Why Writers Need Sabbath Rest

I have been reading some how-to-write books by James Scott Bell lately, and when I made up my writing work sheet for the month, I took two pieces of advice from him. One was to set my word count goals on a weekly rather than a daily basis. And the other was to take one day each week as a day of rest--- in my case, as in his, the Christian Sabbath, which is Sunday.

On my work sheet, Sundays are in red. There is a column on my work sheet where I put stickers to indicate I've done at least SOME work that day. On the Sabbath, however, I earn the sticker by NOT writing, but resting.

Ideally I'd top off my day-of-rest Sabbath by going to Mass, but because of my Asperger Syndrome (autism spectrum disorder), that's not as common as I would like. Most Sunday mornings I just feel utter panic at the idea of going into a church filled with other people and having to behave for an hour. Some weeks I don't go at all, others I take in the Saturday afternoon Mass instead. Going to the Latin Mass might be ideal since fewer people are there, plus one of my Special Interests is languages so a Mass in Latin fits in with that. But that Mass is LONGER, and VERY early in the morning.

How did the resting go this past Sabbath? I think it was kind of a relief, to have one day where I don't either have to write, or have to feel guilty for not writing. And in this morning's writing session, despite interruptions by phone call and by a cat unplugging the computer, I got more word count in than I have previous working days this month.

A Sabbath rest is not just for writers who are people of faith, however. It's just human nature that we benefit from having a day off.

Plus, not writing on your day off reinforces the idea that writing is your job, not just an idle hobby you take up when the mood strikes. It's a way of telling yourself that you are, indeed, a professional writer, even if you have not yet been accepted by a traditional publisher.

Might you consider trying a  writing schedule which gave you a day off from writing each week? How to you feel about the idea? Have you ever tried such a schedule? How did that work out for you? Let us know in a comment.

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