The Advice Doesn’t Work: Why I Don’t Write Every Day
“Idealist: One who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup” — Henry Louis Mencken
I haven’t tasted rose soup nor have I even thought about making it for dinner, so maybe it actually tastes better or maybe not.
What I do have tried is writing more. Writing every day. Writing even if I have nothing to say.
Ideally, that sounds like the way to go. The more practice, the better.
I tend to frequent the same restaurants and the same cafés over and over again. I am a creature of habit.
The people who work at these places know me and know what I tend to order. They have learned how I like my salad, how I like my drink.
A few days ago, I brought a friend with me for the first time to my favorite café. She ordered a different salad and a different drink.
I tasted her food and it tasted much better than mine. For once, my food tasted not as good.
If I choose to go to the same place and order the same thing off the menu is because I really like it. That day, I didn’t like it that much.
This is what happens with daily writing. I end up liking it a little bit less.
More starts becoming less. More words start meaning less.
Gretchen Rubin, a writer that studies habits and happiness, mentions in her book Better than Before:
“What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while.”
This means that if you eat moderately healthy every day, a cookie or two every once in a while won’t make that much of a difference.
If you save money most of the time, it doesn’t matter that much if you splurge once in a while.
However, it doesn’t work with my writing.
What I write every once in a while feels better, more creative, more inspiring.
There is barely any advice that tells you to write less or to write once in a while if you want to become a better writer.
Ernest Hemingway wrote fervently every morning. Khaled Housseni pushes himself to write every day.
Ideally, the advice of a successful and admired writer should work.
Nonetheless, if you notice that writing once in a while “feels” better choose this option. Another person’s favorite soup doesn’t have to be yours too.
