I am looking forward to some serious writing later today, all day tomorrow, and maybe most of the weekend too. Part of it is my own doing, as I have 8 articles for a website by Saturday in order to fulfill my 3-month minimum requirement, but part of it was just my own executive decision.
I never understood the idea of writing vacations, but I see that now, I could do for some time where there is nothing but my mind, my netbook, and myself sequestered somewhere to write. Maybe it's because I'm on the cusp of a time of high concentration and what feels like could be an amazing run on great ideas or maybe I'm in a nadir of things altogether. Paradox, perhaps, but that's where I stand. The idea of more work, more writing and especially more editing both sounds repulsive and like the best thing I could do for myself.
That said, while I cannot afford to get away from work and obligations (not to mention, workaholics tend not to do vacations), I would love to hear about the experiences others of you have had by scheduling in writing vacations. Where did you go and how did it affect the style, genre, and intensity of work you were able to output? Did you do more writing, less, and did the quality change too?
If all goes well with mine, I am going to make it a more frequent occurrence, even if only for a few hours a month and never results in going anywhere further away than my room or the library. Writing both frustrates me and makes me happy, so I am going to get more of my fix of it, much like sunworshippers do with the sunny days. If nothing else, maybe it will work with getting me back towards my goals, my ambitions, and my zone of contentment.
So, any of you want to join me? Remember, vacations and journeys are not necessarily bound by obligations, word limits, and mandatory minimums of output or duration. They are what you make them out to be. Best part is that you can schedule them on a whim, without paying booking fees, and without getting sand stuck between your toes unless that's what suits you best.
Funny, I was just thinking this morning that perhaps I need a writing getaway for a weekend. I don't think the "getaway" part will happen; the closest I will get to "away" is likely to be upstairs in my office. I also have a deadline - to finish up the last few chapters of the manuscript an agent is interested in, and at the moment, I am doing everything but writing.
ReplyDelete