It's been said lots of times, by me and many other people. If you're really meant to be a writer, you won't be able to give it up. Sure, you might try quitting for a little while, maybe because of a bad rejection you received or because of time constraints, but you'll always come back to it. Or you'll be miserable.
Still, though, even as people who know we're supposed to be writing, how do we know when it's okay to take a break? I know different ones of y'all have been talking about this for different reasons lately. I actually haven't gotten much word count in for the last few weeks, because I've been working on other aspects of my story (just not the word count progress part). Here's a quick list of things I think might say that you should take a (quick!) break. But remember, this is temporary. I'm not giving anyone permission to give up on this. ;)
1. Pray about it. =) God really does care about things like your writing. Do you feel like He's asking you to take a break for one reason or another?
2. Think about your progress. Are you making any? Do you think you'd make more progress if you took a few days/weeks off to decompress?
3. Are you writing more life than you're living? Unless you're on deadline, evaluate your priorities here. Even for serious writers, "real" life should take precedence, especially in your relationships. Writing IS important, don't get me wrong, just not AS important.
4. You're out of ideas. In that case, just have some imagination fun time. Brainstorm plots and characters and file all of that away for the next time you really write.
5. You have something big in your life you need to focus on first. This could mean all kids of things.
6. Your current story needs more time to simmer in your mind. In this case, you're lucky! This means you're actually working on writing when you're doing dishes, folding laundry, or driving. ;) But it can feeeeel like taking a break, since there's not a lot of typing going on.
7. I'm sure there are other reasons. And I don't love six point lists. ;)
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Nicely said and a well put together list. Thanks!
ReplyDelete(And while you don't love six-point lists, I really love point #6 when it's happening. Just one of my favorite parts of writing...which ultimately leads me to the keyboard, of course.)
I love #6 sometimes. That's where I am right now and I AM enjoying it, but I want to be doing more typing! Haha, soon hopefully.
DeleteI know the struggle of trying to give writing up. It doesn't work. I get irritated with it fast. Lol. And yes. This is a a great list. All "7 points." :)
ReplyDeleteThanks!
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