When I wrote my first version of 500 Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing Prompts, I had a line within the beginning chapter that stated it was important to write each and every day. After several months of the book being published, I had changed my advice. If you have my earliest version of my book, you may see that line. The line has since been changed.
Current excerpt in 500 Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing Prompts:
“To avoid long-term writer’s block, it is important to write even when you’re not inspired. What you write doesn’t always have to contribute to a long-term project. What matters most is that you keep exercising your writing skills.
Any amount of writing is a positive thing, no matter the word count.“
There are a lot of posts online that will tell you that you must write every single day. But how realistic is this?
Life happens.
Yes, it’s important not to succumb to writer’s block and spend weeks avoiding it. Yes, the only way you’ll improve is to actually keep writing. And the only way you’ll finish your work is one word at a time. Sometimes you may only be able to get 200 words down at a time. Other days you may write 2,000 words. But don’t beat yourself up if one day, you happen to write nothing and the next day you can barely get two sentences down.
It is okay to not write every single day.
It is okay to barely accumulate any significant daily word count.
Find a perfect balance that fits your lifestyle. Don’t only write when you’re inspired. But also don’t worry about missing a few days of writing.
If you are completely stuck and want some prompt ideas, you can either check out one of my prompt books or use some of my free online prompts. All ideas are free to use for any commercial project.
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