Breaks In and Between Writing Projects

[bcomet]

In between writing projects, I sometimes need a break so as not to keep thinking in character voices and to let the well fill with new ideas.

And, with big projects, I sometimes need to take a big break at a transition point in the work (or for family needs) before I continue.

In the past, taking a break in the middle of a project made me panic (a little). Would I discard it unfinished? Would I regain the voice and meter and music and the mindset of the characters of that work when I returned to it? This has lightened (a little) having had the experience of completing long projects a few times.

I am curious how other writers here experience breaks in their writing. Is it a good thing? Is it troubling to the flow of a work?

Writers have different processes, of course, but I would enjoy hearing about them on this topic.

[Bryan Russell/Ink]

I always take breaks between big projects. A bit of time doing nothing, and then some shorts and some planning, etc. In the middle of a big project... I don't like breaks. I lose contact with the story, with the rhythm. It's certainly not fatal, but it does make it harder to get back into it. I find there's a certain momentum to writing, particularly with long projects. They require a lot of momentum, and a break can inhibit that. But I can get back in. Force my way in. Rereading helps a lot. Gets me back in the story and the rhythm of the words, the cadence of that particular voice.

[Serzen]

In writing BROKEN MIRROR, I took breaks, one of which was several months long. I wrote a handful of short stories and spent a lot of time translating some old French books. I found the breaks good for me, especially if I was writing a particularly difficult scene. It allowed me to write things that would flow.

During my first book--hopefully to ne'er see the light of day!--I wrote intensely, and with great momentum, only pausing when I ran out of paper or pencil lead. It was nearly a 'round the clock effort; in fact, the final 25 pages were written in a 23 hour bender of non-stop scrawling. But it was different material, upbeat and positive stuff, not like BM at all. In this case, taking time off would probably have killed the book entirely.

Now I'm done with BM for the time being, I need only to await feedback from a couple of people and putz around with my submission package, I've got a new project brewing. I wrote the first page of it, I know how it ends (the two things I need to know to move forward), but I think I might let the details stew a little longer while I enjoy having one monkey off my back. I might even write an outline! *shock, gasp*

So, the short version: Taking time off to keep your head clear is probably not harmful to your work, but taking too much time off could be harmful, as it makes the ending seem that much further away and only reapplies the stress.

~Serzen

[Mark]

I just blagged about this last week. I started my current WIP while living and surfing in Costa Rica for a few months, but couldn't seem to make my situation work when I got home. I was between living spaces and having a difficult time of finding a good place to write, and was just generally unmotivated to produce anything.

As one commenter wrote:

Like you said, though, you have to be very careful to listen to yourself and make sure you can tell the difference between “waaah! i don’t wanna!!” and “whoa. slow down for a minute…”

I am feeling a tad sluggish getting back into the swing of things after four weeks of not writing, but after the last week of making a daily scheduled effort to work on the MS, it's starting to pick up momentum and I'm writing far less disposable work than I felt I would have during the interim month.

[karenbb]

I take forced breaks and they are torture to me. I know they are beneficial in the end, but it still kills me and I do anything I can to find a way to cheat. For me, it takes more discipline to take a break (a real break, a week or longer) than it takes to write every day. I don't like being away from my characters before things are finished and it frankly makes me feel like a neglectful mother.

Between projects is not a problem and quite welcome, but that doesn't mean I'm not "writing". I just like to let ideas percolate in my head for a very long time before I put things down on paper.

[Sommer Leigh]

I take breaks while I'm working. I find I work better that way. They usually come when I've been struggling with a scene or chapter and I just need a new perspective. So I step away from the novel, read some books by authors I love and some I've never tried before. I go for a lot of car rides and listen to a lot of music and I think about my novel, but not too hard, and only if a song inspires me or I see something that jogs an idea. The breaks aren't long, a week or two at most. Then my "aha!" moment happens and I'm back to work.

I think breaks are necessary for the soul. When we constantly mine them for ideas and creative inspiration, they need a chance to refill from time to time.