Tip 5: Find Your Balance

The focus of today’s blog post is balance. Without it, your daily writing streak likely won’t last long. So, how do you make sure the Daily 30 stays fun and healthy? How do you stay productive while also maintaining your mental health?

“Balance working on what feels right with what needs to be done.”

This is a tricky one – finding balance is an eternal struggle, after all. So, let’s talk about it!

Powering Through

Depending on your motivation for taking part in the Daily 30 – or for writing at all – you might want to work on one project, and one project only. If there’s a particular manuscript you wish to finish, it makes sense to work on that every day, right?

In some cases, yes! Absolutely. Having a daily routine makes it easier to drop back into a story in no-time. It’s been less than 24 hours since you were last working on it, after all, so all the details, characters, and events are still fresh in your mind.

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Working on a bigger project? As you’re finishing your thirty minutes for the day, don’t stop at the end of a scene or chapter! Leaving your WIP (work in progress) in the middle of an action scene or conversation often makes it easier to pick it back up again the next day.

If you’re having a hard time finishing projects, a daily routine might be just what you need to keep going. Some days will feel like a struggle, but one that’s worth powering through. Give yourself 30 minutes to get through the tough parts, and it might just help you find the joy in your project again.

Variety and Consistency

However, there might be days when working on that same story feels absolutely impossible. On a good day, that might be because of a burst of inspiration for a different story. On a bad one, something in your personal life might take up all your brain space.

So, what then? Do you stick with your bigger project? Do you switch? Should you write at all? The answer, really, is that it depends.

If a different project is drawing your attention in that all-encompassing, obsessive way that tends to happen to us writers, it can help to give yourself a day or two to jot down some words, thoughts, and plotlines before going back to your original project. This allows you some dedicated time to get those ideas out and make sure you don’t forget them (we’ve all been there), without losing track of your bigger goal.

In other words: Give yourself the space for some variety, but go back to that pillar project within a reasonable time. You don’t want to drift so far from that half-written manuscript that you lose sight of it altogether.

Writing for Your Mental Health

What if your brain just really isn’t feeling up to it? When you’re having a bad day – or a bad week – it can be nice to hide inside a world of your own creation for a bit. The Daily 30 allows you half an hour a day to yourself, to be creative. If that’s what works, great! If not – don’t force it.

I’ve spent days writing out my own thoughts and using my half hour to ‘clear my cache’. It isn’t a coincidence that psychologists suggest writing out your thoughts when you’re feeling bad – it really works. And writing is writing, so, if you ask me, it counts for the Daily 30. Especially if it helps you ease your mind so you can get back to your usual projects the next day.

These kinds of ‘brain scribbles’ don’t have to be pretty. They never have to see the light of day – their only goal is to help you. And, just like how word count doesn’t matter, quality doesn’t matter here, either. Even if you write the same sentence over and over again for 30 minutes, it counts as writing.

If you’re a poet and autobiographical writer like me, you might even find some epiphanies among your words that can help your other projects later on!

Change With the Tides

The longer you train your daily writing habit, the more you’ll find yourself going through phases. This also means the Daily 30 has to evolve with you if you want to keep it going: You, your mind, and your writing need different things at different times.

I’ve had years where I would work on only one project at a time. I’d write a draft zero of a manuscript, do a small palette cleanse by working on a short story of some kind, then come back to start editing from beginning to end.

This past year has looked very different from me: I jumped between two or three potentially big projects, went from poetry to prose, and even wrote some nonfiction (hello!), doing bits and pieces whenever I felt like I had the energy. This is what my brain needs now, so I’m just going with that flow.

My advice would be to find your own balance. You can still write every day and keep up that streak, but the what and how of writing is up to you. And remember: You make the rules.

So, what counts as writing for you today?

Writing Prompt: Perseverance

Looking for a break from your longterm project? I’ve got you. Whether you want to use this prompt as a diary-like entry, a scene with one of your characters, or a poem, it’s yours to take!

“I will persevere.”
What does perseverance look like to you/your character?

Progress Comes From Balance

People often think of habits as something constant, something that’s always the same. For the Daily 30, and creativity in general, that simply isn’t the case. Carving out time for writing (or any other hobby) is important, but within that time, you should do what works for you.

Try to stick with one project so you can work towards finishing something, but allow yourself ‘breaks’ when you need it. As long as you get back to that project in the end, you’re making progress! (And honestly, even if you abandon a project altogether, you’re still training your writing brain all the while, so no time is ever lost!)

And, always, your (mental) health should come first! If you don’t feel well in the long run, it’s going to be harder and harder to enjoy your hobbies. Take care of yourself!

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Priscilla Kint