Writing like your time is up? Try this.

For many writers, ambition is what keeps us going. It is meant to be a hobby, not a chore. We should write because we want to and because it is fun, not to appease others or to fit our stories to their molds.

Most importantly, we should write to keep satisfied. Overdoing or underdoing a daily word count can end up harming a writer more than it helps them.

Still, what can you do when life gets in the way? As a full-time student myself, I more than understand the nuance of writing during a busy period of time. Motivation dwindles, and nothing goes onto the page.

Suddenly, guilt like no other envelopes you because you’re behind on your word count and all you want is to hole up underground and think clearly about what you’re even doing and whether it was even worth it to start.

This is all normal. Unfortunately, it is actually more important to take breaks than it is to write at times. A writer whose brain is full of too many things won’t be able to do their story justice.

The same way, an underwhelmed writer cannot possibly add in the emotion and thought needed to work on their writing.

Understandably, there are good days and bad days, and it is true of writing too. There will be weeks and weeks where you don’t write a word, then out of nowhere, there will be two days where you almost finish your entire work.

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So how do you deal with the guilt and pressing weight of not writing on those days when you just can’t get yourself to? How do you remind yourself that forcing yourself to write will only hurt you more and will replace the guilt with a sense of inadequacy?

It is true that it is better to have something to edit rather than nothing at all, but writers often are our own worst critics. Reading something we wrote just for the sake of it can quickly convince us we are not up to the job or bad at our profession.

This can snowball into a creative barrier where you suddenly become too scared to even look at your writing. If you want to learn how to take breaks and when to take them to best take advantage of your peak writing times, try these tricks:

1. Create a daily and weekly schedule and arrange your tasks by priority. Once it is laid out in front of you, it will be easier to determine the days you can fit in some writing and the days where you will have to force it in after an already exhausting day. When you come to terms with the days and weeks you can’t write in advance, it can become easier for you to accept it vs. when it is a simultaneous decision.
2. On the flip side, commit to writing every day even when busy BUT do not set an expectation. For example, if you are not finding any time to write in the day, just write one word or even just your chapter heading. This way, you can still tell yourself you wrote that day even if it was just a couple of words. Besides, you may end up having written a chapter or two by doing this over the course of a month.
3. Try to view EVERYTHING you may have written as progress, even if it is not for your manuscript. Many things need to be written down daily or over a couple of weeks; remind yourself that you’re cultivating your craft every time you write, whether for work, for school, or anything else unrelated to your project. The more you write, the better you get at it and the more you get to play around with your writing style. Take advantage of it and use it when you finally do have time to write for leisure.

Hopefully these tips helped, and thank you for reading. As always, happy writing!