Writing

I Stopped Writing Daily – Here’s What Happened Next (February Earnings Update)

Did I throw away my success?

Let’s be honest, the pressure to write daily is real. You hear it from every productivity guru and in every online course. “Write every day! Consistency is key!”

So, in November, I, a wide-eyed newbie, jumped in the ocean. I did a 60-day writing challenge, fueled by ambition and a dose of FOMO. You can read about that journey elsewhere (it was intense, let me tell you).

But in January, I rebelled. The daily writing felt suffocating. My creativity became a deflated balloon.

“The best way to kill creativity is to try to be too clever.” — T.S. Eliot

So I did the unthinkable: I stopped. I took writing breaks that stretched for days. Sometimes more than a week. Was this the path to writing perdition?

Well, here’s the juicy part. My views dipped a little bit, which immediately made me anxious. I was so afraid that all of my efforts would be wasted. But my reads actually stayed surprisingly steady.

And my earnings took a hit too. They went from $800 in December to $500 in January. But it still was not the nosedive I’d feared.

The real discovery wasn’t in the numbers though. It was in the freedom. I could finally breathe again. Reflect. And simply live.

Stepping off the daily treadmill gave me space to recharge. To gather new experiences and ideas. My head wasn’t constantly filled with half-formed thoughts anymore. It felt like a freshly aired-out room.

And here’s the thing — creativity thrives on oxygen, not on the pressure of a daily quota. Imagine if a plant were to be forced to bloom every single day. It would wilt and die. That’s exactly what I felt like.

But I didn’t only take a break because of self-preservation. I just wasn’t feeling that joy of writing anymore. That spark that made me keep on writing in the first place. It was buried under layers of “shoulds” and “musts”.

Taking a break helped me get that spark back. I wasn’t writing out of obligation anymore. I was back at writing out of a genuine desire to share stories and connect.

And it showed. When I finally returned to the keyboard, I had newfound energy. My February stats saw a significant jump in views and reads.

I mean look at the immediate shift after I started writing daily again in February. My highest daily view count ever was 787 in January. And after starting to write daily again in February I immediately set a new record and got 809 views on the second day:

Another record I set was the daily income. On the 2nd of February I earned almost $60.

Here’s a screenshot of the 1st of February:

And here’s a screenshot of the 2nd day of February:

I must say that I felt really relieved because I realized my hard work wasn’t wasted. And maybe, just maybe, my readers could sense the authenticity and the passion that was brought back by the break.

Now I’m not saying you should stop writing daily too. I can’t deny that consistency is valuable. And as I said, I actually started writing daily again in February. But it shouldn’t come at the cost of your headspace or creativity.

Listen to your intuition. If the daily grind is sucking the fun out of writing, take a break. Step away. Breathe. And come back when the words are begging to be written. You shouldn’t be forced by a self-imposed deadline.

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees is not to be idle.” — Kenneth Grahame

Especially when you feel overwhelmed, don’t be afraid to take a pauses. Trust that the magic will return. Perhaps even stronger than ever.

And who knows, maybe your readers will appreciate the genuine you. The one who writes not just for the reader. But for the simple joy of it.

Don’t get me wrong, there were moments of doubt during my break. The “shoulds” and FOMO often brought me a visit. But I held onto the belief that forced creativity is like store-bought flowers. They’re nice to look at, but lacking the life and fragrance of something that’s still growing organically. So, I held my ground. And in the end, it was so worth it.

Are you a (recovering) daily writer? What has your experience been?