Do you take rest days?

I try not to take rest days from my writing only because I've found that every time I allow myself a "rest day" (or two, or three), it's that much harder to jump back in when the rest is over. When I keep going and write every day, even if I feel burnt out or in need of a rest, then I am much more productive — and something is better than nothing. Often the stuff I write on my burnt-out days is indistinguishable from the stuff I write on my extra-inspired days. For me, I need that constant motion to produce results.

Right now I'm seven days into a goal of writing one thousand words every day, minimum, and rewarding myself with stickers on my calendar for every day I meet that goal. It's a great visual reminder tip I picked up from author V.E. Schwab. And it's working — even on days I've wanted to drag, using that sticker as motivation (I would feel guilty if I had to see a sticker-less day on the calendar) is helping me churn out this first draft at a really good clip.

I take a rest day when I've been working hard on a project--after three or four days I need to let my brain rest and refill with words. I also know that a lot of my writing gets worked on subconciously before it bubbles to the surface, and a day off doesn't seem to slow that process.

I write once a week, so I guess I take six rest days every week!

I have a busy non-writing career and I don't have deadlines, so writing every day and word counts aren't important. The writing gets done and I can finish a novel a year in this way.

I'm "off the wagon" at the moment with regards to writing regularly, but when I am "on it" my process is a block (either 45 or 90 mins) of writing every day, Monday to Friday, with another on Sunday for typing up/revising what I'd been working on that week.
So I guess Saturday is my day off, which in our house is family fun day. I find I write best when I write most days of the week because it becomes a process: get up, have breakfast, do chores, do writing. (When I was working full-time, the process was the same but I just did it when I came home from work, before making dinner). Keeps the progress ticking along and once I've done what I've set out to do, the rest of the day is "free" anyway. You'll find a rhythm which works for you

Absolutely! But not on a schedule or anything. Just when I feel I need one. Somedays I need one after two days of writing. Some days I don't rest for months >.> It depends.

I try to write every day, but I don't always succeed. A busy life comes with other obligations than writing, too...

Writing is my escape from the real world, so I try to make time for it every day. Since starting my current WIP, I've had some non-writing days (had one Saturday), but for the most part I try to do something with that WIP every day, even if it's just reading back over some of it and doing some tweaking, or adding 100 new words, or heck deleting some of it that I'm not happy with (which I've found is usually what causes writer's block for me...if I get to a point where I'm not happy with what I've written, I'll come to a screeching, grinding halt and won't want to continue. By allowing myself to scrap 500 words of "meh" that has killed my will to write the story, I open up the possibilities and am excited to continue).

My goal is to work on the WIP every day. If something comes up that prevents that from happening, okay. But I never feel the need to take a break from the WIP. I love it and working on it is what I do for fun.

Absolutely. My goal is to write 5 days a week. Most weeks I end up writing 6 days, but several times a year I'll take long weekends and vacations. This is my day job now, so I treat it as such. Some days I just need to take the day off and refill the well. This past weekend, I met with some friends and generally had a very busy day on Saturday. On Sunday, I parked on the couch with the husband after we ran some errands. Not a single word was written, and I have not a drop of "guilt" about it.

For me, the "write every day" advice is toxic, because I can be very all-or-nothing and if I subscribed to that mindset and missed a day, it would be easy for me to deem myself a failure and quit. Instead, I have goals and targets to work towards, and I build weekends/rest days into those so they're realistic.

I have it as a goal to cultivate a regular writing habit that includes regular/somewhat predictable rest days. I'm still finding it hard to get back to it when I skip a day, but in the end I hope to take two rest days per seven. (I currently write a small amount pretty much every day.)

Not so much rest days as, "I'm tried, today sucks, and I just want to curl up on the couch and watch classic MST3K and don't want to do anything else" days.

I do take rest days. Sometimes real life intervenes and it's healthier for me to focus on real life than writing. Sometimes I have time but am so physically tired that it would be pointless to attempt to write. Other times, I'm mentally exhausted and know I will only frustrate myself by trying to write. And frankly, sometimes I'm just a little lazy. I have no deadlines to work towards, no particular goals. I have five unpublished novels under my belt and am still trying to secure an agent. There's hardly a rush to get a sixth novel completed to sit there and wait, ya know? I do still write and edit most days in the week, but I try to be kind to myself.

I try not to, I've several times had months and even years pass without any writing so my habit is very important to me now, but it does happen, sometimes we get up early and go to the beach and get back late and drink wine, and those days are lovely and needed.

*For this post, ignore my signature *

Harlequin said:

Absolutely! But not on a schedule or anything. Just when I feel I need one. Somedays I need one after two days of writing. Some days I don't rest for months >.> It depends.

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