The Value of Taking a Break by Susan Barclay

At times it’s been a hot summer, but when you have air conditioning, you can never really use the excuse that it’s “too hot to write.” Still, as MarniePohlmann expressed a few days ago, there’s a season for everything, and sometimes it’s appropriate to take a break – even from something as important as writing. 

In fact, this has been a somewhat challenging year for me. As I contemplate the prospect of writing the annual Christmas letter, I toy with the terms ‘annus horribilis” and “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” I won’t get into the details, but apart from a few personal experience pieces and their submission, I have not succeeded in accomplishing the writing projects I had in mind. In the eyes of someone like Stephen King, who believes in writing every day regardless, perhaps I’m a bad writer or no kind of writer at all. I choose to believe something different, though: I am a writer taking a break from writing to live a very real life, one that gets a little messy, one that requires my attention.

I’m reminded of a quote from Tom Hodgkinson that says, “Being lazy does not mean that you do not create. In fact, lying around doing nothing is an important, nay crucial, part of the creative process. It is meaningless bustle that actually gets in the way of productivity.” While I wouldn’t say I’m “being lazy” or “lying around doing nothing,” I do believe that what I am going through is, or will be, part of my creative process and future literary fertility. But if I were relaxing or otherwise unoccupied, I would remember that there is value in being “bored.” Recent studies show that boredom leads to more creativity and encourages the pursuit of new goals. Hurray for science, right?

And like Gretchen Rubin, who “always had the uncomfortable feeling that if [she] wasn't sitting in front of a computer typing, [she] was wasting [her] time,” take “a wider view of what [is]"productive." Time spent with … family and friends [is] never wasted.” At the end of the day, we’re not going to wish we’d spent more of our time working; investing in people is what lasts and has eternal value. So, go ahead, take that break. I’ll know I’m in good company with you.

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For more of my writing, please visit www.susan-barclay.ca or www.susanbarclay.wordpress.com

Summer Distractions by Tandy Balson

Life in the summer is full of distractions.  They are wonderful, like going to the playground with my grandchildren or learning to kayak.  

I find when I’m doing something away from my desk the inspirations for writing flow freely.    Even something as simple as a walk through the woods brings thoughts flitting through my mind like butterflies through the wild flowers.

We were spending a few days in a campground near a lake and I had ideas for stories coming at me constantly.  It was exciting and I looked forward to sitting in the sunshine and writing them down.  That’s when the distractions took over.  

The dragonfly that landed close to me captured all of my attention.  My pen was poised over the paper but the words that had flooded my mind only moments before seemed to float away on the breeze.  

Then I heard the joyful sound of children laughing and playing.  I looked up to see what was bringing such happiness.  Soon I was engrossed in playing with my grandchildren and the writing was abandoned.

Later when all was quiet I sat down ready to put my thoughts on paper.  My husband was cooking dinner and I had no responsibilities at that moment.  The timing should have been perfect to express my creativity.  Alas, it was not to be.  The sizzle and mouth-watering aromas coming from the barbeque had me thinking of my stomach instead of the words that had been in my mind only moments before.

I soon realized that I only needed to jot down a few thoughts in a journal.  They would be the prompts waiting for me to expand upon at a later time. 

Once I was back in my quiet writing area the distractions were gone and my earlier thoughts resurfaced. I was more prolific than ever before.

I am learning that I need to relax and go with the flow.  Being rigid with my writing schedule does not work for me when there are adventures that can only be experienced in this short summer season. 

 

This is the time to soak up the sun as I sit in my lounge chair and enjoy reading engaging books by several of our talented InScribe  authors.  The writing will be there for me when I come back inside.  For now, I’m going to enjoy the summer.

www.timewithtandy.com