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Inspired? Would you like to see your name on this website and your book up on those bookshop shelves? This is where we bring you a round up of writing tips, ideas and hints. | Finding The Energy For Weekend Writing | |
| By Liz Hardy When you've spent most of your week with the Day Job Monster, it can be a real challenge to dredge up any energy for weekend writing. After all, how much can you physically fit into one week? Surely the weekend is for relaxing, unwinding - and mustering up the courage to face another week of doing the work that pays, instead of the work you love? Of course it is! If you don't savor a little down-time, you'll start wondering what on earth you're doing with your life. And before long, you may even forget what you once loved about writing - you'll be too depressed to be creative. It's absolutely vital for employed writers to make time to relax on the weekend. Go see a movie, try a new restaurant with some friends, spend an afternoon at the beach, or go for a drive. If doing absolutely nothing is your thing, then lie on the sofa and do precisely that. Take the dog for a walk by the river, call your sister for a chat - it doesn't matter what you do, as long as it's something that reconnects you with the joy of being alive. These kinds of experiences create a sense of well-being that benefits your writing career as well as your state of mind. The whole world starts to look better, and you have more energy. And then, suddenly, you may find you feel a strong urge to do a little writing! Once you've had some time to de-tox from the boredom and stress of another week in the day job, you'll be ready to turn back to your creative work again. Because yes, writing definitely qualities as work. Churning out a new chapter is more demanding than watching the game, or reading the newspaper from front to back. But it's nothing like the kind of pointless busywork you do during the week! It's totally different. This is the work that matters. Working on your manuscript is challenging - but it's rewarding, and deeply satisfying. There's a big difference between crafting a new chapter of your novel, and putting together the annual report for Boredom Inc. But you don't have to spend an entire sunny Saturday afternoon holed up with your manuscript, while the world is at play outside your window. Just commit a couple of hours to creating a few thousand words, and then go out to dinner to celebrate your achievement. Or take your draft chapter to the park, and sit in the sun to re-write it. There are a thousand ways to engage positively with your real work, so that it doesn't feel like just one more chore in your life. Because you already know it never takes long for Monday morning to roll around again. And after couple of days back with the Day Job Monster, writing doesn't seem like such hard work, after all, does it?
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| Posted: 04/02/2007 17:06:33 Last Updated: 04/02/2007 17:08:24 |
Chick Lit > Writing Tips :: Finding The Energy For Weekend Writing