In which I try to teach you some things about writing and story-telling that I've learned over the years.
DISCLAIMER: Contrary to the punny title I've chosen (which is meant to be just that: a pun), I don't believe the way I write or the tips and tr...
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The journey has been long. It has been soul-crushing and grueling in the way that only squeezing your brain and pouring out the entirety of your heart and soul's contents onto the blank page can be. You've learned a few things about writing, yourself, and the world as you know it, but now that you're done, what happens next?
You take a break.
What? You heard me. I said you step away from the screen, put your pens and pencils down, and go outside. Writing has turned you into a hermit. Call your mother. Call your friends. They miss you very much.
Usually I take a break after I write the outline before I move on to the first draft (this break usually ranges from about a couple of days to a few months, if I'm not following a strict deadline) and again after I finish the first draft, before I start the first round of revisions. I do this to allow myself the maximum chances of refreshing my eyes and mind, but you have to be responsible enough to know when to come back to it, because sometimes I take breaks and end up abandoning the work completely, after I realize it's not really something I want to write. That's okay, too; the work I put in hasn't gone to waste because I still learned something new, but still. If the piece is something you want to finish, then please don't forget to be disciplined.
I can go on and on about the benefits of taking a break, but my most favorite thing anyone has ever said to me is this: "Flowers don't bloom year-round." It was spoken to me by my classmate, a fellow Creative Writing major, after I opened up to her about how I felt about my writing. We can't expect ourselves to constantly be working, constantly be churning works out there without sacrificing quality or our sanity.
This is the time when you put yourself first. Go back outside, smell the flowers unless you're allergic (or, in Metro Manila, where I live: the pollution), pet a dog, call a friend. Read a new book, watch a movie, listen to that new album your favorite artist just put out.
The point is to take a break and let yourself be inspired again. You've essentially just given birth, and unless you're octo-mom and you've got plenty more babies to get out there, I think you deserve to rest.
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