I went on vacation this past week, and for the first time in years, I didn’t plan to write anything. That in itself is a personal triumph: I’ve finally understood that I need to stop working occasionally, and I need my own permission to do so. I’m an all-or-nothing kind of girl, and sometimes I require a total reboot.
But just as one is still a mother when her children aren’t present, I am still carrying around my writer’s soul and brain even if I’m not actively writing. And I can’t resist writing things down when I get ideas. So instead of doing absolutely nothing, I did the following:
- Wrote two blog posts. One for this site, and one for DIY MFA (releasing in a few weeks). I had planned to have both finished before I left, but last minute packing and family 4th of July events got the better of me. Still, I didn’t feel rushed to complete them. In fact, the extra thinking time gave me a much better idea for my DIY MFA post, and when I sat down to write it, it was a lot easier than my original notes had been.
- Came up with a cool new idea for a Twitter chat, bouncing off the DIY MFA post.
- Sketched out a page on something that might be an article, or might be something more, about how knowing yourself better can make you a better parent.
- Thought a lot about the three characters in my next, newest book: Tess, Hazel, and Gloria.
- Wrote down several scene ideas for each character, which will be helpful when I start working on the book in earnest today.
- Tried very hard not to think about The Loss of Our Mothers (formerly Blizzard) which is still being beta-read by several people, including my agent Suzie and her assistant Sara. Vacation was a good distraction. I want it totally off my mind so that when people come back with edits, and when I do my own re-read, I can look at it objectively.
I also read a lot. At least five books in ten days, including Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult and A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. Both SO good.
Not a lot for ten days, but still more than the “nothing” I’d had planned! What do you do over your summer vacations that looks like work, but doesn’t feel like it?
Kathy A. Johnson says
I totally understand the need for a break (I need one myself!), and how writing seems to creep in, even when we say we’re taking a vacation. (There’s nothing like deciding not to do something to make me want to do it more…) It sounds like your trip was just what you needed.
I usually write in my journal a lot while I’m on vacation, and I always take more books than I can read. I can remember only once running out of reading material, but it made a big impression on me.
Leanne Sowul says
Kathy, running out of reading material would be my biggest nightmare! Not much chance of that as long as there is a Kindle and WiFi these days, but still. I spend a lot of time before a vacation creating the perfect blend of vacation reads. Probably more time than I spend packing my clothes!
Kathy A. Johnson says
Yes, running out of books to read was definitely a nightmare. It was before the Kindle existed, and I was at a lake house with no internet–the horror! I’ve never made the same mistake again, and I spend at least as much, if not more, time choosing books as I do clothes when I go on vacation. Priorities, you know.