Take Breaks !

I love the little breakthroughs that pop up during the writing process. It’ll usually go like this for me: I’ll be sitting in front of my computer for an hour plus, staring at the same blank page, forgetting the near entirety of the English language. I hate that little type line that flashes, too, disappearing and reappearing, like the even intervals of silence and ticking of the second hand on a clock. Like it’s counting down. And I do not care for that at all.

So I go out and I get coffee and I come back and watch the line flicker and go watch Netflix and come back and it’ll still be there, of course, ticking, counting, and I’ll go brush my teeth and go to bed and stare at my ceiling as if I can still see it in the dark, without glasses, and then, right when my mind’s off of my writing and I’m cursing my bloodline for giving me less than subpar vision, it hits me. The perfect filler to a plot hole. A way to smooth out the choppiness of a chapter that I less than enjoy. A final line, or the next step, or finally, finally, an idea that I can type out and stop the ticking of that evil little line.

My point is that I’ve learned that it’s okay to take breaks, that it’s okay to have to step away from something, and it’s okay to hit walls. Writing, at least for me, is not something you can force. Let yourself breathe. And then start again.