It seems most people on this site seem to be writing something all the time. I find I tend to have breaks between projects.

This used to bother me, but now it doesn't as I know when I next sit down to write somethingwill come out!

I know writing more regularly is probably seen to be 'healthier' and more likely to keep creativity flowing.

What do other people think and are there others like me, who take 'breaks'?

Cath

Hi Cath

I take breaks, but only because life forces me too. I've recently started a new job (I now work for Leicestershire County Cricket Club - don't ask!) and living with friends again makes interruptions a part of life.

I found when I lived on my own in Brighton, I wrote absolute tons, but at the detriment of a personal life. I prefer the balance to be honest, and would love to be able to afford to go away for a few months here and there to focus in on a project with no break.

There is no rule though. I tend to binge write anyway - I won't write for days, but when I do I can churn out a worthy 20,000 words in a couple of days.

JB

It suits me best when I can do a reliable four or five mornings a week, so that it stays on the boil, plus a few late evenings. But I'll do it in two mad 12-hour days a fortnight if there's no other time available

Emma

Cath, 2,000 words a day, no matter what. If I don't write every day, it's like quicksand, and the space between days gets bigger.

Ste

Hi Cath,

Between my first novel and the one I'm writing now there was a period of two months when I wrote picture books and flash fiction but couldn't bring myself to launch into anything bigger. And I suppose, like you, because the first one is out there trying to find a home there was a sense of wanting some closure on that, or some feedback as to where I went wrong/right, before I did all the wrong things again on something else. When that didn't seem forthcoming, I decided to start a novel that was completely different to the first one, but I skirted around the edges of it for ages before getting stuck in - I felt like I had a kind of writers' block, but I didn't feel completely desperate about it, just curious as to when/how it would end.

Do you think you need the break because you're emotionally tied to your YA novel? Or is this a general feeling in your writing career?

Myrtle

Emma - that's really interesting how you can have a set time to write. I did that religiously last year, and definitely think it's a good discipline to learn.

I have been cooling my heels lately, and recharching my batteries. I've recently moved home, met someone and hell - I had 5 stories and 2 reviews published last year, have a book coming out next year, and another completed novel to hunt a UK agent with. It's more than enough to get on with, so I'm writing at a more relaxed pace than usual, and focusing on some other areas of my life that need attention.

I'm sure the wildfire will return though.

JB

Wow Myrtle - we posted at exactly the same time, to the second!!!

JB

JB, I've heard that sometimes that can cause people's brains to swap places...oh shit, you're about to get really dull and mainstream.

Heh.

Myrtle

Nah, I doubt that will happen. I never had a brain in the first place.

JB

Wasn't there a Hemingway quote about this? Something about always keeping ink in the well - never approaching writing when the 'ink' had dried up. Quite a useful working method, when you release/take a break while you are writing well, rather than after you exhaust all your powers.

I know of writers who always stop in the middle of the sentence, so that the first job next time is relatively un-daunting - just finish it - and then they're going again. Don't know if it works across several weeks, though.

Emma

In a similar way, I try not to stop writing just because I've finished a chapter - if I go just a little way into the next one I'm always in a better frame of mind to pick it up again. Not sure I could handle mid-sentence though...might feel too much like holding my breath.

Myrtle

Do you think you need the break because you're emotionally tied to your YA novel? Or is this a general feeling in your writing career?

I don't feel emotionally tied to my novel, but I was going through quite a dark period whilst writing it, which now is coming to an end! The main reason for my break, I guess, is that I'm living in a house that's become increasingly uncomfortable. It's not a good place for writing, physically or mentally (not sure how I finished the YA novel there!), so I'm kind of in limbo until I move (at the end Feb)! Plus I always have a lot going on in my life, so writing isn't consistently my primary focus.

Funny, I never binge write, like you, Wax, although I can be good at binge smoking, drinking and eating!

I'd be interested to hear the Hemingway quote, if anyone knows it.

Cath

I learned never to empty the well of my writing, but always to stop when there was still something there in the deep part of the well, and let it refill at night from the springs that fed it.
Ernest Hemingway

I like this one:

When I have an idea, I turn down the flame, as if it were a little alcohol stove, as low as it will go. Then it explodes and that is my idea.
Ernest Hemingway