Monday, May 17, 2010

Legitimate Break Excuses

Last week icky feelings started to creep into my head again. The thought of writing, or rather rewriting, made me sick, so I took a week off.

I wouldn't always recommend taking breaks when you don't want to write. I mean, if I took a break every time I wasn't feeling it I'd never get anything done. But there are times when I think a planned break can be good:

1. Lost Faith in the Story
I don't know about you, but sometimes I lose sight of why I want to write a particular story in the first place. When that happens, I start to think the story is "the stupidest thing ever imagined" and "why in the world would anyone care about it" and "why am I wasting my time?"

Not exactly the best mentality for writing.

For me, this is a sign that I'm overwhelmed by my work. I'm getting burned out or bored. I've lost sight of the bigger picture and need to step back.

2. Something's "Not Right"
At times, I come to a point in a story where something...dies. The pacing wanes, the characters are flat, the scene is going nowhere. In my gut I just know that something's wrong. What I planned to write isn't what needs to be written, you know? There's something I missed.

I didn't used to, but I've learned these are important times to take a break and let things click into place. For me, just sitting and thinking is an important part of the process. It's true that first ideas aren't always the best ideas, and it takes time for the better options to appear.

***

And that's it. Yeah, sorry the list of legitimate break excuses isn't longer, but that's how it is. They usually go hand in hand, too. So if you ever feel like this, I don't think it would be horrible to give yourself a small break.

BUT.

Don't think I'm giving you a free pass to slack off or something. When you decide to take a break, you need to set an exact length of time and stick to it—a day, a week, a month—then when your break is over you need to come back and work.

I'm back to the grind today, and I'm surprised how excited I am to get into to this WIP I hated last week. I've worked out the snags in my head, remembered why I love this book, and am ready to continue making it better. Yay for legitimate breaks!

29 comments:

  1. Good luck! I agree, sometimes a break is needed and legitimate. Like letting your work stew and simmer between revisions. Sometimes it's necessary.

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  2. Wait...

    I don't see lack of coffee, need for sleep, "but LOST is on!!!", or alien invasion anywhere on your approved list.

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  3. Josin, alien invasion is definitely NOT acceptable. I expect all writers to stay in their houses and finish this books during that:)

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  4. I totally agree with your list--it's dead on. The only other one I go by is the "Lost Faith in Myself" This usually follows getting a batch of CP notes (oh, and it DEFINITELY followed getting my agent's editorial email). Sometimes I need a few days to digest all the criticism, let it sink in enough so I can come up with a plan (and stop feeling like the most Epicfail of all writers) and then get back to work.

    Glad to hear you're back to the grind. Happy writing!

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  5. I love your idea of "legitimate breaks"; I totally agree! I always try to take a break every couple of hours, and then I just listen to music or watch TV for a little bit. But now that the weather's finally starting to warm up, I take walks outside and I come back feeling better and more willing to work again.

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  6. Yeah, Shannon I considered that one as well. But then I realized I feel like that A LOT, and somehow I write through it most of the time.

    But I get what you're saying. When I get crits, I definitely let them sit for a at least a week before I start working.

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  7. Oh, you've restored my faith. I thought I was the only one who started to doubt story ideas. My particular problem right now is stalling with my current WIP because I'm still thinking about the manuscripts I finished (and yes, in that "why would anyone care about them" way). I need to figure out how to get past that.

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  8. I've had days where I read through a story and think the entire thing is crap and I'm disgusted. That is a good day to walk away or work on something else. It's amazing what a few days away from your story will do for your confidence.

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  9. #2 is something that took me a long time to learn--but it's so true. When I feel in my gut that's not quite right, I know it's time to step back, or the story will run into a ditch.

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  10. I know that I am not the only one who has had those thoughts but it is a relief to see that other people do have the same problems. I have lost faith before and feel born again when I find it and write with more passion. Thanks for your insight.

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  11. Very good points! I usually take three day breaks and that gets me back on track if I'm in the middle of a WIP. Glad your break worked!

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  12. What about "Someone might have blogged about the exact problem I am having with this chapter, so I need to read until I find it!"? When things get tough, I find myself compulsively checking FB and email. If it gets bad I have to disconnect the internet cable behind the tv so I can't reconnect too easily.

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  13. Yeah, #1 is the one that normally hits me. I think it was that way when I took many months off of my current WiP. I'd been working on it for two years and I was sick to death of it. So I started working on another WiP for about half a year.

    Not the best way to go about it though....but I'm currently still working on it and have made it a goal to keep working on it until it's done, taking only a small break here and there.

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  14. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who feels this way! I'm currently having both #1 and #2 at the same time in my WIP and have been completely unable to work on it. But, not wanting to stop writing, I've turned to another project. I'll get back to this one when my subconscious has hammered out the difficulties!

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  15. "For me, this is a sign that I'm overwhelmed by my work. I'm getting burned out or bored. I've lost sight of the bigger picture and need to step back."

    Yes! A lot of times the feeling we get isn't representative of the problem. The story feels stupid not because it IS, but because we're sick of it.

    (Which is not to say there's NEVER a stupid story idea... but I think that feeling is usually pretty clear.)

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  16. I usually take breaks when I'm so mentally exhausted nothing I write makes sense.

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  17. Good luck with getting back to the grind. *Smile*

    As in all aspects of this thing we call life, balance is fundamental. I'm finally starting to recognize the difference between the lazy side of me, wanting to do whatever, and the over-worked side of me that needs replenishing.

    I'm not great at recognizing it yet, but I'm getting there. I think that is so important.

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  18. Agreed! Legitimate breaks are good. We all need a little time to refill our cups.

    sf

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  19. Every once in a while you have to take a break and recharge. Great tips. :0)

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  20. Like what you had to say..so true. And sometimes, for me, the trick is to end the break even when I'm still feeling the lost faith and not rights. Like the idea of the deadline and back to work.

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  21. Good luck, I hope that little breather helped you out! Taking a break isn't always the answer, but more often than not a rest is exactly what we need to get our groove back. Great job!

    Nice post!

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  22. Yes! I'm going through both of these excuses right now! I've been on a break for a few weeks now, but I think I'm ready to tackle the story again. Thank you so much for sharing this - it's nice to know that I'm not alone.

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  23. I've taken a bit of a mental break for the past week...a break from everything. I had to put my cat to sleep. He was sick and not going to get better. :( I started to rejoin the world yesterday. I'm sure I'll be back to my wip tomorrow.

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  24. When I start feeling doubts about my work, I give myself a 100-word-day (I set word count goals to get the job done). I find that sometimes having such a tiny number, like 100 words, seems so easy that I actually make it past and it feels like an actual accomplishment. Bit of a mind trick, but it works for me. Thanks for the reassuring post!

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  25. I'm two hours late for my lunch break so I think I'll count this as a legit break and go eat something.

    Hmmm, eating isn't on your list either. You might have to add that one or writers will start expiring at the keyboard from lack of sustenance!

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  26. I hope your grinding goes well!

    I took a couple of days off last week to think a problem through, but my break's over.

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  27. "Why" has always been my favorite of the who-what-when-where-why-how questions. I recently took a break to figure out/remember why I am writing. SO good. Great post and good luck writing this week!

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  28. I'm glad you're feeling remotivated and excited about your WIP again! :-) Good luck as you continue forward. I hope it goes really well!

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  29. I think breaks are really important. Sometimes for various reasons you need one. I needed one. I wrote on day 2. So I've restarted my two week break.

    Muse isn't happy. But I know it's benefitting me. And yes I have plans for the weeks :)

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