This topic has been on my mind since I sold, especially because I'm about to take my second multi-day out of town trip in less than a month. Can writers take days off from writing? Do writers get a weekend?
   I freely admit I'm spoiled at the moment. I've been working part-time for about five months now. I don't have much control over my schedule, but right now I often work outside the home only three days a week. Because I'm home a fair amount, that leaves me with the mentality that I should be able to stop writing work around 5 or 6pm too, just like leaving a normal job. 
   It used to be 5-6 was the time of day when I was starting writing, and then of course I wrote on weekends. But I was always a sporadic writer. Now that I've sold, I need to develop a new consistency. But what is that? I'm struggling, thanks to the newness of selling, a new marriage, and an inconstant schedule.
   Do writers need to write every day? Does editing count as writing if there aren't new pages being written? What about Marketing activities? How many hours a day does a professional writer work? Is it okay to take days off - particularly a weekend? I don't know the answers, but the guilt is always there if I take a day off. On the other hand, I get tired and burned out writing like any other job, and have other things to accomplish. But if I take a day off, will that easily stretch to three or more? Is the creative process interrupted? 
   And, of course, how do you stay motivated to work when you are out of town?

 

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