Writing Every Day Does NOT Mean Publishing Every Day
We’ve all heard the dictum “write every day.” It seems every accomplished author has uttered that line at some point:
Ray Bradbury: “Just write every day of your life. Read intensely. Then see what happens. Most of my friends who are put on that diet have very pleasant careers.”
Anne Lamott: “So much of writing is about sitting down and doing it every day…”
Robert McKee: “Write every day, line by line, page by page, hour by hour. Do this despite fear.”
Michael Connelly: “Write every day, even if it is just a paragraph.”
We often forget that these writers did not say “publish every day.”
They were not encouraging us to publish new stories online every day. They were simply stressing the fact that all of us writers should try to find time every day to put pen to paper.
The point is that we need to hone our craft.
The point is that daily writing makes us better writers.
The point is that writing is difficult, and the only way to improve is through painstaking effort and incremental progress.
We don’t improve by publishing “I told myself I’d write every day and this is what I’m writing today” essays. We don’t improve by releasing shoddy work into the world.
No one cares about our rough drafts. Rough drafts are for us and us alone.
If we honestly believe that others benefit from our hastily written drafts, we must think pretty highly of ourselves. When I get caught in that mindset, I remind myself of something Ryan Holiday wrote: “Your work isn’t good enough. Keep your head down. You still have a long way to go.”
Authors like Bradbury, Lamott, McKee, Connelly, and Holiday did not slap words onto paper, then rush them out into the world. They spent countless hours editing, rewriting, and rewriting again.
They approached writing with reverence — not ego. As Stephen King says, “You must not come lightly to the blank page.”
Yes, we should all aspire to write every day, but we should drop the vain notion that the only way to write is to publish.
To be clear, I’m not saying we should never publish our work. Far from it.
I’m also not saying that every story needs to be perfect. If perfection was required, I would give up right now.
Writing is like caring for an injured sparrow. I only want to release my sparrow into the wild once it’s ready to fly. My sparrow may never soar like an eagle, and that’s okay. But I can show my care for the sparrow by taking the time to repair its severed wings before I toss it out of the nest.
Treat your work with dignity so others will do the same. Respect the craft.
