Tuesday, August 2, 2011

On the Value of Taking Breaks

I do this funny thing whenever I re-read the Harry Potter books. I go into what I call my hidey-hole. I rarely emerge for anything. My writing falls by the wayside and I don't get anything accomplished.

Surely, you've noticed I've just gotten out of one of these bouts of Pottermania. It happens a couple of times a year for me, usually. It's just a thing. I can't explain it.

Recently, I returned to my much-forgotten revisions. And when I picked them back up and started to find out where I'd left off, I realized something. What I had revised before my Potter break was...not great. It was good, but it didn't entirely make sense. It was obvious as I re-read the last chapter I'd revised that I had been burnt out when I'd written it.

Which is fine, because it happens. Burn out happens and it's important to realize that breaks are perfectly justified. I've gotten back on the revisions train and my couple month break for Potter stuff. I just have to learn to take breaks that aren't just for re-reading Harry Potter. It's important to have separation from your novel, if only to get a new perspective on the story.

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