Writing Daily?

Are you serious about writing if you're not writing daily?

Many people insist you have to set a goal of so many pages, words, or hours every day. I admire those who have full time jobs and manage to get up before dawn and work a few hours every single day. The stamina of people who take years to finish a first draft a few pages at a time floors me.

I am a project-based worker. I can maintain a regular writing routine for a defined amount of time. For instance, the when I was writing the first draft of Tough Times (at that point called Michael Dolan McCarthy after the main character), I wanted the manuscript ready to submit to a particular contest. I stayed at a condo in Angel Camp for two weeks and set my goal at 10,000 words per day minimum to finish the first draft. My daily structure also included catching up by reading a stack of professional writing magazines and walking outside. The first draft was sent to beta readers and revisions were made in time for regular entry into the contest, where it made it to the quarter-finals. However, when I'm not working on a specific project with a specific deadline, I have many other interests and responsibilities that keep me busy - until I sit down to write. Then time disappears and I keep going until something is complete.

Imagine my relief when I read Stephen King saying"Once I start work on a project, I don't stop and I don't slow down unless I absolutely have to...And when I'm not working, I'm not working at all... For me, not working is the real work." (P. 153, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft). He's a project-based worker, too!

He does recommend having a daily goal when you sit down to write. Currently, I'm working with a group from WNBA (Women's National Book Association, not basketball) where we set goals and hold each other accountable. I'm working on revising a novel written several decades ago. I want it done by the end of March to swap beta reads with a fellow author. So, my goal is to write at least eight days and finish at least twenty pages each of those days. My first day, I polished the first twenty-seven pages. The second, I revised and tightened another twenty-two. Some pages are ready for critique by the local writers group; others are ready for my online group. I won't have a chance to lose myself in the writing for a few days - I have other obligations on three days and will try to do all the odds and ends of things those days, so when I hit another writing day, I'll be clear to do more than my minimum goal.

So while writing daily may be best for some, others may have different patterns that work as well. The key is setting goals and giving yourself time to meet them.

Writing Time

There are people with day jobs who get up before dawn to have an hour or two of writing time. They have my admiration. When I was teaching full time, I did not have the energy or focus to do that.

Some people have a set number of pages or words that they write each day. That is also an admirable habit. When I’ve squirreled myself away someplace other than home, I can sustain a goal of 10,000 words per day for a week or so. That means I can crank out the first draft of a novel in that time.

But sustain a daily writing habit with specific goals indefinitely? That is beyond me. Sometimes other things take priority for a day. Between now and Thanksgiving, I need to set aside several days to finish painting the inside of my home, rearranging things to house two extra families for a night or two over that holiday, and a full day to go pick up my granddaughter so we’ll have a week together before everyone else comes. We’re going to work on her book for that week. I might spend a few minutes here and there on activities that support my writing (like keeping up with emails), but it will be incidental. I’ll apply the same focus I give to writing to my family and other projects.

I do have long-range and short-range writing goals and I do track my progress. At the end of each year, I make a list of annual accomplishments. When I feel like I haven’t done enough, I check those and realize I’m really doing a lot. I also make a list of goals for the year ahead, and while I may not work on my writing every single day, I do track progress toward those goals. I tend to be overly optimistic about how much one person can do, but over the last ten years, I’ve usually accomplished most of my annual goals.

While writing every day is can be a good habit, even more important is using your writing time effectively. Whether or not you write daily, set goals for the year and monitor your progress toward those goals regularly. Every Sunday, I evaluate the preceding week in light of my yearly goals and plan the one ahead—including realistically setting aside days when I will focus on other things and not write.

#writingtime #dailywordcounts #writingdaily #dailypagecounts #writingdailyornot #timemanagement #writinggoals #goalsetting #goals #Writing