Last time I talked about it being okay to take breaks from writing. It surprises me how many times this needs to be said. To others, but also myself. Guilt is a common feeling for many writers giving us the feeling that we need to work harder and produce more words.

Honestly I’m feeling a bit guilty right now. Because I have too many book ideas, too many WIPs I’ve already started working on, am not prioritizing them right so the ones which are close to finished actually get finished somewhere this year… Why am I like this?

Then you look around and see others succeed where you failed… I mean of course that’s usually all we see from others. The positives. Some do share struggles, but it’s such a regular thing for most people I think. We get polished up pictures of situations and we compare our “down in the gutter drained in guilty feelings” ones with those. It’s not a realistic or fair comparison.

Tips against guilty feelings

And yet, here we are. Comparing our lows to other’s highs. Because sometimes we’re assholes to ourselves.

So, are you like me struggling with guilt for not writing “enough”? Here’s a couple of tips:

• It’s okay to take breaks (sounding like a broken record here, I know).
• Don’t compare yourself to others, if you must, compare to your former self. Focus on your improvements instead.
• Being a good writer means you write good fiction (and what’s good is subjective?), not that you write high daily wordcounts. There are no daily word quota you need to meet to be a writer.
• You’re allowed to have fun.
• You’re allowed to take care of yourself first, and write later.

And I’m going to tell you why. Because life is about more than work. It’s good to be ambitious, but taking care of yourself is important, physical as well as mental. Everyone has their limits. Be mindful.

And I’m going to tell you why. Because life is about more than work. It’s good to be ambitious, but taking care of yourself is important, physical as well as mental. Everyone has their limits. Be mindful.

Because as someone who’s experienced depression and who’s burned out, as someone who continually struggles to balance my life and gets punished on the regular when I’m not careful enough, it’s not worth it. It’s not worth working yourself so viciously

So, next time guilt comes knocking on your door and shouting at your that you’re not writing enough, tell it to f*ck off. Seriously. You tell them you have a right to fun, rest, and to enjoy your writing life without the bullcrap of always needing to be productive. Slam that door in their face and reward yourself with a nap or a cookie. You can write when your ready.