They say that ‘real writers’ write every day. I call bullshit. I think it’s important–if you want to be a full time writer–to have the sort of passion that compels you to write every day, but you’ve also got to know when to have a break so you can keep that flame alive.
One of the worst experiences as a writer–at least, in my experience as a writer–is trying to write but finding that the words either don’t come, or they’re rubbish. It can really douse that passion and leave you in fear of returning to that keyboard. The other not-so-cool thing is writing because you feel you Have To Write. I worry about doing that: about developing a really good, disciplined writing habit and then realising that I’m simply not enjoying it any more.
It’s for this reason that I get up to write every day … except Saturday. It’s the morning where I allow myself a tiny lie in, where I drop the pressure a little, and generally come back fully charged on the Sunday morning–just burning to write something again.
It’s also partly the reason why I took this morning off. The results of the (Australian) same sex marriage survey were due to be announced right around when I would be just be starting my morning shift. I knew I’d be thoroughly distracted, would probably end up with a really low word count and wouldn’t like the words much anyway. So I gave myself a free day off.
Yay!