I think it’s great to write every day.

And I also think it’s a mistake to write every day.

How can that be?

Writing begets writing. So, if you want to create something of exceptional merit or beauty or usefulness, you need to produce, generally a lot of stuff to have some of it be truly noteworthy.

Like panning for gold, you have to slog through streams of silt to generate those shiny nuggets.

But sometimes, you should step back from what you’ve already written, and read it.

Do you like what you see?

Have you MARKETED it well, or even distributed it through any means to a sufficient number of readers?

Or, are you producing just to produce?

For example, a few months ago I was burning out. I just felt that writing articles was somewhat senseless, because few of my readers became consulting clients.

I took a vacation, and during that time, deliberately, I wrote NOTHING.

It was very liberating, and when I returned, I wrote what I consider to be some of my best articles. In fact, though I wasn’t shooting for large numbers, I crafted two hundred additional pieces within a couple of months.

Now, I need to step back again, but instead of feeling guilty about it, that I’m going to lose ground, I’m pleased, knowing that when I come back to writing, I’ll really enjoy it and I think it will show.

Instead of producing articles I’ll put some books together and some promotional materials for my consulting practice.

I’ll get clients the old fashioned way, instead of expecting my writing to do the heavy lifting.

I believe there is a time to write, and there is a time to do.

Knowing which is which, can help you to flourish at both.