Worth Taking Time To Think

The Scrub Jay Of Happiness

I’m coming back from taking off most of the last couple of weeks from writing, but that doesn’t mean I took that time off from creating.  Giving myself permission not to write gave me a chance to meditate on various elements in the novel that I’m currently revising and expanding.

For a while there, my creative zone felt as if it had been packed with solidified honey.  Good stuff.  Sweet stuff.  But too much stuff.  Even after I eliminated various projects—getting the fourth Star Kingdom novel (with David Weber) turned in to Baen; writing an introduction to a forthcoming anthology; doing final edits on a forthcoming short story—I still felt stuck.  I couldn’t even do much with organizing elements for my current roleplaying game scenario, which is usually my “play” writing.

A week into my “break,” I started feeling the words loosening up.  I took out my new fountain pen and worked on a short but essential element for the novel.  Staying away from my computer preserved the sense of freedom, and consequently I found my creativity loosening up.

Over Christmas week, I used the occasional idle moment to mentally continue a debate I’d been having with myself over an aspect of world-building, and finally resolved it.  Then I moved on to another element, which I resolved last Monday.

Now I’m slowly easing myself back onto my computer and into the text.  As an encouraging indication that my creativity is no longer gummed up, I also found ideas for my game coming more rapidly.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it.  In a day and age when “productivity” is too often measured by word count, it’s worth remembering that those words only “count” if they’re good words, the right words, the best words.  And that may mean taking time away from words, back into dreams, into ideas, into ideals, to where your stories come from so you can write your best.