Do you ever feel like quitting something you love? I did. This summer, I decided to take a break from writing. Summer is crazy busy. Especially July. And I just wasn’t motivated to write at the time. I had no good ideas, no thoughts on how to continue with certain works, nada. Zip. Zilch. So. I did it. I quit.
Wouldn’t you know it, during the craziest, busiest months, months when I don’t even have much reading time, I end up with my best ideas. New ideas, ideas on how to fix old manuscripts, ideas on ways to cut in more polished ones…IDEAS! Hooray and yay and happy dancing for ideas.
The notebook by my bed has been recently used in the middle of the night, without a light (also with a pen that ran out of ink, apparently). The notes feature on my phone, my voice recorder, and also napkins and receipts in my purse have been handy. And I have had some computer writing time. Just not as much as I want.
Three weeks ago, I told my critique group, some family members, and a number of other people that I was taking the summer off from writing. And when I made that claim, I meant it. I needed a break. My brain was stressed. Fried, even. So I gave myself permission to stop (temporarily).
And I did stop. For like, four days. And then the floodgates opened. And now that I’ve scheduled myself almost no writing time, I really wish I had some.
The moral of the story? The next time you’re tempted to temporarily quit, do it. Sometimes all it takes is to relieve a little bit of pressure before the brilliance returns full force. And let me just tell you now—that brilliance is as bright as the summer sun.
*sings praises to the elements* Hallelujah!
Gotta go. I have manuscripts to work on.
2 comments:
I'm in need of mass amounts of story ideas. Wow, quitting is all it takes, huh? I might just have to talk myself into that.
I'm so glad to hear that you're back in writing mode. A step away sure can work wonders. Hope you're able to find more writing time soon. :)
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