Every writer needs to take time out and recharge, a fact that's been hard for me to learn. I'm one of those people who is constantly pushing herself to get more done. I'm at my computer most of the hours in my day, usually attempting to write or revise or crit something. In the evenings when I'm "spending time with the family" and watching TV with the husband, I am also writing or critiquing or revising. I don't give myself a break, a lot of which has to do with the way my mind works and the fact that I generally need to be multi-tasking.

With that kind of non-stop focus on writing related activities, it should be no surprise when I find days that I can't seem to get a single thing done. I'm on the computer, but none of my usual writing related stuff is being worked on. I'm distracted and find it hard to focus. And when I try, the words don't come or come slower than molasses on a cold day. Being the over driven idiot I am at times, I usually try to push through. Eventually my mind and body insist and I spend even more time finally resting than I would have if I had just given in and taken that break in the first place.

Writers need time off. We are told by so many writers about how they write every day without fail and how every writer needs to form a habit of writing every day. And I agree with that to a point. I repeat: Writers need time off.

Without time off, the creativity seems to dissipate, it's harder to focus, and writers block becomes more common. You struggle over the words. Even revisions become a chore rather than the joy they can be. Changing to a new project like a different book or a new short story might recharge you for a bit, but eventually even that loses its power to keep you going. Changing to a new writing related activity, like critiquing, may seem to be a break, but it's not and eventually it too adds to the burnout that you're building to.

Writers need time off.

That means time AWAY from the writing and nearly anything related to it. I say nearly because reading, as long as it's done for the joy of reading, can recharge your batteries and still have an impact on your writing. But, even if you read, I think writers need more than that. They need more than a walk, more than an hour with the family. Take the evening off every day, and take a day off every week. Walk away from the writing. Cross-stitch. Work on your web site. Grab the family for an all day picnic. Swim. Ski. Paint. Whatever! Enjoy life. Leave the writing behind. Completely.

I am not advocating that writers do this every time they feel their writing has become a struggle. That can lead to not doing any writing at all and using needing time off as an excuse to avoid the hard work. But that type A, driven, all work personality is just as bad for a writer as it is for anyone in any other career. It's unhealthy. And it adversely affects your creativity, ability, and skill in your writing. If you're tired, your writing will sound tired.

Writers need time off. So take it.

Now, where is that cross-stitch I was working on?