You have a deadline for next week and you’re stressed, worried and out of ideas. What should you do?

Take a vacation.

Hi all,

When I was younger, I worked at a very demanding job. One in which I used to work Saturdays and sometimes, Sundays. My co-workers around me also did the same thing. And after several seven day weeks, we were all pretty burnt. And then, much to my boss’ dismay, I started working six day weeks and taking Sundays off. And I realized something important. When I came back on Monday, I felt much more rested (even just a 24 hour rest can do wonders for us) and the work I produced had much more thought, insight and creativity than when I worked seven day weeks.

Well, I am out of that job (actually, my writing work takes up most of my spare time now) but I still remember what I learned back then and apply it to my present situation. Sometimes we all push ourselves so hard that we forget that creativity needs time to grow. Now, one could argue that you could do other things and think about your stories. Which is what I mostly do. Well, actually, much of my plotting is done while driving. I dunno, it helps to have something to do when driving:)

But I’ve found that taking some time off and going back to stories/plots etc. has helped me see things in a new way. So yeah, I do think taking a ‘vacation’ from your work does enrich it when you come back to your writing.

Now, I’ve put the word vacation in quotes because I’m really not talking about booking a cruise to the Bahamas when your rough draft for your book is due next week. Nope, not that. Rather, I’m talking about giving yourself permission to take a couple of hours, a day, two days tops to unwind and not to purposefully think about writing. Though when I’m not actively planning stuff, I can still ‘hear’ my characters talking to me. Can’t shut them out totally. LOL. Yeah, I guess that was TMI but I think you can understand what I’m trying to say here.

So, to sum up, if you’re a writer and you’re having a little difficulty (maybe even staring at that blank white page for awhile), the best thing that I could offer as advice for you is to get up out of your chair and do something else. Anything else. Read. Take a walk. Go to the beach for a day with your kids. When you come back at night (or even, the next one), you’ll be much more refreshed and be able to tackle your story with a new, original perspective. Or at least, you’ll be able to sit at your desk and wear your blank t-shirt and maybe eat some of the wonderful snacks you brought home. Because life is meant for writing. But on some sunny days, life is meant for the beach:)

Take care all,
Chris