Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
It’s November, which means the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) fever has gripped the writing community.
I’ve taken part in and completed (or “won”) three of these challenges. I love the boost it gives me in starting a first draft by giving me a hard deadline that I chase down with an intensity I normally wouldn’t. I love the buzz that surrounds it and the mini-rewards that keep me motivated.
I’ve also learned some interesting things about myself doing NaNoWriMo. One, I know that my word count for stories I write has increased (my first NaNoWriMo was technically one-and-a-half stories because the first story ended at a skinny 38,000 words). Two, it’s a lot harder to complete NaNoWriMo with a nonfiction project (what I decided to do with my second one). And three?
Writing every single day is not good.
In fact, it can kill your creativity and destroy the fount of words every writer so desperately needs to flow.
I didn’t write every day for the first two NaNoWriMos I took part in. Some days I just didn’t have time. Other days I just forgot. Whatever happened, I didn’t get the badge saying I had written for thirty consecutive days.
With NaNoWriMo 2020 I knew I could easily accomplish the goal of 50,000 words in thirty days, so I decided to set a goal for myself: to write every day of November.
In short: it was a mistake.
We humans were never created to function continuously, taking no break from the work and goals that constantly surround us. This is something that Jesus succinctly pointed out in his statement “man was not made for the sabbath, but the sabbath for man” (Mark 2:27, paraphrased). All Jesus was doing was stating a principle that had been established at the dawn of time. But more than advocating days of cessation from labor, Jesus was stating a truth.
We cannot function optimally if we work seven days a week, fifty-two (or even four) weeks a year. We need breaks, time spent resting from our labors.
Including writing.
Here’s what I observed of my daily word count during NaNoWriMo 2020 when I decided to ignore the wisdom of God as laid out in the Bible and write every day.
The first week, my word counts were higher than my normal output. Maybe it was the thrill of a new project, those first words into an as-yet undiscovered story, and maybe it wasn’t. Whatever is was, if I kept it up, I was going to complete the challenge between the 20th or 25th.
Great, I thought. This’ll be easy. And I’ll get further than 50,000 words by the end of November.
What actually happened was that I only just reached the 50,000 word goal on the twenty-ninth of November. Then, just to keep my original goal of writing for thirty consecutive days, I squeezed a couple hundred more words out of my dry well of inspiration.
Looking back over my writing stats, the trouble started between days ten and fourteen. My word count dropped. Not much initially, but by the end of the month the amount of words I was able to write in a day had reached all-time lows.
If that wasn’t enough to convince me that writing breaks are important, it took me about two weeks of no writing before I was ready to put pen to paper once more.
I was exhausted creatively. I had no ideas, no words. Things were wrong with what I had written but I had no energy to see solutions.
That experience taught me something that has been vital in my writing journey this year.
Writing every single day, no exceptions, is a blueprint for creative exhaustion. That leads to creative burnout and that dreaded condition called “writer’s block.”
Yes, I know that literary giants advocate writing every day. I’m not countering that, just suggesting that it should have a caveat or addendum like “Mondays to Saturdays” or “six days a week.”
The principle behind this famous piece of advice and the NaNoWriMo challenge is good. The aim is to develop a habit in your writing, a routine that allows your creative juices to flow while setting a goal that is achievable and challenging.
But here’s the thing: it’s only a habit if it is sustainable.
This November, I’d like to suggest some alternate advice on this theme.
Set Your Writing Times
Make decisions about when you will write. But make them realistically, taking a close look at your commitments to work, family, friends, church, and so on. How much time can you give each day? When? Can you get your family or friends on board to help you with keeping this goal?
Be realistic about when in the day you can write. It’s pointless getting up an hour earlier if that will lead to you being physically exhausted. The same applies for staying up late. Depending on the season of life you’re in, you might not even be able to give an hour at a time, but might have to spread that time in ten minute gaps through the day.
You’re the only one who can be honest about this, just like you’re the only one who can show up and write your story.
Plan Rest Days
After my experience with NaNoWriMo 2020, I decided that I will not write on Sundays. No exceptions.
Honestly, this is a tough one to maintain.
But it has been worth it.
Normally, my creative output is less at the end of the week. It’s just a little harder to get the right turn of phrase and requires just a little more effort to get the story flowing in my mind. By the time Sunday rolls around, I’m ready for a break. So I read (for pleasure, trying to not analyze the story structure, sentence flow, and everything else that normally makes up a good story) or watch a movie or just relax in the garden with a cup of tea. And if my WIP keeps tugging at my thoughts, I don’t give in to the temptation of working on it.
I know what will happen if I do.
By the time Monday hits the scene, my creative energy is restored. Ideas are flowing of their own accord and the words come easily.
I’ve also not had to take long writing breaks in a few months. In other words, writing has become a sustainable habit in my life through not writing every day.
Also, writing has returned to being a joy for me, mostly because I’m not mentally exhausted all the time.
Be Firm
Once you’ve decided on your writing times, fight for it.
I’m not talking about your friends and family here (although that can certainly be a factor you may need to address), I’m talking about you. You have to defend your writing times from yourself. Don’t check emails and social media. Don’t allow yourself to take a day off because you “just don’t feel like writing.” Sure, there are days when the family (or yourself) is sick or something breaks around the house. Those are called “emergencies” and are generally outside of your control.
I’m talking about those days when you’d rather be lazy and just sit and drink coffee, those days you’d rather skip the routine and not show up at your computer and write.
On the days when you planned to write, write. This isn’t social-media time, nap time, answer-emails time, or any other time.
This is writing time. So write.
And on your rest days, rest.
Conclusion
Writing, although a creative pursuit, is also tiring. It requires energy from us. When Jesus advocated rest, he wasn’t doing it as a holier-than-thou religious exercise.
He was lovingly reminding us that we are not meant to work constantly.
Culture advocates doing more and cramming as much into our days as possible so that now, taking a day off is counterintuitive. But taking time off is ultimately for our own good.
So I encourage you: take one day a week off writing. It doesn’t have to be Sunday. Set up times through the rest of the week where you plan to write, and then write at those times. But keep one day free so that you can replenish your creative well.
You just might find it easier to sustain a writing habit if you do.