You Haven’t Written Today

There are days when you don’t feel like writing. This might be for different reasons. Every now and then it’s good to take a day or two to recharge your batteries and make sure you don’t burn out. Maintaining your energy level is a very important part of being and staying creative.

On the other hand, not feeling like writing can also be procrastination. Maybe you are pushing it aside for some reason and you label it as “taking care of yourself” when in fact it’s just avoidance.

A while ago John August and Craig Mazin talked about this on the “Scriptnotes” screenwriting podcast. Under the name “Tough Love vs. Self-Care”, Craig made an interesting point about the distinction between the two:

He says that self-care and also pushing through when it is necessary are both positive things that can give you good results. The problem is that those can also hide negative emotions that lie beneath that. Tough love often masquerades as self-loathing and self-care might in fact be “fear and withdrawal and a sense that engaging isn’t worth it.”

This is an important distinction. It’s okay to let go of writing every now and then, and it’s okay to push through when necessary. Just make sure you’re clear about your emotions and what stands behind them.

Get clear about emotions that such your creativity away:

P.S.: The link to the transcription of the “Scriptnotes” Episode:

 https://johnaugust.com/2019/scriptnotes-ep-425-tough-love-vs-self-care-transcript