Sick of Your Book? Why You Need a Vacation from Writing
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When I lived in L.A., my friends would rarely take vacations because they were afraid of missing an important audition or meeting that would appear out of nowhere. If you were serious about your work, you wouldn't take days off. You needed to be obsessive about your craft and never set it aside. I believed it too until I worked in a casting office for one singular day of hell.
It was the week before Thanksgiving, and I was tasked with calling upwards of 40 actors or agents in addition to a laundry list of other things. I wanted to poke my eye out the first time I had to read the monologue phone script to an actual human being on the other line. And you want to know how many people were available to come in for an audition on a holiday week? Maybe three, but that was pushing it.
By the fifth call, I felt ridiculous for calling people and realized that everyone takes time away. You need it, and you shouldn’t feel guilty about it either. And there wasn’t really anyone who was bummed about missing the opportunity. They seemed clear that their vacation was essential.
So when a client feels frustrated with their book and wants to throw it out the window, I tell them it’s time to step away and put that phone on “do not disturb”. If writing is your job, you need to respect it and know when you need a breather. You’re not going to win any points for being a prisoner to your creative calling. Here’s why you need a vacation from writing and how to do it well.
Time Away Gives You Clarity and Fresh Eyes
When you’ve been staring at the same pages or outlines over and over, it’s a struggle to know what is and isn’t working. You’re too close to the story, so you can’t see it clearly.
Time off gives you the chance for new ideas and insights to pop up. The pressure is off, so you’ll probably have clarity about major book issues that have been tugging on your pant leg like a toddler wanting a toy at the store.
A vacation from writing can answer some lingering questions including:
Is this the book you want to be writing now?
Are there new ways to approach your story?
What energizes you about your book? If it’s gone, why did it leave?
How would it feel to shelf it for now?
Just like going on an actual vacation, time away from your writing serves up opportunities for clarity and fresh eyes on your project. Sparkling new adventures, conversations and even just a mental break can bring back connections or AHAs that would’ve never surfaced otherwise.
How to Design Your Idyllic Vacation from Writing
First things first, treat this like a true vacation — think palm trees and spicy margaritas. It’s a frame of mind, and you have to take it seriously. Maybe you can’t get away to a tropical island, but you can make the most of your time exactly where you are.
Schedule Vacation Dates in Your Calendar
If you were heading out of town, you’d know exactly when you were leaving and when you were coming back. Block out time in your calendar for your vacation from writing, so mentally, you know when you can “check out”. It also gives you a container. The last thing you want is for your vacation to end up being three years long with you still hating your book.
Plan Some Fun
Add activities in your vacation from writing that’ll replenish and excite you. Maybe book writing has taken over time to read, have dinner parties with friends or even a real vacation getaway. Opt for activities that’ll fill your head and heart with inspiration aka not vegging out in front of your television to make the time pass.
Set Your ‘Out of Office’ Reply
Whether it’s truly your out of office reply being set or telling your book people you’re taking time off, let people know that you have designated time away from writing. So if you have a book coach or editor, drop them a line and let them know you’re taking a vacation from writing. Granted that it’s not affecting a manuscript or publishing deadline, most people can respect that and won’t be bombarding your inbox.
If you have a writing or accountability group, tell them about your vacation plans, so you can take guilt-free time away. Also, letting people know about your time off makes it clear you’re not going to be talking about writing either. No one likes the person on the beach, metaphorical or not, who can’t stop checking their emails or babbling about work.
What to Do When the Vacation is Over
Once you’ve had your vacation from writing, there’s only one question to ask yourself: Do you still want to write this book?
Sometimes breaks make it clear it’s time to shelf a project or they open up new ideas for how you can reignite your initial passion. If you’re tied into a contract, that’s a different story, but there are still ways to reconnect to what sparked your interest in the first place.
Writing is a windy path with your name on it. Every journey looks a little different. So shake it up when you need to and trust you have what it takes to make the right decision about what you and your practice needs. And whenever you’re ready for a guide in the process, add your name to my coaching waitlist here, so we can get moving as soon as the doors open next.
