I’m not doing much writing the past few weeks, because I decided I needed a vacation. Well, okay, I wasn’t so sure I needed a vacation, but my brain was: I’d been working lots, the past few months, and my brain was kind of whimpering at me to give it a break.
Usually, I’m not very good about listening: I seem to prefer sitting staring at a blank screen and slowly burning out to taking actual, you know, time off. But since I was going to be in and out of town much of November anyway, I decided to be sensible for once, and take some time off before I got to feeling completely burned out.
So I’ve been reading books, puttering around the house (getting not as much done there as intended–of course!), going off to talk to people at conferences.
It’s another one of those writing lessons I keep needing to relearn: sometimes, you need to take time out to refill the well. To focus on taking things in, rather than producing them.
My brain is just beginning to feel like it can relax and slow down a little this past week. I’m just beginning to feel anticipation–enthusiasm–at the thought of writing again.
I think I’ll give it just a little longer. And then see if I’m right that I’ll right more in the months ahead than if I’d spent November staring at a blank screen.