Writing daily, not

How many times have you been told to write every day? I've heard it so many times that I'd actually come to believe it. For many writers, it just might work to slave away at the keyboard each and every day.

After finishing a first draft on my last script, my fingers haven't done much typing on anything that resembled a screenplay. The advice that I'd even give myself is to move on to that next spec script waiting in the wings. That spec script that's been waiting there for a year while two others got done.

The past couple days, the drive has come back to get back into one or more scripts. Nothing was accomplished in the past three weeks, and I wouldn't have it any other way! Most likely nothing that was done in those three weeks could be considered a real accomplishment. Then the creative side of my brain came back from its mental thrashing to ask for more.

If you're the type of person who loses interest if you don't write every single day, then definitely write on your schedule. If you're like me, don't feel guilty about taking a break after abusing your mind for months on end. Don't let unrealistic goals become a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure to meet unrealistic standards.

This might seem off-topic, but I'm always amused by this SAD or seasonal depression thing. Yes, it's real and probably devastating for some people. We humans lived by the seasons only a few generations ago. It's entirely possible that you are genetically predisposed to not doing too much in the winter. Then in the spring you get ready to "plant the crops", maybe relax a bit in the summer, and work hard to harvest the crops in the fall. Recognize you're a human animal, just like the birds that nest and migrate by instinct.