The Importance of Writing Every Day by Cara Gabriel
‘Write everyday’ is a piece of advice that is often repeated in writing groups. Many published authors adopt this rule, putting in the time every single day without fail. As Elizabeth George says in Write Away, her book about the process of writing, ‘a lot of writing is being willing to show up day after day, same time, same place’.
The fact that writing every day develops discipline is undeniable. Professional authors are just that – professional – and discipline is one of the marks of a profession. So, adopting one of the habits of a professional author, even when you yourself are unpublished, means that when you do get the big break, mentally you are in the right place to make writing your full time profession.
But writing everyday does so much more than prepare us unpublished writers for the reality of the published life. It can transform the way you relate to writing completely and provide unimagined benefits.
Giving your muse confidence
Many writers view their muse as a fickle creature, consistently turning up at the worst possible moments, dropping an idea in your lap and then skipping off, not to be seen again for days or even weeks. They talk of training her, of making her work, and wonder why her visits become less and less frequent.
For me, the muse is more like a nervous, shy child. Much like a child, she can pick awkward moments to demand your attention – when you’re on the phone, driving or trying to cook dinner, she’ll be tugging at your sleeve, clutching her latest piece of artwork to her chest, desperate to show you what she’s created. And if you ignore her or tell her ‘not now’, she will think twice about coming to you again.
Sitting down and writing every day means giving your muse your undivided attention and taking the time to look at what she gives you. To start with, she’ll give you rough sketches. In fact, if you’ve been really harsh with her in the past, she might not even show up for a while. But once she realises that you are committed to hearing and understanding her visions, she will gain confidence and give you more and more to work with.
Giving yourself confidence
Perhaps the problem isn’t getting the ideas from your muse, it’s knowing what to do with them afterwards. Fear of failure and perfectionism can immobilise any writer, allowing days to go by without a word being written.
Writing every day, even if all you write is a sentence, starts to break down these fears and boost your own confidence. Each sentence that you write improves your skills, and when you come back to reread those sentences at the end of the week, they’re probably not as bad as you first thought. But even if they are pretty bad, that’s okay, because writing everyday also gives you...
Permission to write rubbish
It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking every word we write must be worthy of the R*BY. The simple truth is that this is just not possible. There will be times when what you write is nothing more than a jumble of half-baked ideas with no structure. When I was writing my last manuscript, I filled two pages with the word ‘blah’ over and over again. It was all I could think of at the time.
Of course I have to fix that up now I’m editing that manuscript. But the important thing was I got the rubbish out of my head and on to the page, which cleared my mind for the next good idea to come in.
I could have shut down the computer and walked away, reasoning that writing rubbish was useless. But if I had done that, the rubbish would have hung around for a lot longer than the half an hour it did, and would have had a far greater impact on my manuscript than two pages. Knowing that you have a writing slot every day makes it less scary when one day just doesn’t go to plan.
Experimentation
Writing every day allows you to experiment. Because you are producing a greater volume of work, you can play around. Do you normally write for a particular category line? Try rewriting one of your scenes to fit another line. Write a poem or limerick. Put together an entry for a competition or try your hand at a short story. Think outside the box – or at least outside of your current manuscript. You never know where one of these ideas will take you.
Diminishing writers’ block
Writers’ block is many authors’ greatest fear. Sitting down at the computer, flexing the fingers, and...nothing. You know the ideas are there, you can feel them bubbling away inside. But, like a blocked pipe, there’s no way to get them out and onto the page.
The two most common causes of writers’ block in my experience are lack of momentum and fear of not being good enough. We’ve already discussed giving yourself permission to write rubbish and how writing every day can help with that.
Creating the habit of writing every day avoids the issue of writers’ block all together. By writing every day, you automatically create momentum in your writing. On longer projects, the story itself will take over and pull you along with it. Shorter projects will be completed more quickly, building your portfolio of publishable material.
Writing every day does require commitment, and frequently some very creative planning in order to juggle all of our conflicting demands. The more you use your writing muscles, the stronger and more creative they will become, propelling your writing career forward.
The fact that writing every day develops discipline is undeniable. Professional authors are just that – professional – and discipline is one of the marks of a profession. So, adopting one of the habits of a professional author, even when you yourself are unpublished, means that when you do get the big break, mentally you are in the right place to make writing your full time profession.
But writing everyday does so much more than prepare us unpublished writers for the reality of the published life. It can transform the way you relate to writing completely and provide unimagined benefits.
Giving your muse confidence
Many writers view their muse as a fickle creature, consistently turning up at the worst possible moments, dropping an idea in your lap and then skipping off, not to be seen again for days or even weeks. They talk of training her, of making her work, and wonder why her visits become less and less frequent.
For me, the muse is more like a nervous, shy child. Much like a child, she can pick awkward moments to demand your attention – when you’re on the phone, driving or trying to cook dinner, she’ll be tugging at your sleeve, clutching her latest piece of artwork to her chest, desperate to show you what she’s created. And if you ignore her or tell her ‘not now’, she will think twice about coming to you again.
Sitting down and writing every day means giving your muse your undivided attention and taking the time to look at what she gives you. To start with, she’ll give you rough sketches. In fact, if you’ve been really harsh with her in the past, she might not even show up for a while. But once she realises that you are committed to hearing and understanding her visions, she will gain confidence and give you more and more to work with.
Giving yourself confidence
Perhaps the problem isn’t getting the ideas from your muse, it’s knowing what to do with them afterwards. Fear of failure and perfectionism can immobilise any writer, allowing days to go by without a word being written.
Writing every day, even if all you write is a sentence, starts to break down these fears and boost your own confidence. Each sentence that you write improves your skills, and when you come back to reread those sentences at the end of the week, they’re probably not as bad as you first thought. But even if they are pretty bad, that’s okay, because writing everyday also gives you...
Permission to write rubbish
It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking every word we write must be worthy of the R*BY. The simple truth is that this is just not possible. There will be times when what you write is nothing more than a jumble of half-baked ideas with no structure. When I was writing my last manuscript, I filled two pages with the word ‘blah’ over and over again. It was all I could think of at the time.
Of course I have to fix that up now I’m editing that manuscript. But the important thing was I got the rubbish out of my head and on to the page, which cleared my mind for the next good idea to come in.
I could have shut down the computer and walked away, reasoning that writing rubbish was useless. But if I had done that, the rubbish would have hung around for a lot longer than the half an hour it did, and would have had a far greater impact on my manuscript than two pages. Knowing that you have a writing slot every day makes it less scary when one day just doesn’t go to plan.
Experimentation
Writing every day allows you to experiment. Because you are producing a greater volume of work, you can play around. Do you normally write for a particular category line? Try rewriting one of your scenes to fit another line. Write a poem or limerick. Put together an entry for a competition or try your hand at a short story. Think outside the box – or at least outside of your current manuscript. You never know where one of these ideas will take you.
Diminishing writers’ block
Writers’ block is many authors’ greatest fear. Sitting down at the computer, flexing the fingers, and...nothing. You know the ideas are there, you can feel them bubbling away inside. But, like a blocked pipe, there’s no way to get them out and onto the page.
The two most common causes of writers’ block in my experience are lack of momentum and fear of not being good enough. We’ve already discussed giving yourself permission to write rubbish and how writing every day can help with that.
Creating the habit of writing every day avoids the issue of writers’ block all together. By writing every day, you automatically create momentum in your writing. On longer projects, the story itself will take over and pull you along with it. Shorter projects will be completed more quickly, building your portfolio of publishable material.
Writing every day does require commitment, and frequently some very creative planning in order to juggle all of our conflicting demands. The more you use your writing muscles, the stronger and more creative they will become, propelling your writing career forward.
