Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Unplanned but Necessary Writing Break

It was the last week of 2011 and I was finally taking a full week off from my day job. Talk about a long time over do. For sure, I won't let that happen in 2012. Interestingly, I was looking so forward to the time off. Mainly because I was pretty fed up with walking into my office building everday, tired of looking at that same people, tired of the work, tired of the same back and forth trip downtown on the same expressways, tired of saying the same things to my children before and after school: Have a good day at school? and How was your day at school? Get the drift that I needed a break? Although most mom's that I work with dread being off work when their kids are on break from school, for me, their Christmas break was just what I needed. It wasn't them that I was tired of, but everything else!

Right before my vacation started, I had delusions of grandeur that I just might come close--somewhere close anyway--to getting closer to the end of my manuscript that I'd planned to finish by midnight December 31, 2011. Little did I know, I was taking a break from writing as well. A much needed break, it seems. Like I said, that wasn't the plan. It simply turned out that way.

The first two days of my vacation, I sought out rest and relaxation. Ultimate goal was to not leave the house! Goal achieved on Monday. PAUSE: Special shout out to my mom, especially, who I normally talk to everyday, for not even calling me on my first official vacation day. My cell phone didn't ring all day! Plus, neither one of my children asked to go anywhere. I think they new what mom needed, too. Tuesday, I wasn't quite as lucky. Just because my son received everything he wanted on his Christmas list, it still wasn't enough to make him want to stay behind closed doors two days in a row! At this moment, I can't recall where they actually got me to go, but it was out of the house!

A few times I pulled out my laptop to check out my manuscript in progress, my blogs, my newsletter in progress and got zilch! My head just wasn't there. Unlike other times when I'd taken time off work specifically to write, this wasn't one of those times. Instead I found it much easier to pick up a book. Lord knows I have enough unread books on my shelf. Just in time for the holidays, I started with a holiday inspired story by Kristin Hannah, Comfort & Joy, followed the latest Stephanie Plum novel Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich. Both good books that I'll post my personal reviews of shortly.

Most of 2011 I spent writing, networking, and trying to promote my book. All good things, of course. However, this past week and even before that I realized how much I've missed reading. Thank God being an avid reader is just as important to being a great writer as writing is! As such, I plan to do a whole lot more reading (audio books included) in 2012.

What are literary plans for the new year?