Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Refresh

Well folks, I'm back from vacation. *cheers* *sighs* I had a blast at my family reunion. My sisters are officially the Funnest People Ever. :) It's good to be back, though, even if life is waiting right where I left it. The house is void of edible food. I have piles of laundry to do. And school starts in less than a week. So I have a busy few days ahead.

Still, this trip did my body good. Imagine my battery recharger light glowing a happy green right now. It's really amazing what a ten days will do. In fact, I've come to the conclusion that vacations should be REQUIRED for writers. In the space of ten little days, I had two important thoughts.

The first was a reminder:

I'm good at things OTHER THAN writing.
Also, I like things OTHER THAN writing.

I swear, I forget that sometimes. We writers tend to get tunnel vision, so caught up in the quest/race for publication that we lose sight of all else. It's wonderful to break away from that for a while.

The second thought was a revelation:

I know what to do with my quirky character!

Thanks to the relaxed, happy mind vacation gave me, I had the clarity I needed to finally give her a plot. It's equally quirky, possibly too quirky, but I'm going to write it. In fact, I can't wait to get started.

So as you can see, I had an eventful ten days. I almost wish I had another vacation coming up. Almost.

13 comments:

Natalie Whipple said...

Yay! I sad i didn't get to see you while you were here, but here's to vacation!

storyqueen said...

We writers really do tend to get tunnel vision sometimes.

It's good to recharge the old battery in one way or another.

Shelley

Jessie Oliveros said...

I had ten days vacation, too. I also liked things other than writing on vacation, but I had no great writing breakthroughs. Good luck with your laundry.

Renee Collins said...

Natalie-I would have loved to hang out, but my family literally had every single moment scheduled out. It was fun, but quite exhausting in some ways.

Shelley-Definitely.

Jessie-Yay for summer vacays! :) And who knows, maybe your breakthrough was waiting for you to get home before striking.

Miriam Forster said...

Go you!

It's easy to forget that we draw from life as writers. If our lives get too narrow and focused, we just end up cutting our own creative lifeline.

I'm glad you had a nice vacation!

Hayley Lovell said...

Good to hear that your break did you well! It's good to see you on the blogshpere again!!

Candice said...

I want a vacation! I'm in the midst of the worst move ever! Apparently the only thing my mind needs for inspiration is a lack of time to actually write anything down.

Unknown said...

I find vacations, though they may take me away from my writing, often inspire projects because I'm not trying to find ideas but am surrounding myself in new experiences.

Renee Collins said...

Miriam-Very true! It may seem like it would help to always be "immersed" in the field, but it can be counterproductive.

Hayley-Thanks!

Candice-Moving *shudders*. My apologies, TT. I know exactly what you're going through. Hope you find some time . . . somehow. :)

Bethany-Exactly! Vacations throw you off the hamster wheel and give you something new to look at/think about. :)

Michelle D. Argyle said...

That's so cute about your little green light glowing green. :)

Yes, tunnel vision. I get that much too often. Hope you get everything done and back in order!

Michelle D. Argyle said...

Oh, and were you here in Utah? So sad I didn't get to see you! But family reunions, yeah, I get that. :)

Kasie West said...

I like things other than writing? wow. I think I need a vacation. :) Glad your back and glad your character gets to have a life now. :)

Dayana Stockdale said...

I'm on a mini vacation right now. When I come back, it takes a little bit to get back into my characters but then it always feels fresh and I get resolve.