Does writer need to write at all times?

[Nik]

As with many artistic occupations, it's hard to produce an equal amount of art (assuming it is) every day -:)
After releasing a book roughly a month and a half ago, I'm kinda procrastinating with a short I'm working on... So much, that I'm considering asking for a sick note to present to myself and get an exemption from my consciousness for a couple of days.
Do you need to write every day to be a writer or a sporadic rush is good enough?

[Tara Woods Turner]

You should write nearly every day to become a good writer but one has to follow the muse, imho.

[J.J.]

I'm the same way...my current project is crawling along.

[M.L.]

When I sold art work, it was nice to take a break from the creative side of painting, pencil, whatever it was, and alternate it with the nuts and bolts side of priming canvases, setting up stretcher bars, re-organizing, whatever. It's good to have a balance. I write almost every day.

[Alexander]

I write and draw whenever I can. Sometimes my hands don't cooperate with my imagination, and I produce shit. I'm also a huge movie buff AND a procrastinator, so that doesn't help my writing or illustrations in the slightest. These days, though, I've had a good deal of free time, so I've been getting some work done. I read through my completed novel for typos one last time in the past two days (read just over 300 pages in that time), and I'm roughly 280 pages into the third volume of my series, which has been picking up speed lately.

At least, when I'm doing neither, I'm always thinking about LOTS of ideas for both.

[Ian]

I try to do something to further my writing endeavors every day, but actual writing is only a small percentage of that. I tend to blitz my first drafts (six months or so concentrated effort) then spend the next year or two editing, critiquing others, being critiqued in return, more editing, working on cover art and all the other stuff relating to publication. I find I struggle to write at the same time as doing that other stuff, so I segregate it.

And for relaxation I play around with iDraw producing maps and plans of settings, buildings, ships etc. to publish on my website to accompany the novels.

[Annie]

I have the following things in my bag at all times:

1. My sketchbook: I often pull it out if I'm killing time between meetings or just see something random and cool I'm compelled to draw.

2. My iPhone: I always jot shizz down throughout the day. My brain literally feels as if it's bursting at the seams with ideas/characters/scenes. Constantly. Like I can't possibly write everything I wanna write, ya know?

3. Lysol wipes: Just wanted to share *smirks*

I never "force" myself to write. Well, except for the flash fics I do weekly for my readers (based on their prompt suggestions). But those are <350 words, so they don't really count *shrugs* Plus, I enjoy the mini-challenge of em. AND making my readers smile, of course!!!

Hugs,
Ann

[Quantum]

Annie wrote: "I have the following things in my bag at all times:

1. My sketchbook: I often pull it out if I'm killing time between meetings or just see something random and cool I'm compelled to draw.

2. My ..."

i almost always have a moleskin notebook that i put everything in. i must have about 10 of them by now.

J.J. wrote: "I'm the same way...my current project is crawling along."

ugh. me too. i was planning on writing a lot of words for my short this past weekend, but couldn't move forward until i fleshed out the outline and decided on the ending--well, i did have an ending, but i ended up changing it. plus, i needed to decide if the conservation of energy applied to other universes in the multiverse and the motivation of the demon--among other things. so my outline expanded from a half page to 2 pages. in the end i was able to get only 215 words. but i feel good that i was able to work through all the plot and world building and come up w/something fairly solid.

(but before i did all that, i decided to take a break: a 6 hour anime marathon. or maybe it was longer.)

Tim wrote: "As professional writer I certainly intend to progress a novel everyday. There are days when life gets in the way, such as tomorrow when I celebrate the life of my father a year after he passed, but..."

i totally agree. you need butt time. even if it's just sitting there thinking. that's how my outlining tends to be. as you do more of it, you get more efficient. many successful writers like John Scalzi (sci-fi) writes at least 2500 words/day at least 5 days a week. it's a regular 9-5 job. a romance novelist friend of mine cranks out 2000 words per day but she tells me she needs to write faster.

[Annie]

Alex G wrote: "[stuff] a 6 hour anime marathon [more stuff]"

*fist bump*

[Nik]

What do you think?

[Marie Silk]

My writing is pretty sporadic. I mean, does posting on social media like goodreads count? In that case, I probably write every day. As far as writing books, that only happens when the story is coming to me, not because I'm forcing myself to write so many words per day :).

[[deleted user]]

I normally write everyday when I don't work and am at home (I work 3 days a week away from home), except when I feel really tired and need to rest ( I am 61 years old, with diabetes and high blood pressure).

[[deleted user]]

*Points to self* This one needs to write ALL THE TIME. It's the only way.

[Ian]

All the time? Hell no - eating and sleeping have their times. More seriously, I try to write every day. Since I am in my mid seventies and am widowed, it is easier.

[Nik]

Is writing consistent or sporadic for you?

[Ian]

Consistent, but not necessarily fiction.