My Summer Break

So after publishing Phaser on the 2nd of August and did a bit more work afterward, I thought it would be a good time to have a bit of a break. It is just like any other job, well other than the fact we don't get paid for it every week, or even monthly! But hey, we still love it!

I wanted a break because of well, several reasons, but one was to put a line under Phaser, after publishing it I wasn't lost, I immediately started on a different project, but only on and off. I thought about escaping to the countryside for a few days, but that didn't happen! As annoyed as I am about that, there were other things happening instead.

When you are writing if you even feel the need t take a break you are allowed to, don't think just because you aren't getting paid for it, or you think if you work twenty-four hours a day seven days a week something amazing will happen. All that's going to happen it your gonna hit a wall, a really big one, without a ladder. I did this and took off about two years before I wrote anything new. It was difficult, I was just dabbling in odd bits and pieces I had on my laptop. It wasn't until my dissertation at University where I finally got back into the groove of it all again.

It's difficult always having to rely on your brain for ideas because frankly, it isn't as reliable as you'd hope. An athlete doesn't just train one day and think, yeah I know how to run, I can break any record.

No.

They train and they eat healthily. They feed their bodies to run at such a high level. We have to do the same. I did a little experiment while I was having a bit of down time. I decided over the course of two weeks I was going to change the way I ate and what I did and see if they actually changed how I wrote. It was a strange one, and my parents did give me funny looks when I tried to explain, but hey ho, they love me!

So the first week I ate more fruit, healthier meals, I made sure I was eating breakfast and did something that included some sort of exercise, I looked after my brother's dog for a few days and walked about 5 miles. Afterwards, I have to admit I was tired, but I sat down and did some work, there wasn't much, but it was actually pretty good. I was impressed. The second week, I just did my normal routine and did work when I wanted. Which turned out to be a little more than the previous week, but it wasn't as good, I wasn't as impressed.

But on the third week, I read back the work, and actually, I was impressed. It wasn't that I didn't write as well, it was my attitude towards my own work that wasn't right. I didn't believe in the words I was writing compared to the week before because I was full of beans and I was ready to do the work, I wanted to do it.

What I'm trying to get across, is that when you are writing, believe in yourself, and believe in the words you are writing. Your readers will believe you, they will trust you if they know you are positive. You can see that in the way the words are arranged, you get a feel for the writer after a while, when they get excited about a scene, or if they are writing because they have to.

When you are reading a book, take notice of the pace and the words used. The atmosphere around the words is the writer’s emotions left on the page.

I do hope this makes sense. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask! You can email me from my website, or you can leave a message on my facebook page!

#MyBooks #writing #haveabreak #tips