After months of working—still—to put the finishing touches on my novel (splitting the story into chapters, hiring a graphics artist for the cover, reading the ins and outs of Indie publishing), I realized that I’ve been so wound up with the production details, I haven’t written anything. I was (and am) mired down in the nuts and bolts that put creativity on the back burner.
It bothered me. Sitting and thinking weren’t working. My mind was blank, and while a tiny part of me wondered if this was it, was my storytelling done, I had a plan.
This past week, I stopped trying to write. Everyone helping me with the final details was busy with Thanksgiving so it was guilt-free on that side. And I suddenly realized that except for when I had bronchitis, there was no time off. At all.
So what did I do this week? I pulled out my circle loom, which held an unfinished hat and continued working on it. There’s something mindless and meditative about looping the yarn over the pegs again and again.
I walked. Despite the cold, I walked at least a mile a day. One day I walked three miles and spent the day afterward online buying a new pair of sneakers. Ouch.
And one night at the end of the week, I turned the lights off to go to sleep and ideas for the sequel tapped me on the shoulder. I groaned and turned the lights back on to write notes, and then settled back under the covers.
There’s still production work to be done, and a cover to approve, and the legal details to read through. But yes, writing again.
Has anyone taken a break from writing, and was it beneficial? What did you do during that time?
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