The Pitfalls of Writing Every Day: Why It May Not Work for Everyone
This common writing advice can be dangerous for some writers
If you asked what the most common writing advice on the internet is, the answer would be to write every day.
If you’re a writer, you already know this. You’ve set daily word count goals for yourself, probably more than a few times, only to fall off the wagon. You have read articles from online writers about how they’ve been writing 1000 words a day since they were out of diapers, and you have felt the shame wash over your shoulders. You aren’t writing 1000 words a day. You aren’t even writing 1000 words a week. What kind of writer even are you?
The degree to which this advice is elevated borders on the ideological. Daily writing practice can be useful, but it is not helpful for all writers at all times. Almost nothing in the world is that cut-and-dry, let alone the artistic process.
This ideological adherence is doing many writers a great deal of damage. Writers who don’t thrive on daily writing practice feel shame for not doing what they’re “supposed” to be doing. This shame can and does drive writers to give up altogether, thinking if they can’t maintain a daily writing practice, they must not have “what it takes.”
