Break Time!

My first published story came out back in early 2009 in the Airship 27 Productions anthology SHERLOCK HOLMES CONSULTING DETECTIVE Volume 1. Since then, I've been on fire with the desire...or the need...to keep writing. I think I've done pretty well so far, with 26 published stories out there. I've made it a point to write every single day during that time, usually doing 1,000 words a day and only not working if I was too sick to do anything at all (which rarely happens) or taking one, and only one, day off after finishing a big project like a novel. Of course, I've been working a day job too.

Lately, I'm tired. Between pumping out as much work as possible, working a lot of hours at the day job (which gets much busier around the holidays), I'm feeling burned out. My wife reminded me, the other day, that I'm not a robot!

The idea of not writing, even if it's only for a short time, has often made me feel guilty or lazy. After all, being a writer is not just what I do, it's a big part of who I am and  it makes me feel valid and useful and keeps me interacting with people since I have a tendency to become a bit of a hermit otherwise.

But, as I said, I'm tired. Looking at what I've done in just the past year makes me a little less guilty. In 2013, I'll have at least 2 novels coming out, maybe as many as 4 if certain things fall into place. I also have a handful of short stories coming out in various places over the next few months and 3 more that have been sent off and will hopefully be accepted. I don't think I have much to be guilty about!

So, I'm taking a little vacation from writing. Maybe a few weeks, maybe a month. I don't know how long yet. I just need to recharge, rest, let my enthusiasm and energy come back. I intend to reread some old favorite books, the ones that shaped my imagination to begin with. I plan to attack the pile of new books I've been meaning to get to. I'll still be jotting down notes and ideas. I never get writer's block. Stories are always forming in my mind. I can't stop that from happening and I wouldn't want to.

Those of you who run blogs to which I contribute, don't worry about that; you'll still be getting the work I'm scheduled to deliver. But I need to take a short rest from writing stories. A break will, hopefully, make the work I do when I get back even better than what I've done before.