as Julia Cameron suggests in The Artist’s Way? Is it stealing 30 minutes on a lunch break when you have no other plans? Is it that feeling of having written, once you get in your 500 words for the day?

Ask yourself why writing is important to you, and then ask yourself where in your life it fits. (An exercise I recommend every writer do at least once is to craft their own “Why I Write” essay. More on that here.)

How you measure your writing goals is just as important as the effort you put toward your writing. Get clear on your writing goals, determine the best way to make progress on those goals, and then, get started.

If you’d like some help, I’d love to hear from you. You can reach out here.

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