I love fitness. I train for one to two hours six days a week, and I have a wonderful time doing it. My latest goals are to continue besting my PRs in the deadlift and run a marathon. But the thing with a long-term goal like a marathon (I currently have only run a 10k) is that you can’t just go all out all the time. You vary your workouts, and you take two types of easier days… rest days and recovery days.

Because this blog is about writing, I’m going to relate this to writing. Writing a novel is just like a marathon. It’s a long-term, heavy effort, and you absolutely must pace yourself. This is where rest and recovery come in. The quick version: a rest day is just that, a complete cease of effort. A recovery day is like another workday, but your workload is lighter.

Today, we’re going to talk about recovery for writers.

First and foremost, your recovery should be designed to leave you feeling successful. This means setting goals that aren’t laughably easy but that you can absolutely achieve. I.E, maybe you set a goal to write out a chapter outline, rather than bust out your entire outline all at once. Don’t overload yourself to the point that you will not be able to complete your goals, which might very well leave you feeling disappointed and discouraged, rather than refreshed.

Another important part about a recovery day is that it maintains the writing flow without burning you out. If you’ve been hitting the keyboard hard for four days in a row and are beginning to tire out mentally or emotionally, setting an easier time limit or word count goal will let you take a break without breaking your momentum. The sneaky thing about days off is that they tend to multiply quickly if you’re not careful, so even doing a little bit on those tired days will help you maintain your writing habit.

Your recovery day should be relaxing and enjoyable. Imagine that your workdays are like bench pressing two hundred pounds until muscle failure, and your recovery days are a light jog or Pilates flow. The writing equivalent for you might mean skipping a tough scene and writing the fun one that follows. It might mean writing extratextual scenes that won’t make it into the novel but that tickle your fancy anyway and help provide backstory.

The goal of a recovery day is to have fun and a little relief from the intense mental gymnastics of novel writing while still staying limber and honoring your routine. It should leave you feeling successful, invigorated, and ready to tackle your next big workout!