Why You Should Not Write Every Day – Surely, Ben, Old Pal, That’s Just Terrible, Terrible, Terrible Writing Advice!

Listen, I get it. It’s been drilled into us through every blog, book, course, and success story about writing—that one of the keys to success, if not the main one, is to write every day.

Every. Single. Day.

Without fail.

I understand that many of the greats, like one of my personal heroes, Stephen King, advocate for this daily writing routine. If memory serves me right—yes, I’m getting old!—he mentions it in On Writing. Grab yourself a copy, read it, and feel free to close this blog. After all, he’s a wildly successful author.

But if you’re still here, fantastic! I admire the rebel in you.

Now, I don’t believe you should write every day, especially if that’s not your metaphorical cup of tea. I’d even bet my last few cents (it is month-end, after all) that if research were done on the correlation between writing frequency and success, it would show no clear link.

That said, here are my top three reasons why you should not write every day.

And, yes, I know Google will give you countless different viewpoints. These, however, are mine.

1 – Unnecessary pressure

Life happens.

Or life is happening. Life is life…da,da,dadada…

For most of us unknown authors (Yes currently a movement of one – me), writing isn’t our full-time gig. We have a mountain of other commitments: a day job, possibly a family, other interests, or just things that demand our attention.

Yet, we still love writing. We love crafting stories or even nonfiction. Now, to add a daily writing habit on top of everything else? It just creates pressure—unnecessary pressure that, for me at least, led to rapidly falling out of love with the process of writing. Writing became something I had to do rather than something I wanted to do.

I’ve never felt that writing should be a chore. I don’t subscribe to the “tortured writer” narrative—the bleeding over the keyboard, the battle with the blank page. For me, writing has always been fun, and it should stay that way.

I understand the importance of goal-setting, wanting to complete something within a specific timeframe. But here’s an idea: why not look at it differently? Why not set aside a few solid hours over the weekend instead of forcing yourself to write every single day?

2 – Writing More Does Not Guarantee Success

In this age of rapid releases, writing fast-paced series, and catering to your audience’s constant demand for new material, it’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that more writing equals more success.

For some, it might.

For most, it doesn’t.

Quality always trumps quantity. Countless authors—yes, even in the self-published world—write and release only a few books a year, or even just one, and still rake in the sales.

Sure, some of these authors might write every day, but if your sole motivation to do so is to churn out volume or hit an arbitrary daily word count, you may be veering off track. Success in writing isn’t a numbers game—it’s about producing something meaningful, something worth reading.

3 – It Kills Creativity

Between 2013 and 2015, my business partner, a few fellow writers, and I managed to publish around 200 books of varying lengths. The money was great. But the constant grind of writing to feed the publishing beast turned what I once loved into a mechanical, joyless task.

By the end of 2016, I was burned out.

My creativity? Gone.

What once was my dream job became something I couldn’t physically bring myself to do anymore.

That burnout lasted for seven long years. Sure, I had moments of inspiration here and there—half-finished manuscripts cluttered with multiple Chapter Ones—but the creative spark was snuffed out.

Too much of a good thing can be damaging in the long run.

So, What Should You Do?

If writing every day works for you, then by all means, keep at it. Just remember, like with exercise, your creative muscles need time to rest and recover. Take breaks. Skip a day. Take a week off now and then.

If writing every day isn’t your thing, that’s perfectly fine too. Write when the inspiration hits, or if you need more structure, schedule writing sessions balanced with time to rest and recharge.

We’re all adults here, and writing should be enjoyable. I simply don’t buy into the “blood, sweat, and tears” mantra that some writers espouse. Writing is about creating worlds, characters, and amazing stories. If pushing yourself to write every day takes away from the fun, then it’s time to reevaluate your approach.

Until next time.

Happy writing,
Ben