Monday, November 26, 2007

Well, Look At That!

When I started serious work on the suspense over Thanksgiving break, I hadn't done much writing for 2 weeks. (I kept up with my 100 words a day simply because I still have kids in the challenge with me.) During that 2 weeks, I didn't think about my contemporaries. I didn't worry over my new suspense hero and heroine's GMCs. I worked on school related assignments and I read.

When I sat down on Saturday (2 days ago) ready for some excellent words and phrases to find their way to my paper, I received a gift. Then yesterday, the gift carried over and I spent another day writing. On Sunday I managed about 8 handwritten pages. Then I typed all those pages up, printed them out and worked on expanding the awesome scenes I had. When I got tired, I put it all away. No pressure to finish one little section or to get one more page done. I'd done well and I deserved the time off, which brings me to my point.

Don't work yourself to death! When I went through my burn-out scenario 2 weeks ago, I'd been working for about 10 months straight on writing. This last week, I learned 2 lessons.

#1: I have to take a week off here, a week off there. If I don't, I'll sink into a depression, lose my confidence and find myself overwhelmed with my characters, plots and the industry in general. Writing, I must remember, is a job and everyone needs a vacation from their job. Just because I don't get paid to write yet doesn't make it less of a job.

#2: I need to read. Yes, I know. It seems obvious, doesn't it? But I didn't realize how important it is for me to read other people's work while working on my own. Reading always keeps my creative juices flowing. The more I read, the more I want to read. The more I want to read, the more I want to write. Then I get excited again about someday having my own book in my hands and watching other people take it off the shelves. So I'm trying to work myself into a schedule which allows me to read at least a chapter a night of a book. More when I have the time or inclination, but at least a chapter a night. I know this works for me. It has in the past. It will again.

So here I am on Monday night. I'm excited to work on my chapter. I'm interested in reading Lisa Jackson's tale. My author confidence is back up, and Caitlin and I are collaborating again. I guess it does pay to take a break!

8 comments:

Crystal said...

Good for you girl!! A good rest always helps. Glad to see your confidence back where it needs to be;)

Shari said...

I take breaks, too. Your post is almost exactly like one a did last week! Spooky, huh? Great minds think alike!

Bailey Stewart said...

Breaks are important in any job. Good for you in realizing that.

Well, I'm finally back to reading after almost a year of no reading, so maybe writing won't be far behind.

Tez Miller said...

Mega-cheers for your wonderful progress :-)

Have a lovely day! :-)

Lexi said...

Thanks, Crystal!

Shari, you mean you knew this LAST WEEK and you didn't tell me? Yes, great minds think alike, but apparently this great mind is lagging a bit behind.

Lexi said...

Yay Bailey for getting back to reading! A whole year without? I can't imagine that! Here's to writing soon too.

Thanks, Tez!

Nita Wick said...

All things in moderation. :) That includes reading, writing, other work, rest, all of it. But it looks like you've already figured that out. LOL

I guess that applies to chocolate, too. But that rule can be bent. :)

Lexi said...

Nita, as far as I'm concerned any rule about chocolate should be bent to work in our favor!