Step Away From the Keyboard
Every Writer Should Take Time to Recharge
We all deserve a break from time to time. I don’t care who you are or what you do. Photographers, writers, teachers, businesspeople. We all need a chance to recharge, rejuvenate, replenish. We live in a workaholic society, and most of us probably don’t do this nearly enough.
As a writer, they say you should write everyday. And you should . . . at times, at least. But forever, day in and day out? Nope, not for me. I’ll do that when it’s crunch time and a deadline is hot on my heels. But for the most part, writing every single day of the week has never been my thing. That might work for others and that’s fine. Every writer is different. I DO write most days but find that an occasional break is crucial to help me be my best when I sit at the keyboard.
I’m not talking about vacations, either, although we need those, too. I’m talking about stopping wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, for a day or two at a time, once every few weeks or so. Especially if you’re struggling with your work.
Or if that seems like too much time off, try every few months. But when I’m in this ME zone, I don’t work on anything that has to do with writing; I try not to even think about it. Mostly, I’ll relax around the house or go for long walks and take in the scenery. Fortunately, where I live there’s no shortage of trees and gorgeous flowers. There’s something about nature that’s so soothing for the soul.
Sometimes, I’ll act like a tourist in my hometown around Washington, DC, and go sightseeing. In the summer I may slip off to one of the picturesque nearby beaches along the Maryland and Delaware shores. Usually, though, I just hang around the neighborhood or relax on our porch with some ginger tea.
I hope my little snapshots and selfies inspire you to take some ME time now and then. Your writing will still be there when you return and you may even feel a little more energy and creativity buzzing around your fingertips.
so good. for me, the recharge, reset is part of the writing process. my creative process is long, circuituous. listening to the bird conversations in spring, mating and fight calls mostly, gave me a wonderful poem entitled what keeps me here. Thank you Miz Connie for letting me know how wierd I am not! and all this starnge punctuation and lower case start to sentemces is deliberate, too. Im no bell hooks, I just write. Let the copyeditors fix it. lol