Expanding the Meaning of "Write Every Day"
Every writer who has ever lived has been given the same advice, usually from someone older and wiser, with much more experience, speaking in a place of authority - regardless of whether or not they were asked for advice in the first place.
Write every day.
It’s not bad advice. In fact, it’s good. A writer, after all, must write. That’s what the word means. And a writer who wants to “go pro”, for lack of a better term, needs to produce work to sell. So, yeah. Okay. Write every day. It makes sense. It’s sound advice. And yet there remains a pushback among the online writing community. Claims are made against it, most equally as sound- is it good for mental health? what if you feel like you’re forcing yourself? can you still call yourself a writer if you miss a day, or a week, or a month? does it put too much pressure on young writers? on new writers?
I, personally, reside in the camp that believes in writing every day. I think it’s important. For me, and for my creative process, it’s important. It keeps me motivated, keeps me moving, keeps me going.
But here’s the thing: I don’t think that writing every day should be limited to the physical act of sitting your butt in a chair, putting pen to paper - or fingers to keyboard - and writing. Because writing is more than that. The physical act of writing, while being the most important factor, is only a fraction of the overall process. That’s how I see it, at least, because so much more goes into a poem, a novel, a script, a song. There’s brainstorming; researching; editing; re-writing; inspiration-seeking; re-re-writing; more editing; more brainstorming; more researching; playlist-building, storyboard-making, and on and on and on.
You don’t have to write 1,000 words a day. Hell, you don’t even have to write 100 words a day. I’d argue that you don’t even have to write one word per day. Maybe you spend a day reading a book on the Victorian era to prepare for your historical fiction novella- that’s writing. Say you scribble down some notes while watching a scary movie while you’re plotting out a horror story - that’s writing. Did you type some scattered plot ideas into your notes app on the bus this morning? Boom. Writing. Did you curate a playlist for your new project? Make a list of character names for the high fantasy series you’ve been planning for a year? Spend your lunch break jotting lines of dialogue onto a napkin? Writing, writing, and more writing. In fact, here’s a list of activities that can help you check off your writing every single day:
Organize your ideas by…
listing potential plots ideas
making a spreadsheet of your works-in-progress
writing a list of goals for your works-in-progress
researching future character names
jotting down ideas for titles for your future works
making a list of “what if” scenarios that could turn into stories
Research your work by…
reading books in your genre
reading non-fiction books on topics related to your work
watching a documentary
seeing a movie in your genre
trying one of your characters’ favorite hobbies
drawing a map of your story’s primary setting
Find inspiration by…
making a moodboard for your story on Pinterest
visiting a museum, historic site, nature preserve, etc.
putting together a project playing for your latest story
reading a book outside of your genre
going on a Google deep-dive on a topic that interests you
listening to a podcast on an interesting topic
going for a walk somewhere new
Hone your skills by…
stream-of-consciousness journaling
reading a writing guide or blog or listening to a podcast
re-reading a favorite book and paying attention to the details
reviewing some of your older pieces
attending a writing workshop, open mic, or critique group
Small, little things. You can do at least one per day, every day, and BAM! You’ve written - in some small way - each day of the week, month, year.
That’s not to say that you shouldn’t give yourself days off, of course. Writing is work. When you want to or are doing it professionally, it’s literally work. Everyone needs a break from their work, whether that means dappling in another creative pursuit or taking a genuine vacation and leaving the pens and books behind. We all need to space to breathe.
Writing is an intense creative process, so it’s reasonable for anyone to feel overwhelmed when they’re told that they should be doing it every day. But, when we expand what it means to actually write every day, we give ourselves the flexibility and freedom to be able to accomplish a task that can feel rather monumental in smaller but equally productive ways. You don’t have to be chained to your writing desk to be an every-day-writer. You just have to be creative, eager to learn, and remember to give yourself the time, space, and opportunity to explore and create on your own terms, on your own schedule, in your own way.