I realize that every person is different. And that what comes easily to one person may be rather difficult for another. With that being said, the act of writing (actually writing) comes very easily to me. If I were to open my WIP right now I could get anywhere from 700-3,000 words on paper without blinking an eye. I’m not saying I’d be writing the next great anything, but words are words and are mostly better than nothing.
But I have no desire to write right now. None. And I’m okay with that. I can’t think of any person who really cares about what I’m doing with my current book. I mean, some bloggers might ask about it every so often, but no one really cares at the end of the day. And I’m also okay with that.
But the point of this is that many of you out there do want to write. And you aren’t. There are people I know off the top of my head who write in every free moment they possibly can because those moments are few and far between. There are people I know who have a lot less going on than even I do and write just as little as I do. My point is that if you’re not writing, then perhaps it’s because you just don’t feel like it. And I don’t think anyone should be punished for that.
Johnny Reads 
Reblogged this on Human Interest.
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I’m jealous of your ability to just get words out. It takes me ages to get even close to that amount out. On days when I just don’t care, I feel guilty. It’s like everywhere I go or during anything that I’m doing it’s sitting there in the back of my head. “Hey. Hey you, you’re not writing. You don’t really care about this do you since you’re avoiding it huh?”
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Don’t be. I’m a writer who’s accomplished nothing. So what if I can get words to paper whenever I want to? I haven’t wanted to in almost a year. AND I don’t think you should feel guilty if you don’t feel like writing all the time. It shouldn’t be a chore, right?
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Agreed.
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Glad to hear it. 😊
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I think they should be punished by an barrage of snowballs.
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Agreed!
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I truly agree, I blog on my WordPress site, then I read my favorite books and write on another online site. However as a retiree I not pushing myself and I’m becoming comfortable with not feeling guilty when I’m not writing on days like today when a good cigar and just hanging with other friends is a better alternative. Because in the end who cares?
I’m happy!
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Yes! You shouldn’t have to conform to any “writing rules” just because people say so. Write when you want to, and don’t if you don’t. You’re only accountable to yourself.
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Hey thanks John,
Only in retirement and years of making others happy can I truly appreciate these decisions.
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Sure thing.
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Good advice to remember. I do guilt myself sometimes about this, but I’m also like you – on a good day, I can push out 3-5k words. And I think it’s better for me to wait for that drive than to begrudgingly push out 500 uninspired words a day for some arbitrary reason. Plus, I feel like I’d probably take just as long to write a book with a consistent writing schedule as I do with bursts of productivity, because the former method would require so much extra editing.
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I don’t know about extra editing or anything like that because I don’t know how you write. But sat down yo write and only managed a few hundred words a number of times. And then I’ve had the couple thousand word sessions. I just never sit down with any expectation. I’ll write whatever I write. I don’t see any reason to operate any differently when I don’t have an agent or editor waiting for me to finish.
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Cool, John. I don’t feel like writing right now except for my blog. Maybe I’ll feel like writing again later down the road. Not now. Forced writing wouldn’t be much good anyway. Writing from the heart speaks. Blessings…
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Right. Not much good at all. And no one should gave to force themselves to write. Just doesn’t seem appropriate.
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Loved the line, “Words are words and are mostly better than nothing.” It is interesting how we put ourselves in a prison – isn’t it? When I started my blog, I wanted to recapture my pre-academic ‘write whenever, whatever’ writing style as a liberating space. Going through a tenure process in a research university kind of saps one of that, at least for me and within a couple of weeks, I was looking for ‘how to be a successful blogger!’ I almost forgot why I started to blog. Good that you can let yourself out of the prison of expectations and let your spirit move you.
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Hm. I just don’t have any writing expectations. I’m not worried about how much or how often I write, or even that I wrote at all. I just know I’ll write when it’s the right time for me to do so.
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Yeah… I hate writing rules. I do try to write every day because I love it, but if, in that time I’ve carved out, I don’t write anything, I don’t beat myself up about it. I write because it’s fun and relaxing and fascinating and challenging. I’ve gone years without writing much at all, mostly because of time constraints. Sometimes I wish I’d been able to write more, but it just wasn’t the time, you know? I don’t think my writing would be what it is today if I’d pushed through too early in the process. I think the only people who should worry about writing every day are those with contracts who have deadlines.
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I know. You’ve told me. And now you’re writing 14 books at once. It’s crazy how that happens. I wouldn’t mind a contract with deadlines. Cause at least I’d have a contract! Ha!
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