I don’t specifically feel this at the moment but someone just mentioned to me that they wanted to give up writing and other members of the amazing Romance Divas (Can’t say enough good things about it) convinced her not to. Has this ever happened to you? There are times when I want to stop writing so I do for a day or two. (Or a year or two if I have very small children at the time) But whenever I’ve considered giving up writing for good I get strangled with fear. I can’t do that. I never could.
Writing is as inherent to me as breathing. I could no more stop writing permanently as I could stop eating permanently. This is who I am and what I do. Did I plan it that way? No, not really. It’s just that this stuff is in there and it has to get out.
Do I encourage people to take breaks? Absolutely. You can’t just keep having your guts ripped out over and over without getting a minute to recover yourself. We pour our dirtiest secrets out on paper and then give them to other people to pass judgment on. How hard is that to swallow. Hard stuff.
Am I taking a break right now? No way. I haven’t written something new in months. I’ve been editing. Bleech. But I just started writing a new romantic suspense that takes place in a dancing reality show. So far so good. So take a break if you need one. And if not, get cracking!
AJ
2 Comments
July 14, 2008 at 12:00 pm
I hear ya – when it comes down to it, quiting probably would have been harder than writing.
July 14, 2008 at 4:39 pm
In total agreement: can’t quit. Can’t imagine my life without the writing. I can barely take a prolonged break anymore…