- This topic has 17 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated January 7, 2013 at 9:01 pm by
.
-
Posts
-
Disclaimer: Although this question was provoked by a discussion on religion, my interest here has nothing at all to do with religion. It is relevant only as the trigger for my own thoughts. And – as the TOS require – I hope we can keep religious aspects out of the discussion.
I’ve seen some people claim that a “day of rest” or a “Sabbath day” offers practical benefits to those who follow the custom. Without worrying about the moral or religious issues underlying this, I did wonder if – as writers – anyone has found that taking a day off semi-regularly offers any type of benefit. Is it better to try to write every single day, or to try to take a break, say one day a week? I have noticed, myself, that at times when I get so bogged down I can’t write, if I stop writing for a day or two, then come back to it, I seem to have more energy and ability to write than I did when I got bogged down. That was the reason this discussion caught my attention and set me wondering. Has anyone else noticed something like this? Are you less likely to “burn out” if you take a day off now and then?
I’m sure the ‘best’ writing schedule varies – perhaps quite widely – from one writer to another, but I’m interested in anyone’s perspective who has found either taking occasional days off or writing every day makes a real difference. The point, of course, is ultimately to try to find my own “sweet spot” where I’m writing as much as possible without getting bogged down or burning out. I’d also be interested in any thoughts on what works and what does not work in terms of getting a rest from writing. (In my own case, I’m inclined to think I’d want to avoid doing taxes, computer work, or any other sort of intellectual task while I was trying to get a break of this sort. But I’m interested to hear what anyone else has found here.)
I’m running a sort of experiment on this myself this year. I try to take weekends off in general — more time with my family is always good. This year, I’m also planning for a week off every three months. If I get an idea, I might jot it down, but during those four weeks, I will not write, edit, format, design covers, or anything else related to my writing. (Caveat: if a publisher really needs a response during one of those weeks, I will do that. But I’m not initiating anything.)
I write four days a week and generally take July, August and half of December off.
Right now I see writing as a second part-time job, so that’s all I am willing to devote to it. Any more time and I run the serious risk of major problems in the other areas of my life. Plus after taking a break for the summer, I’m itching to get back at it and find that September is wild,y productive.
As for the three dyas off a week, I never dread writing nor see it as a chore, so nearly always love what I do.
It’s actually quite important to take days off, IMO. Many years ago, I was trying to break into Hollywood. Due to some well-meaning bad advice from someone, I wrote a script a week. First draft to final in one week. Once I finished, I launched into the next one.
I burned myself out for 2 years.
I always take breaks now. I’ve been on a 2 week one in preparation for Odyssey.
Well, disclaimer: I am pretty new to writing and nowhere near being a professional writer yet, but… I’ve got to say that yes, taking breaks is important.
Taking breaks gives you time to recharge the batteries, let ideas and plot elements congeal in the back of your brain without prodding, and generally lets you live a more rounded life, which, ideally, would feed right back into your writing. Your brain is a muscle, and just like any other muscle it needs a certain amount of downtime. Just my .02.
You have to experiment with your time and stamina for writing. Nothing anyone else says will make any difference for how you work. This is one of the most individual-based decisions you can make in writing.
I love to write. I have to do all the other work first so I can have time to write, and that takes varying amounts of my day, depending on what has come up on the agenda.
But I write every single day and I have for decades. I adore writing. There is nothing I would rather be doing with my free time. I have not burned out, and I still have far more stories to tell than I have time to write them. I don’t expect to be slowing down.
Most people are not so prolific and other people don’t love writing quite so much.
You have to decide what works for you. Experiment. Find an hour or two when stories seem fresh to you and stop when you start finding that you have to push to get a few more lines out. Don’t waste the time, though. If you are going to do a schedule, then make certain you are actually writing during that time and not thinking about it or staring at a blank screen. Expect there to be changes as you adapt what you want with what you need.
I think whether you need to take a break or not depends on the writer.
For me, I write every other day (blasphemous to most of those “writer manuals,” I know.) I found it was the only way I felt comfortable and not drained after every writing session. On the days I don’t write, I read, so I can double the reservoir with rest and others creativity.
So obviously, YMMV. :silly:
I write late night because it’s the only time the house is quiet, so scheduling is kind of a moot point. The only time I take a day off is if I am away from home (not often), if I’m sick, or if I’ve been working late. Given that I’m a relief snow plow driver for the Hwy Dept, do the night calving at the ranch and occasionally get a gig as a guitar player, those are the most common reasons I might take a night off. Generally though, it’s less than a night per month, so I try to do a little, even if it’s just editing the last session, every day.
I’ve got the flu or a cold or something, and ran a fever all last night. I still got up and wrote for a half hour. I always worry that if it becomes too easy to skip sessions, pretty soon I will be skipping them all.
Justin
I try to write every day, and deliberately avoid days off because I find that after even one day off it’s a bit harder to get back into my writing. The more recently I last wrote the easier it is for me to start writing again- a couple of days off in the middle of a first draft of a novel is a problem for me. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, it does, but I really struggle to get going again even if I loved the story and it was flowing well before. It’s not so bad on later drafts, but on the first one days off are definitely a bad thing for me.
Having said that though, I find it pretty much essential to have a bit of a break between projects. If I’ve just finished the first draft of one novel, even if I’ve got an idea for the next one and have been planning it impatient to start, I have to take a break before starting to write again. I think it’s partly to avoid burnout and partly so that my brain can properly switch tracks, let go of the old characters and so on. So I do take writing breaks (that often go on longer than they should, if the next idea isn’t there pestering to be written) but I don’t find them helpful in the middle of story.
I do tend to have a pattern of writing a lot for several days and then only a little bit for a day or two though, which I suppose is like taking a break without completely stopping and losing my train of thought. I find that helpful in avoiding burnout, although I don’t exactly do it deliberately.
I used to write every day (barring illness or days when rl just got in the way), but since getting stabilized on my current psych med regimen, my writing habits have changed drastically. Now my writing cycles, where I’ll have a period of weeks (maybe even two or three months – yay!) during which I write daily, then I’ll go through a “down” writing period where I do little to nothing at all with my writing, not even editing. March last year, I totally lost all desire to write, edit, and completely lacked ideas for most of the days (I wrote a couple days, but it wasn’t anything like I get when my writintg cycle is “up”). There are other issues with my psych condition and writing I won’t get into here, but writing daily is no longer possible.
What I’ve done, however, is write every day my writing mood is “up.” I do my damndest to get at least one scene a day, even if it’s only 500 words. I can’t go by wordcount any more, but I do get that one scene, and I feel bad if I have a day when I didn’t get the scene, even if I’ve had days when I got more than one scene previouisly. That one scene is my baseline, which I judge progress from.
Then, when my writing cycles “down,” I do my best to let it go and do other things, like crochet and watch movies or read or get out more. These down cycles can last a few weeks, up to a month or so (had one in Dec, after forcing writing because I had an outline for Nano).
I’d love to do the writing daily thing again, but it’s just not possible for me any more with the way my writing cycles, so I write daily when I can. It’s the best I can do.
Ashe Elton Parker
"Just love me, fear me, do as I say, and I will be your slave." ~ David Bowie as Jareth in Labyrinth
~*~
Member since 1998.
~*~Getting back to the original “sabbath” break, yes, it works for me, not just from writing but from all things. A day to contemplate or in general, make no requirements of myself. As others have said better, experiment and see what works for you.
I had all these big goals for 2013 when it comes to writing.
Christmas Day, Dad admitted he was not feeling well. In two, or is it three weeks, we went from thinking that it was pulmonary embolism to pneumonia to cancer. (Specifically, prostrate cancer that has spread to the lungs, spinal column, lymph node, and abdomen.)
At the moment, writing is my 10 minute vacation.
Having said that, and trying to teach myself to write regularly using the web site http://chains.cc/
I find breaks beneficial. However, sometimes they’re not good. This past autumn I took a three week vacation with my husband and I didn’t bring a computer with me. I was SO happy when I got home and could write again. Drove me crazy to go *that* long without writing.
Admittedly I did have a small notebook with me and jotted stuff down when DH wasn’t looking, but that’s another story, and it’s not quite the same thing.
I’m lucky because my husband fully and completely supports my writing — at any and all times. Our vacations are filled with long discussions about what I’m working on. Even trips to the store end up that way sometimes. LOL
Stop for three weeks? Nah. He wouldn’t expect me to stop for a day.
I really can’t write more than 5 days a week for long stretches. Oh, sure, I can do a 2 week marathon now and then, but that’s about it. I love writing, but I need time for the story to catch up in my head if I’ve been writing a lot.
Then again, I don’t write 5 days a week normally. I write when I feel inspired, not to any schedule. It means I take a long time to finish anything, but I’m okay with that. I don’t like feeling as if writing were a ‘job’.
–June
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.