can often be worth its weight in gold. At least I think so. I took one such break the first half of this week. Why? Because I really needed to think about the new wip, my characters and what, exactly, I wanted to accomplish with this book.
Obviously I want to 'accomplish' publication, but more than that I like my books to have some kind of message. This book has been a little bit of a struggle and I felt like the 'message' was getting lost in the shuffle of flirting and sex and falling in love. It was in there, but kind of lost and I wasn't sure exactly how to make the message stronger-without-preaching (this is soooooo not an inspy!!) and still have the fun factor. So, I took a break.
What have I been doing? A little bit of everything.
I wrote a book. It's a short story for bebe -- I got some cool new software for the iPad...it uses personal drawings, pictures, etc., you write the words, arrange everything and voila! a book. We made an adoption scrapbook that I 'read' to her from time to time, but she's always wanted a few more 'bebe books'. This week, I wrote one. She loves it...it won't win any literary awards, but I think it's darn cool.
I sewed -- made a new pillowcase for bebe (satin and everything...veddy pretty) and decided that now *I* need a pillowcase just like that because...ahhhhhh.
I've been cooking. Finished a ton of laundry and read two great books.
I didn't let myself open the wip folder and anytime my brain would drift that direction, I shut it down. I knew I needed a little distance before taking it further.
You know what? Today I woke up knowing exactly what needs to be done with the wip. I'm plotting this morning, writing a pseudo-synopsos for the character and plot arcs and I'm going to shoot for at least 2,000 new words. Yeah, I'm energized and it's all because of a short break that let my subconscious work out the problems instead of banging my head against the keyboard and making things worse.
Do you ever take breaks so your brain can get a little distance from a project? If not, how do you cope with a book that isn't quite right but still has great potential?
Obviously I want to 'accomplish' publication, but more than that I like my books to have some kind of message. This book has been a little bit of a struggle and I felt like the 'message' was getting lost in the shuffle of flirting and sex and falling in love. It was in there, but kind of lost and I wasn't sure exactly how to make the message stronger-without-preaching (this is soooooo not an inspy!!) and still have the fun factor. So, I took a break.
What have I been doing? A little bit of everything.
I wrote a book. It's a short story for bebe -- I got some cool new software for the iPad...it uses personal drawings, pictures, etc., you write the words, arrange everything and voila! a book. We made an adoption scrapbook that I 'read' to her from time to time, but she's always wanted a few more 'bebe books'. This week, I wrote one. She loves it...it won't win any literary awards, but I think it's darn cool.
I sewed -- made a new pillowcase for bebe (satin and everything...veddy pretty) and decided that now *I* need a pillowcase just like that because...ahhhhhh.
I've been cooking. Finished a ton of laundry and read two great books.
I didn't let myself open the wip folder and anytime my brain would drift that direction, I shut it down. I knew I needed a little distance before taking it further.
You know what? Today I woke up knowing exactly what needs to be done with the wip. I'm plotting this morning, writing a pseudo-synopsos for the character and plot arcs and I'm going to shoot for at least 2,000 new words. Yeah, I'm energized and it's all because of a short break that let my subconscious work out the problems instead of banging my head against the keyboard and making things worse.
Do you ever take breaks so your brain can get a little distance from a project? If not, how do you cope with a book that isn't quite right but still has great potential?
I'm stuck on your description of 'flirting & sex & falling in love'. What more do you need - sounds like a perfect book!
ReplyDeleteLOL, Christi! The flirting and sex and falling in love is great, but there wasn't a whole lot of personal growth -- and that's also a bit part, I think. :) Thanks for stopping by!!!
ReplyDeleteHaving that problem now. The story is a jumble int head and I'm trying to untangle it. I'm taking a short break th writing and putting the notes I jotted in order. Then, it's back to the drawing board.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Shawn!!!
ReplyDeleteGood for you! I'm in a "never gonna write again" mode. Maybe I should break down and give myself the time off.
ReplyDeleteI've done that the past couple of weeks, more out of necessity, than as a clever plotting plan. But it's coming back together so that's a good thing. Congrats on your productive week.
ReplyDeleteThanks Liz and Margie! A little break really works for me, I usually don't take more than a couple of days, though, because longer than that and I find it's easy to lose the excitement of the story.
ReplyDelete