Should I take breaks, or focus harder?
I often have trouble deciding whether (or how often) to take breaks from writing, or to "double down" and try to write, and try to eliminate anything distracting me from that.
I am not looking for unsupported opinion; I'd like to see data, research, personal experience, or well-regarded advice from pros.
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Here's a question you must answer to yourself: what is writing to you? Is it a hobby, a pastime, something you enjoy but do not take too seriously? Do you aspire to achieve anything in this field (e.g.. publish a story)? Is it your art, your voice - does the story burn like a fire in your bones? Who are you - a writer, or someone who enjoys writing?
There is your answer then. It is up to you how you treat your writing, whether you choose to write or "do something fun" at any given moment.
(I do not mean to criticise. There is nothing wrong with only writing for fun, nor with writing being at most a "part-time" thing, while also juggling a "real job" and other obligations. I wish I could write full-time - I can't. What I'm saying is that in the end of the day, it's all about the goals you set yourself.)
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I take the advice of Stephen King and Orson Scott Card; write every day. I have read of other professionals that, even with another job have treated writing as a job, writing for a specified amount of time in the morning or evening, or only taking off weekends and work-type holidays, etc.
I personally write at least 90 minutes of fiction every morning including weekends and holidays, barring emergency, illness or travel fatigue; but I am an active research scientist at a university so I don't have the luxury of writing all day; although I sometimes do if I am free on weekends, holidays, or burning vacation days at home.
I'll make a similar point as GGx, which is supported by basic psychology of learning. Creativity has a fast fade factor, when you leave your story alone the details will fade from working memory and it becomes more difficult to find the spark of the next thing. One or two days may not kill your story, but if you take more than that, coming BACK to the story and reading it, it may feel like bad writing (because it hasn't been polished by three rewrites) and you risk losing interest, the motivations have faded too far.
I won't risk that; when I finish a story, if I have 15 minutes left in my writing time, I will start the first edit pass on page 1. Because at that point I know everything about every one of my characters, and I can begin to ensure they are consistent, in their mannerism, speech, attitudes and beliefs.
In between stories I may not write, but I keep my schedule and that time, typically I read instead until an idea begins to form, then I take notes and perhaps do research on a setting or professions.
Don't let the story go stale; in the midst of a story I'd spend at least a full brain cycle (90 minutes) on it, at least every other day.
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