7 Reasons You Should Stop Writing. . . For a While

Just having been on a hiatus myself, here's what I've learned: 


1. Hindsight is 20/20

When you're constantly scouring over your MS and living inside that world, you cannot step outside of it. No matter what you do, you will always be too attached to that world unless you leave it. Take a month or two off! Throw it in a closet and lock the door. I promise when you go back it's like finding a diary from junior high... sweet and nostalgic, but seriously, what the hell was I thinking? And just like that, you have found your inner editor. 

2. Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder.

At the beginning of an MS it feels like you could write and write forever. If you could, you'd blow this Popsicle stand and live in it. Beautiful thing, isn't it? Yeah. Until you want to bludgeon your characters to death with a sledgehammer and let a tornado loose through their town. If you take time off, that exhilarating new story high can be yours again, just let it build. Your muse is saying, "I think maybe we should, you know, see other people. . ."

3. Ideas Need to Incubate


Damn it! Those first ideas were amazing, so why does everything suddenly suck?? Because you're grasping at straws. Let yourself restock. Ideas are not like indoor plumbing. Stop pushing for a month or two and your creativity will be able to replenish itself. Otherwise you'll just continue to get one crappy idea after another.


4. Get a (less solitary) Life!


Okay, back away from the keyboard. That's it. . . nice and slow. Now pick up your cell phone. . . yes, there you go. . . Now call your old friends -  no, not your crit group - uh huh, yes, those friends. . .

5. Read Someone Else


We learn from the best, right? No.
We desperately (even if subconsciously) try to mimic them. And we fail, but that's okay. As long as we're not deluding ourselves into believing that we're a literary Rain Man. If you're head is buried in your MS, you'll never be able to get any value from other books you read because you'll be comparing it to your work. So take some time to immerse yourself in someone else's worlds and stay out of yours. If not, their influences will seep into your MS and suddenly it sounds like Chapter 5 was written by Stephen King and Chapter 12 is from a David Sedaris collection.

6. Stop Procrastinating  (So that you can procrastinate in peace!)

Remember when your MS was a sweet indulgence? Ugh, but now there is a carpet of laundry where the hardwood used to be. And just the idea of sifting through your inbox gives you a panic attack. So, now writing has become a shamefully guilty pleasure (if it's even a pleasure anymore). That can't be healthy . . . so get back on the wagon for a while okay? Once you've checked off the last to-do on your list, writing will be fun again. 

7. Find A New Passion (For Now)


The accumulation of our experiences drive our creativity. We pull our inspiration from things that fascinate us, but we execute them best when we know what the heck we're talking about. I love languages, it's sort of my thing, and in the past two months I've started taking Italian 103 in college and I've been teaching myself Russian for fun. Coincidentally, this will help me now that I'm jumping back into my MS. Learning two new languages was like hitting a crack pipe, I couldn't get enough! And as the novelty high is waning, I'm craving my MS like I used to.

And now for my awesome Kindle trick! 
If you have a Kindle (I got mine for Christmas!) and you're an aspiring writer... you're gonna love this. As you may know, you can send personal documents to your Kindle (if it's got wifi or 3G). I was delighted to discover that when I sent my MS to my Kindle, it looked like a real book! It is automatically formatted the same way as any other novel from Amazon. I just about died. It's obviously not quite as good as having a hardcover copy in hand, but hey it's good enough for me! It is the ultimate confidence booster and great if you want to edit. Just thought I'd geek out for a moment and share that with you ; )

So have you ever taken a break? How long? What was it like reading your MS again for the first time?