Not Writing

 

            Statistically speaking, there are very few people in the world that would call writing their full-time profession. Even if you are fortunate enough to support yourself as an author, you probably still have other obligations that take away from your happy-fun-creative-time. Spouses. Friends. Family. Cute pictures of puppies on the internet that must be viewed immediately (OK, that one might be more of a distraction than an obligation). All of these things have taken me away from my writing at one point or another.

            But nothing derails my writing quite like my job. I recently went through some major changes in my career resulting in 60-70 hour work weeks for several months. I was barely finding enough time to sleep, let alone work on my story. But I told myself that I would push forward with my writing somehow. I’d stay up late, or get up early, or work over my lunch break, or find some sort of waterproof laptop so I could write in the shower, or…

Unfortunately I got to a point where even when I was lucky enough to catch fifteen free minutes, I couldn’t write. I’d stare at the screen like a zombie, my creative juices completely zapped by my lack of sleep and massive amounts of espresso flowing through my veins. I hated it. I was mad at myself and I was mad at my job.

            But it turned out a break was just what I needed.

            Even though I wasn’t sitting down and writing, I was still thinking about my story. And when my husband and I took a vacation to Spain a few weeks ago, I let my brain shut off completely. We slept in like we were back in college. We had wine with lunch. We wandered around Madrid without knowing exactly where we wanted to go or what we wanted to do when we got there. And on the plane ride back, I had so many ideas of what I wanted to do with my story I couldn’t wait to get writing again.

            Sometimes when I get writers block I find I just need to power through it no matter how bad I think the writing is, and eventually the creative juices will start flowing again. But in this instance, taking a step back and acknowledging that sometimes things happen that I can’t control made me feel less stressed. And I’m fortunate that my writing buddies supported me and cheered me on until I was back on my feet!

            My job has gotten a lot less busy since I got back to town. Working back into my story has been much easier than I thought it would – my characters are like old friends to me. I missed them, and I’m glad to be back sharing their adventures.

            If you need to take time off, let yourself do it! It’s not a bad thing or a poor reflection on you as an author. Just come back when you’re ready.

            Your story will be there waiting.