Writing 101, Day Nine: Writing and not writing

If you write often or for a living, it’s important to take breaks — to live your life and have new experiences, and to reflect and recharge so you can come back to your desk, ready to hit the keyboard again. Not writing allows you to gain the distance from your words, and thus perspective, which are both needed when it’s time to edit.

Being active every day makes it easier to hear that inner voice.
— Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Write every day, but don’t put your life on hold . . .
— Vincent Mars, “Writing as a Way of Life”

What do you do when you’re not writing? How do you reset and return to this dashboard, refreshed? What do you need in your day-to-day life to maintain balance: Running? Yoga? Gardening? Painting? Cooking?

If you’re not a full-time writer, or if your day is so full of other tasks that you have little time to write, consider these alternative questions: if you could step into a machine that gave you more time, how would you structure your day? What would you write with this extra time?

You have an additional task for the day. Reach out to someone for an interview or collaboration. This person can be a Blogging U. participant, a blogger on WordPress.com or another platform, or anyone else whose work you admire. For planning purposes, this post will run on Day 19.

“It is perfectly okay to write garbage—as long as you edit brilliantly” C. J. Cherryh

Writing 101, Day Nine: Writing and not writing

If you’re not a full-time writer, or if your day is so full of other tasks that you have little time to write, consider these alternative questions: if you could step into a machine that gave you more time, how would you structure your day? What would you write with this extra time?

Working in the coal mine
Daily routine from nine to nine
Pulling twelve hour shifts
Desperately needing a face lift

Waiting for the bell to ring
Then it will be time to sing
Riding in the heavy traffic
Seeing something photographic

Mind finally free to unwind
Thoughts starting to find a rhyme
In through the front door
No time for a quick snore

Laptop booting with a chirp
Gulping food with a quick slurp
Fingers running on the keyboard
Like riding fast on a skateboard

Trying to type as fast as possible
Beating the odds and timetable
The night has fallen dark outside
Trying to complete all tasks with pride

Hearing the clock beep
No time for rest or sleep
Soon an other day breaks
Trying to remain awake

Coffee, coffee, coffee
Finally finished my story
Time for another working day
To earn my keep and get paid

If I only had a time machine
To extend the time between
I would write, write, write
Finally an ending in sight

Tasks long ignored, now complete
Because I did not have to compete
With real life obligations
Chewing up on my patience

For now,
Only in my dreams
Am I really redeemed
And a celebrated writer
One of the mightier

Related posts:
Be careful what you wish for! (Repost for Writing 101)