"Write Every Day"
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| Source: Jamie Sheffield |
I've touched on this piece of writing advice in several of my other posts on writing, but in this case, I thought I'd simply take the bull by the horns and analyze this bit of conventional wisdom, on it's own, rather than just mentioning it like a grace note.
Many authors working today--in fact most that I know of, respect, and whose work I enjoy--strongly advocate this advice. Stephen King writes every day of the year (except Christmas, New Years, and his Birthday, from what I understand). Ray Bradbury always said young writers must, "Write Every Day of Your Life." Walter Mosley says at every reading, when the question arises, that he can count the number of days on his hand when he hasn't written. Yet, for many aspiring writers, who have yet to take their love of writing to the pro-level, there is a distinct impractical element to this advice. Most writers don't make their living with their writing. It is a sad, yet true fact of the modern world. For most, it is either a hobby they dabble in, or it's a "side-gig" they pursue in their free-time, provided they have free-time to spare from other things they need to do as responsible adults.
Of course, the working professionals who hear this merely respond with something to the effect of, "If you don't have time to do this every day, then you're not a real writer. Real writers make the time." Undeniably, there is truth to what they say. The truly dedicated writer will forego having a social life, get up that extra hour early, or set aside a set amount of time, wherever they can scavenge it, a dedicate that time to their current work-in-progress.
Now, before we can judge as to whether or not this is good advice, we need to understand where this belief originates. From my own understanding, "Write Every Day," stems from a craftsperson mentality.
Writing, before being an art, is foremost a craft. A craft is a skill, or set of skills, that pretty much anyone, if they were so inclined, could learn, and nearly everyone, unless they're particularly ingenious or grossly incompetent, learns how to write in the course of their education. It's drilled into us as an alternative means of communication (the primary one being talking). The learning of writing teachers us how to organize our thoughts in a coherent manner, improves our spelling and expands our vocabularies, and, given that most of us learn to write by writing essays of some kind, it also teaches us how to argue and tell stories.
If we follow this train of thought, the only way a craftsperson can improve in their craft is by doing it. One, in other words, learns on the job. A carpenter can only learn how to wield their tools and shape the wood to fit their desired purposes by, after some rudimentary instruction, picking them up and getting to work. A potter can only learn how to shape the clay they wish to mold into a vase, a bowl, or, yes, a pot, by sitting at the potting wheel and getting their hands caked in clay. By this way of thinking, the only way a writer can learn how to write is...by writing.
In my experience, this is unquestionably true. No amount of literary theory, of literary history, or vaguely helpful workshops steeped in an overly competitive atmosphere, can help you improve your writing as well as spending hour after hour sitting at your desk and stringing the words together. And when you're not writing, reading is the second best thing you can do because you learn osmotically by example.
Still, none of this reasoning answers the main question: is "Write Every Day," a good piece of writing advice.
In my opinion, it simply depends.
On the one hand, "Write Every Day," is good advice for two reasons. The first is a condensed version of what I explained before: writing is a craft, and you learn how to do it better simply by doing it. And, in theory at least, if you do it every day, your improvement, though it may not seem so to you, will increase more speedily. The second reason are the two traits that, I think, best divides the "real writers" from the "hobbyists" (if once can determine such a metric): discipline and persistence. Writing is a solitary craft that require the practitioner to spend a lot of time alone. More so, there is no external authority--no coach, no boss, no foreman, what have you--telling you to do it. You, the writer, have to want to do it yourself. So, making yourself sit down and write every day not only illustrates your own dedication to this craft but it also instills in you, over time, an ironclad work ethic to do it.
Now, when does this advice become toxic and unhelpful? Like any piece of advice, particularly when discussing writing, the only time "Write Every Day," because unhelpful, and possibly even hurtful, is when it's frame as an absolute. My personal motto when it comes to writing is, "Everybody Does It Differently," because in all my time of pursing this odd job, I've never met a single pro who has the exact same working method as another. There are overlaps, sure, but there are no templates and no monoliths, save for the ones we erect in our own minds. So when someone throws this piece of advice out there and prefaces it with, "You're not a real writer if..." or "You're only a real writer if...", I'd give them a wide birth, and keep in mind my second personal motto, "Do What Works For You."
If writing every day, whether for a set amount of time or a set amount of works, motivates you to produce, then do it. If marathoning over a weekend, after not writing a word the whole week, is more your style, then do it. Whatever way helps you put words on paper, figure out what it is and put it into practice.
How you do it doesn't matter. That you do it, and the work you produce in the end, is what counts.
