Good Days, Bad Days

Quick update alert!

I’m at 53,000 words! Okay, you’re free to leave now, thanks for reading! But if you want to receive some awesome advice for life, read on!

I’m proud to say this is now the longest piece of writing I’ve ever created. I know that words don’t mean everything, they have to be good words too! And they have to make good sentences that then make good paragraphs etc. But I think I’m doing that too.

Stephen King is a power-writer, in his book, On Writing, he talks about his writing routine. He writes 2000 words a day, every single day. So, that’s what I’m doing. Obviously, he’s a heavyweight writer and I’m really not anything, yet. But I’m setting the bar high.

I don’t aspire to be like Stephen King though, I aspire to his regiment. And I’ve gotta say that I’m doing a pretty solid job at sticking to a Stephen King-esque routine. I take one/two days off word count writing every week but five/six days I write a minimum of 1700 words. I don’t really take a day off from writing, I just don’t add to the word count of my book, does that make sense? There are plenty of other ways writers write, without writing their book.

One thing I’ve been noticing is how I categorise my days. It’s a ‘good day’ for me when I hit my word count. And it’s ‘bad day’ when I don’t. I don’t think this is a healthy way to think. I still work on days I don’t write. Researching, reading and planning are just as important as writing. Doing these things instead of writing empty words that I’ll probably delete later is a good thing, not a bad thing.

And let’s be honest, a day where I get out of bed with any motivation should be a good day! I’m trying to teach myself to be less critical of what I do. It’s okay that some days, I just want to consume nothing but nonsense television. And it’s okay to take a day off. It’s really, very okay to do that! I’ve got a lot of anxiety over what I’m doing with my year. (you know the whole living-off-my-savings-to-work-on-my-writing-full-time thing.) I’m worried people are comparing what they’re doing with their day with what I’m doing with my day. And, you know, thinking I’m some sort of bum… I don’t think I’m a bum! But I think that people might think I’m a bum.

Or am I a bum? Is it bummy to spend all morning in your pyjamas trying to make your kickass characters save their city? I get dressed in the afternoons! (Sometimes) My work just goes more swiftly when I’m wearing my flamingo pyjamas and a t-shirt with my dog’s face on it… Does no one else feel that way?

I think I’ve lost the point of this blog post…

Umm! Oh yeah! When you’re trying to do something creative that you have a passion for, listen to your instincts. It’s okay to take a day off! Don’t be a machine because you think people will judge you otherwise. And anyone that judges you for spending the day in your pyjamas isn’t the type of person you wanna be around anyway. You don’t need that kind of negativity.

And also! This is more of a full-on piece of life advice. Don’t compare yourself to others. You’re just great the way you are! Write when you want. Live how you want. And don’t ever apologise for following your dreams!

I can’t believe it’s taken me 25 (nearly 26) years to figure that out. I should have spent less time trying to learn the dance moves to the Oompa Loompa songs and maybe I would know this already!

Thanks for reading!