Scrrreeeeccchhhh! (Putting on the Brakes and Taking a Break)

My energy and focus levels are depleted. I need rest and good health...so for the next few weeks, with more doctor's appointments ahead, I must slow down, re-evaluate, and consider a more reasonable path forward.

Those pesky health issues I had thought, hoped, and prayed were resolved are back. Sigh... On top of not being well, for the past few weeks, I have been spending an average of 12 hours per day revising, therefore, I am physically tired. Not to mention the time change, which due to limited daylight hours, sends me into hibernation mode.

I'm a planner, a list maker, and a goal setter. For my work, I have always pushed, most of the time too hard, to make extensive progress. Slowing down, is difficult for me. Not having a plan, deadline, goal, To Do list, etc., feels awkward and foreign to me.

To get well, for a short time, I need to limit my writing activities, perhaps to three or four hours per day, and extend my efforts toward that nesting instinct that seems to arise during the winter-time malaise. I need wellness, which means more medical appointments, and possible treatments or even a surgery.

So, I'm stomping on the brake pedal. Time for a break. Maybe it's time, for just a short while, to just BE. (Somehow, I have to hope that my writing process will be better for taking this break.)

Downtime and Comfort Quilts

Writing books is not always hunky dory and giggles and light. January 2013, in my household, will forever be known as the Month of the Crud.

Despite the crud-filled month, I continued to write through my husband's two plus week illness, then through two bouts (yes, I relapsed) of upper respiratory gunk of my own. During those five weeks, I completed a novel and planned and began another.

Although I kept pushing and completed my writing goals, now at the beginning of February, I am tired and weary to the point of being stalled in my writing and feeling so sad that an aching emptiness resides inside me.

Perhaps I am being reminded that I am not only an author, but a loving, caring person who finds herself to be weary.

The definition of weary is to be exhausted in strength, endurance, vigor, or freshness.

In addition to bringing the crud back from his trip to rural Iowa, hubby brought the most glorious quilt. The pattern is called Twisted Bargello. What an awesome precious gift!

My mother was a quilter, and quilts tend to signify comfort for me. The weight of the quilt is light and welcoming. For the next few days, I intend to curl up in my quilt literally and figuratively for a brief time out for a few days. It's time for me to soothe and heal my weary self.

And Now We Pause....

After working excessive hours for too many years, then diving into writing full-time with much enthusiasm, health issues have brought me to a standstill.

Here I sit, after a medical procedure that derailed my focus and concentration and not feeling well enough to write, yet I still tend to be writing in my head.

I contemplate what's going to happen next in my story once I'm able to regain focus and momentum. What am I going to write? What's next?

Soon.

A Time to Write, A Time to Rest

I so love every part of the writing process, from plotting and characterization to fast drafting to revising and editing.

Yet, because of a medical procedure that was much more physically, mentally, and emotionally taxing than I could have ever imagined or predicted, I am weary to the bone.

Because of aspects of the procedure and statements the doctor made, I am deep down soul weary, so much so that the concern about the results of the procedure and the aftermath of the procedure make concentrating and focusing extremely difficult.

So, despite my enthusiasm about and my desire to work the revision of Book #1 and fast draft Book #2, I have not worked at writing during the last couple of days.

I guess we all take time off from our jobs once in a while, so I suppose I am taking a few days off in search of wellness and peace of mind and writing focus.

Soon, I will write.