We all have those days where we’ve been running around, doing errands, taking care of other responsibilities, and we are just too tired to write. Of course almost every piece of writing advice says that you should write everyday, no matter what, even if it is just a paragraph or it’s only for fifteen minutes. In most cases I agree with that piece of advice and I try to adhere to that but there are just times when not only your body is tired but your mind is exhausted. In these cases you might find that you simply can not write (at least not anything that would make any kind of sense). This is when the guilt comes in.
You start to feel like if you were really a good writer then you would just suck it up and put some words on the page already. You start to think about those people who put out ten books in a year (at least I do) and beat yourself up because clearly they didn’t let their being tired stop their productivity. I know that I for one feel completely terrible when I don’t write and I feel even worse when the ideas are there in my head but they just won’t come into focus.
Over the years I have tried not to beat myself up so much when I can’t write. For some people, they can push through and power forward, even when their mind is stuck or when their thoughts are running wild with too many ideas. There are those who are really good at not letting that keep them from putting the words on the page anyway.
However, there are other types of people (like myself) that just can’t write that way. We can’t make ourselves write when we know what will be written is what we would consider garbage. We can’t write when our thoughts aren’t focused and we can’t get the words out when our minds are exhausted. It doesn’t make us any less of a writer nor does it make us any less passionate about what we want to do with our writing.
Sometimes we just need to rest. So often when people in general are tired they keep going until the point of pure exhaustion and if we don’t take those moments that are necessary to rest we will burn out. Sometimes the rest makes us produce better quality work and possibly even more passion for the project than we had before.
Sometimes when we travel on our journey we get so caught up in progressing forward that we forget to stop along the way and recharge. Without the energy to carry on we are no good to anyone, least of all ourselves. Rest and recharge if need be. The work will be there when your mind is fresh. Don’t feel guilty for taking a pit stop every once and a while.
Jimmetta Carpenter
Writer/Editor
The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)
Writing as “Jaycee Durant”
http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/
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Reblogged this on The Worst and the Best Words.