Most people will tell you that if you’re serious about writing, you have to do it every day, or at least so many days a week.

I don’t. I tend to be more of a binge writer.

After more than thirty years of writing fiction seriously (with the intent to publish), I’ve found that I’m not a person who can write in half-hour increments. I need a solid block of time to let me sink into the world I’m inhabiting for the story before the movie starts running in my head.

When I’m in the groove, I can try to write 500 words a day if I’m in the first half of the book or story, or 1,000 words in the second half. Most days I will do more than that.

Family and events can intervene. I’ll go for a week, or two, or three doing almost no writing. But once I have the time and space again, I settle in and get back to business.

I also sometimes just have to take breaks to ‘refill the bucket.’ After emptying my brain onto the page so many times in a row, it gets tired and wants a break. Time to let the synapses rest and to refill the creative bucket.

I don’t see it as a right or wrong way to write. It’s my way to write. I’ve been doing it for some 30 years now and I’ve managed to crank out more than 20 novels, half a dozen novellas, and dozens of short stories. That’s my method and I’m sticking with it.