Every writer approaches the practice of writing differently.
Some are very practical about it. They write because it is their job. They write because if they don’t they won’t get paid. Even if they’re not currently on assignment, under contract, or on a deadline, they believe that forward progress happens in their art and/or career because they continue to put words on the page.
Others view writing as more contingent upon feeling or inspiration. While they may write for pay or hope to one day have books on the shelf, they believe wholeheartedly that written works are the product of deep feeling or emotion that cannot be coerced or compelled. They wait on it.
Still, there’s another group that finds themselves somewhere in the middle. Maybe most of us find ourselves here, partway between pragmatic and ethereal. We know the practicalities exist and that somehow we must beholden to them or our ideas may never become anything more, but we know also that there’s something to be said for inspiration and great feeling and the spiritual act of creating a story. We cannot discount the importance of working from a place of passion.
On those lucky days when we sit down to write with both a practical focus and an abundance of inspiration, we wonder why we ever made this thing so hard. We soar through our work without a care and we look forward to picking up tomorrow where we leave off today.
But inevitably, there comes a morning when that great passion we’ve come to depend on does not rise with us. Do we write today? Or do we wait for that great feeling to surface? And what happens if that motivating force takes days to return? Weeks? Months? Do we simply set our work aside and hope for better days?
The answer isn’t simple, friends. Because sometimes the right thing for you and for that book may be to wait. For a day or maybe a week. Sometimes we’re entering a phase where we should walk a way for a time.
But even in active writing seasons, where you’re on a roll and important people are waiting on you, there will be passionless days. You will wake up and have to proceed on practicalities alone. And so the discipline of writing is an important one to hone.
One of the best bits of advice I can give you is this:
You may not need to adopt this philosophy just yet. You may be young enough or have other, more pressing priorities than hitting self-imposed deadlines. But I hope you’ll remember this advice when the time comes.
If you decide to pursue writing as a career, setting aside time to write will likely be necessary at some point. You’ll have deadlines you need to hit, and while deadlines are immensely helpful, they can start to feel heavy if you’re not actively moving toward them. Every writing session you skip, every day you avoid your manuscript, heaps more and more guilt upon you, and eventually, you’re having to fight through those big, dark apprehensions just to find your story again.
Because here’s the truth: As practical as we must be about our career, there is a spiritual aspect to creating a story, and protecting our thought life is part of that. Practically speaking, it is to your great benefit to avoid picking up cumbersome burdens like guilt and remorse; it is especially beneficial to not inflict them upon yourself.
Crafting a story is difficult enough. Trying to do it from beneath the weight of your own procrastination is not something I would recommend.
Another benefit to working when you’re supposed to work is this: When your writing session is over for the day, you can truly throw yourself into whatever comes next for you. Rest or play, day job or family responsibilities. Whatever’s required of you can be entered into with ease. You don’t have to worry that you should be writing. You can truly be present because you showed up at the door of your writing cave when you were supposed to.
It’s a simple but utterly freeing discipline to adopt. And it extends past the day to day. When the time comes for you to take a week long vacation from your words, or even a month long hiatus, you can do so knowing that you’ve done your job. Your discipline paved the way for this well earned break. Good job, you.
Tell me, do you deal with feelings of guilt when you’ve put off work for too long? Are you in a season of life where you have dedicated writing times? How well have you managed that?
Great post! I will definitely be using this advice. I carefully dedicate time every day to writing as soon as I’m done with homework, but sometimes it’s hard to remember all that tough work with a manuscript WILL be worth it. Even if you’re very passionate about your story, as I am. This was good advice to keep me motivated, thank you!
Great thoughts, Shannon. For me, one of the greatest benefits of declaring “these are my work hours” has been not feeling any guilt at other times for not writing.
Thank you for this post! Writing regularly is a goal of mine that I haven’t achieve well this past month, and this post came right on time! 🙂 For me, the guilt comes with sadness, because I truly do love writing! The most disagreeable part is starting, and when I put it off I do feel guilty a bit but mostly just disappointed because I WANT to be writing.
Great post! About two months ago I started using a different system of scheduling my school, which is a list of everything I need to get done that week with little check-boxes for how many times each. For example, it might say “Composition” with five check-boxes after it, so I have to do five days of it. If I have every check-box filled in by Friday night, I stay up late and watch a movie with my family. How I’ve tied this into my writing life is by adding three check-boxes for “Writing Projects” every week and making myself write at least one hundred words for each check-box. A tiny goal, I know, but I’m actually getting my writing done (as opposed to just scrolling through my WIP’s Pinterest board, as I’d been doing for six months beforehand) and now, whether I’m hanging out or once more scrolling through my WIP’s Pinterest board, I don’t feel guilty for not having written. It’s been a huge help to me.
Sorry, that was a lot XD Just wanted to say thank you for this post, and have a great day!
I really like this advice! Procrastination is my biggest enemy and makes it so hard for me to do what I’m supposed to do, but thanks to this post, I finally know how to battle it. Also, I’m going to try what Ava Roxane said and make a checklist. Thank you so much, Shannon and Ava Roxane!
This was the post I needed to read. I’ve been struggling with time management for a long time, and I feel guilty for procrastinating writing because “I just don’t feel like it.” But whenever I do it, I realize again just how freeing it is to, as you so wisely said, work when it’s time to work and play when it’s time to play. This is such awesome advice, and I am working hard on implementing it in my own life and writing. Thank you!! 😀