WRITER'S BLOCK: REFRESH YOURSELF

I have been writing a new novel and it has been moving along at a fairly rapid clip.  Usually, once I start writing, I write every day until I get to the end.  And the time frame is fairly short… four to eight weeks.  This has been my style.

This time I got fairly far along, and then rushed the ending.  I knew it wasn't working.  I was tired and wanted the story to be over.  I knew this was not a good idea.   I  knew I was pretty much writing a sketchy outline.

So, I took "an idea break."  I sat down with a bunch of writing magazines.  I began to read for the fun of it.  As I did this, not only did I get stimulated by the ideas, but I felt a sense of community with the writers who were writing the articles.  I could feel myself being refreshed.

I've talked in my blog posts about the importance of community.  Sometimes taking an opportunity to refresh yourself, you may find yourself reconnecting with community.  How much of a break is needed is a gray area.  And, you've probably learned by now that there are no hard and fast writing rules except that a writer or  a wannabe writer needs to keep on writing.

Am I ready to get back to the novel, or am I learning something new about the way I need to write now?  Too soon to tell.  What I do know is that writing is a discovery process.  If the novel doesn't continue immediately, blogging and journaling will.