I took one final day yesterday to relax from the stresses of life, the dayjob, and my writing. I know what most writers say about needing to write every single day and the thing is, I agree 100%. It’s just that I’ve come to the realization that I can’t do it. I should, and I should keep working toward that. But if I treat writing like another job, then like any other job, I need a break.
Yesterday was the third and final day of the annual summer festival. Whereas Saturday was sunny and hot, almost to the point where I was worried about heat stroke, Sunday was gray, drizzling at times, and about 20 degrees cooler. I thought all I needed was a thicker polo shirt, but I was wrong. Still, some hot chocolate warmed me up enough to enjoy what I saw: People dancing to a circle of drummers, folks doing Yoga in the cold, and a local group of bagpipers which includes a sci-fi writer who is a frequent contributor to Analog as well as Asimov’s Science Fiction and other places.
If nothing else, I’ve got a third day’s worth of potential character sketches, here.
Now, I’m getting slowly back on the wagon. I’m finally getting the first draft of my story for Rigor Amortis together, building it around the skeleton of an unrelated flash fiction I wrote about 6 or 8 months ago. I figure if Carol Emshwiller can include “Acceptance Speech” and “Report to the Men’s Club” in the same collection, then I can make a story “the same, but different” than one I’ve previously written (not that I’m 1/10th of the writer she is, but still).
Sounds like you had a great day. š I'm not really of the "write everyday" camp…more like "write most days". I take one day off per week (Mondays) to give myself a break, just like I would from any job, and I think I'm the better for it. Or I hope I am, anyways. When I take more than that, it's hard to get going again, but I certainly don't feel any ill effects from one day off.
Glad you're feeling refreshed and got some great character ideas! š
Love the analogy to alcoholism. Ha. Back on the wagon. But I think you just gotta have a break sometimes. Just gotta.
Bagpipers FTW! Bagpipers who write SF and get pubbed in
Asimov's and Analog FTMFW! (The MF means what you think it
means.)
That's all.
@Jamie & Carolina: Before I purposely de-romanticized the writing process for myself, I used to think of writing as an addiction. The truth is that, for better or worse (depending who you talk to), it's become an obsessive-compulsion. But even OCD folks can get overloaded with their stuff sometimes ;).
@Simon: FTMFW, indeed! I mean, have you looked at the guy's publication list? And most of it is in the past 10 years.