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For this, I am deeply sorry. I love writing blog posts, even when I don't know what to write, and I intend to continue to try and make my schedule as often as possible.
However, I learned a valuable lesson from missing a day. As I sat down at my computer today and thought about what to write, it seemed as though I was more reluctant than usual to write something. The ideas were jumbled and confused, which was normal, but I couldn't seem to settle on one.
I realized that, by taking a break from blogging, I had broken my flow. Last time I missed Friday, I simply posted on Saturday, no big deal. This time, I didn't even attempt to make it up, because I wasn't able to try until Sunday and it didn't seem worth it to me.
One of the most commonly suggested ways to break writers block is to take a break from the writing. Walk away, set it down, come back to it later.
I am here to say taking a break may not be such a good idea.
Maybe it's what you need sometimes, maybe you'll go crazy if you don't set the story down and take a breather, but it's not the cure-all it's claimed to be.
When I take too long of a break, I lose the thread of what I was saying. I forget the word I meant to use next, I don't remember why it made sense for him to jump out that window, and most importantly I lose the mindset I was in that let me write at all.
I was in the mindset of "write a blog post twice a week." Now I'm struggling to reclaim my dedication. Some writers might make a point to cut off their writing in the middle of an excellent sentence; I tried that once and had to scrap the whole paragraph.
Maybe taking breaks works for some people, but when I leave a project alone for too long I lose whatever it is that drives me to write. Consistently working on a single project makes me feel more successful and helps me complete it. If I take too much of a break, I risk losing everything that drives me.
I don't mean to say that all breaks are terrible; there are certainly plenty of legitimate reasons to need a break, such as being burned out by writing too hard or being completely overwhelmed with ideas. Maybe a walk in the park is exactly what you need right now.
The kind of break I am cautioning against is the break that sneaks its way into your day and claims it's legitimately there; a laziness break. When you have time to write and the ability to write but you don't, that's the kind of break that is detrimental to your writing.
I want to write every day, even if it's not very much. The only way I can maintain my writing skill is to keep writing, and if I tell myself I'm on "break" and don't have to write, then I'll lose my ability.
Ultimately, it comes down to self-knowledge. If you truly need a break, take one, but be sure you're not claiming a break as a excuse to slack off.
Word of the Day: Day, noun: A period of twenty-four hours, mostly misspent. Ambrose Bierce, courtesy of Quote Garden.
One of the most commonly suggested ways to break writers block is to take a break from the writing. Walk away, set it down, come back to it later.
I am here to say taking a break may not be such a good idea.
Maybe it's what you need sometimes, maybe you'll go crazy if you don't set the story down and take a breather, but it's not the cure-all it's claimed to be.
When I take too long of a break, I lose the thread of what I was saying. I forget the word I meant to use next, I don't remember why it made sense for him to jump out that window, and most importantly I lose the mindset I was in that let me write at all.
I was in the mindset of "write a blog post twice a week." Now I'm struggling to reclaim my dedication. Some writers might make a point to cut off their writing in the middle of an excellent sentence; I tried that once and had to scrap the whole paragraph.
Maybe taking breaks works for some people, but when I leave a project alone for too long I lose whatever it is that drives me to write. Consistently working on a single project makes me feel more successful and helps me complete it. If I take too much of a break, I risk losing everything that drives me.
I don't mean to say that all breaks are terrible; there are certainly plenty of legitimate reasons to need a break, such as being burned out by writing too hard or being completely overwhelmed with ideas. Maybe a walk in the park is exactly what you need right now.
The kind of break I am cautioning against is the break that sneaks its way into your day and claims it's legitimately there; a laziness break. When you have time to write and the ability to write but you don't, that's the kind of break that is detrimental to your writing.
I want to write every day, even if it's not very much. The only way I can maintain my writing skill is to keep writing, and if I tell myself I'm on "break" and don't have to write, then I'll lose my ability.
Ultimately, it comes down to self-knowledge. If you truly need a break, take one, but be sure you're not claiming a break as a excuse to slack off.
Word of the Day: Day, noun: A period of twenty-four hours, mostly misspent. Ambrose Bierce, courtesy of Quote Garden.
I can totally identify with what you're saying here. I'd need medication if I stopped in the middle of the perfect sentence or paragraph. (Scenes are a bit different though.) It's all mindset, I think. The mind goes many places. It may never stop at that same intersection again.
ReplyDeleteHeh. It was suggested to me and I thought I'd give it a go. Live and learn, right?
DeleteThe flow seems to be all important with me, especially in the realm of blogging. I took a break recently, and I'm finding it so hard to get back into the swing of it. It's the same with writing. And I never leave off in the middle of a sentence or paragraph, though often in the middle of a scene. I'd go crazy if I had to try and remember the end of the sentence first off in a writing session.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad someone else has had the same experiences I've had. =D Makes us all feel a little more connected, I think, to know someone out there has gone through the same thing you have.
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