#AtoZchallenge Vacation from Your Writing

Vacation from Your Writing

Is it a good idea or a bad one to take a vacation from your writing? Some experts say that you should write every day. Even if it's just one line! That's not exactly what I'm talking about here.

Sometimes you're working on a manuscript. It seems done. Maybe. Maybe that scene in chapter five needs to be redone. Maybe that one character should be a different gender. Why do none of the characters have green hair? Is there enough diversity? That scar on the cheek, is it a cliché? 

That's when I suggest a vacation. Just back it up using two different methods and step away.

Go write a poem. Edit another project. Work on your social media following. Just go do something else for a month. Leave yourself post-it notes or .txt files if you must. But don't open that manuscript.

Once the 30 days have passed, then reread everything. Better yet, have someone read it to you. (Or use a text-to-speech like wordcounter.net.) You can take notes during the reading, but don't edit yet. Wait one more day. Get one more sleep cycle in. Let your brain process. Then make a copy of the manuscript and change the font to something drastically different. It is proven that you'll edit better with a different font.

Thanks to Addi Jones for finding this meme for me again.

Then resume working on it. It's the same with making big pieces of meat. Heat, rest, carve, then eat. You have to let them set before you cut into them. It's ruined otherwise. (For the vegetarians: it's as important as athletes taking a rest day between training sessions.)