Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Writing?

So today I pose the following question: Can you write too much?

For me I think the answer is yes. During weeks like this when I have tons of freelance work to do, the thought of working on my manuscript afterwards is a little bit harder to swallow than it is at other times.

And it's not that I don't want to work on it; it's just that I know my brain has limits to what it can produce. And I've learned to recognize those limits so that I can keep my stress under control and avoid burnout. I take on only as much work as I can do well, and I work on my manuscript only when I've actually got some mojo left to do so.

I do think that writers need to be careful not to lose momentum in their work, though. It's easy to say, "Oh, I'm tired, I wrote a lot today in my 'real' job and I think I'll work on it later."

But then what happens is that 'later' turns into 'much later' which turns into 'where did the last 5 years go?' And for this reason I think there are definitely times where we have to push ourselves to write, even if we don't feel like we have anything to say.

The sweet spot is finding that happy medium between working on your craft and giving your brain some downtime to either rest or engage in other interesting pursuits. Part of what makes creativity work is having moments of doing nothing. Sort of like how your best story idea might come while you're cleaning the bathroom.

But another part of creativity is being inspired by life experiences. Which you actually have to go out and, you know, experience.

So is there such a thing as too much writing? Yes. But I think if you're not spending a couple hours of your day writing something - anything! - then you aren't writing enough.

Cheers!