Recharging

I am finally done with the complete rewrite I started in May. Since I kept little more than two of the characters and the basic premise of the first version, this rewrite was very much like a first draft. I kept to my At-Least-One-Word-A-Day Rule and wrote for 89 days straight, reaching a final word count of just under 75,000 words.

(Re)Writing this book was fun and a great experience, and I do believe I managed to improve the story, not break it. Phew! But now it's time to take a break.

I don't just need this break to catch up on all the things I neglected while I was writing (how *did* the apartment get so messy anyway?). I need a break to recharge.

Recharging every now and then is very important. Creativity isn't some endless supply of ideas from a mysterious source. You can't have output without input. You need to experience life so that you can turn those experiences into ideas for your stories.

If you just keep creating without ever taking any time off, you'll burn out eventually. How quickly this happens is different with each writer. I am beginning to learn that I will start to feel mentally and creatively drained if I try to write or edit two books in a row without taking any time off in between.

I do the following things to recharge:

* Rest. Also known as goofing off. Looks very lazy and pointless to the outside world, but (and I'm not kidding) it is very important. Being creative is hard work for your brain, and you need to give it some time off sometimes.

* Get fresh impulses. Read all those books on your pile. Read what you feel like, too, not just what you think you should read. Read outside your genre. Watch TV, too. Listen to music. Go out into the world and see stuff, like exhibitions, plays, a forest, people, dogs, and cows.

* Do creative things other than writing. Writing is something that happens mostly in my head (I don't count the typing here), so I like to do stuff with my hands to balance things out. I am trying to learn how to draw, and every now and then I'll try something new in arts and crafts. If you have other hobbies, now is the time to catch up on them.

* Note down ideas as they come to you. BUT don't actively try to develop them into books. Because, you know, that wouldn't be taking time off.

And that's it! Hopefully, by the time November comes around I'll have recharged sufficiently and found a shiny new idea so I can start my next first draft during NaNoWriMo. And, you know, edit the book I just finished.