Most jobs include vacation time, usually starting at two weeks a year and going up from there. Though I’ve never been a fan of taking a two-week trip, I used to look forward to those vacation days off from work to have a break, catch up on personal projects, and make shorter vacation-like excursions.
However, for the past fourteen years, I’ve had to forgo the annual vacation. As a magazine publisher of four periodicals, with overlapping production schedules, there’s always some time-sensitive task to do. At best, I can take a day off during a slow season or grab an occasional long weekend.
Although a traditional vacation isn’t feasible, should I ever take a vacation from writing? That is, should I schedule a time where, by intention, I do not write? A time when I take a writing break? If I do, will I return, refreshed, reinvigorated, and ready to dive back into my world of words with renewed passion and heightened creativity?
I don’t know the answer, and I may never test my premise. At this time, I don’t feel the need.
In reality, if I take a break from writing, by the second day, I sense something’s amiss. My being longs for more. I have this innate need to create with words; I yearn to write. So a vacation would only agitate me.
Instead, here’s what I do:
- When I complete a milestone on a major project, I take one day off.
- When I can’t fathom another minute grinding away on my manuscript, I take a few days to work on another project.
- When I need a break, I change genres. I work on a short story, web content, a contest submission, an article, or even plan a novel. Then, a few days later, it’s back to my project.
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Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD, is a full-time, career author. He’s published scores of books, hundreds of articles, and thousands of blog posts, with experience as a publisher, editor, and commercial freelance writer. A passionate wordsmith, his goal is to change the world one word at a time. Learn more at PeterLyleDeHaan.com.
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