🚫 Stop taking this bad writing advice
Why rigid routines kill creativity, and how rituals can transform your writing and boost your bank account.
Hello Reader,
After three weeks of sharing business tips from my new book The Writer's Career Guide: How to Build a Sustainable Creative Life on Your Terms, you might be wondering: “But when do I actually write?”
That’s exactly what this email (and Chapter Seven of the book!) is about – building sustainable practices that support both your creativity and your career.
All the business plans and marketing strategies in the world won’t matter if you burn out, lose your creative spark, or start to hate the very thing you once loved.
Today I want to challenge one of the most common – and most damaging – pieces of writing advice out there and talk about what you should do instead if you want long-term, sustainable, abundant success as a creative.
Why “Write Every Day” Is Bad Advice
Once, I polled my audience on Facebook to ask them for their best piece of writing advice. Here’s the kind of bad advice people spewed back to me:
- “Touch your keyboard daily.”
- “Never let a day go by without writing.”
- “Write three pages every morning before breakfast.”
This advice, while well-intentioned, sets most writers up for failure. It makes us believe that to be a “real” writer, you must write every single day. That’s very much not the reality of the writers I know.
It also wasn’t the reality of the people giving that advice! When I followed up to ask, not a single person wrote every day – and most of them rarely wrote at all. They were regurgitating the bad advice they’d been given, advice that had paralyzed them in their own writing by valuing perfection (every day, not matter what) over progress.
We’ve been told our whole lives that repetitive habits are the key to a healthy, wealthy, and happy life. Steve Jobs wore the same outfit every day to reduce decision fatigue. Michael Phelps eats the same pre-race meal. Stephen King reportedly writes thirty pages daily without fail. You can do it too! And if you don’t, then your just not disciplined enough for success.
But here’s what that advice ignores: these rigid routines often reek of privilege and don’t account for those of us who are neurodiverse, managing chronic illness, caring for family members, working multiple jobs, and/or navigating systemic barriers. (Not a coincidence it’s usually straight white, athletic, cis men with money or access to it touting the benefits of strict routines.)
And even if you had all the time, money, and privilege in the world, would you really want to do the same thing every single day? My creative ADHD heart dies a little every time I think about such a restrictive lifestyle.
The truth is rigidity kills creativity in most of us. Strict writing routines set you up to fail by:
- Punishing you if you miss a day
- Killing creativity by forcing sameness
- Ignoring your natural rhythms
This assembly-line approach to creativity comes straight from industrialization and capitalism. Yes, you can produce books like McDonald’s produces hamburgers, but is that really the creative life you want?
Rituals > Routines
Unlike routines, rituals are acts of intention and connection. They spark creativity rather than forcing productivity.
Think of the difference between grabbing the same coffee at the same cafe at the same time each morning (routine) versus sipping a specific tea while you journal, whatever time you get to it, and wherever you happen to be (ritual).
This week on the blog, I'm sharing why rituals are better than routines and how to come up with some of your own.
Notice how these activities fill your creative bucket rather than depleting it. They center presence and joy rather than productivity. Most importantly, they’re sustainable because they’re flexible, easy and enjoyable.
So try to let go of the concept of a strict routine and lean into abundant rituals that make you feel creative.
For more help on how to make money as a writer without burning out or sacrificing your values, grab a copy of my book The Writer's Career Guide: How to Build a Sustainable Creative Life on Your Terms today.
What are some of your favorite writing rituals?
Reply and let me know!
With a lit candle and cup of tea as I write,
Lauren
P.S. This is the official end of my month of sharing my writing career tips, but you can delve even more into how to make money as a writer without burning out or sacrificing your values by grabbing a copy of my book The Writer's Career Guide: How to Build a Sustainable Creative Life on Your Terms today!
📘Helping diverse storytellers thrive.
School for Writers® is on a mission is to diversify publishing by helping you write, edit, publish and market your books.
We want to help you amplify your voice and thrive as a creative being. Check out our website to find some inspiration, grab a freebie, or enroll in a course.
Because the world needs your story now more than ever.™
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