By Marcia Mickelson
So, I took a whole week off of writing. I had the week off from work due to Thanksgiving, but the kids were home from school as well, so I kept busy with them. I didn't mean to take a whole week off from writing, but I did.
I actually was in a very good groove last week. My friend, Amanda, has been editing my novel and has sent me back 12 chapters of critiques. She probably would have sent me back more if I'd had them ready. I need to send her more chapters. They're almost ready; they just need a little fine-tuning before I give them to her. That was something I could have done this past week. I also could have edited all those chapters she sent me to fix. That could have kept me plenty busy. But, no. I took the whole week off. And I do feel guilty about it. Of course, I do.
But I had some good reasons. We just bought a Nintendo Wii a few weeks ago and my kids like me to play with them. Heck, I like to play with them. It's fun. So, we spent a large portion of the week playing Wii. I rock at the shooting game. My five year old loves me to play the tank game with him. We had fun. I didn't write. It's okay. I enjoyed my kids this week.
Another reason I didn't write is because of our new computer. We have high speed Internet for the first time ever. We finally got rid of dial-up. It feels so good!! I had to spend plenty of time checking out the new features, doing stuff I couldn't do before.
So, I had the new computer to explore, I couldn't possibly do any writing. We also signed up for a free Netflix trial and I spent 3 hours Saturday night watching Season 3 of the Office (on the computer). How cool is that? You can watch TV on the computer; not on dial-up, you can't. It only takes a minute to get it going. This is all so new to me.
And of course, there was Thanksgiving. Who wants to write on Thanksgiving? I'd much rather stay up late playing Wii and computer games with my husband. So, that brings us to Friday. No writing that day either. I took my kids to watch Enchanted. Very cute. What's Thanksgiving weekend without going to the movies, right? What did I do on Saturday? I don't even remember, but it wasn't writing. Okay, tomorrow is Monday, and I'm starting fresh. I have three chapters ready to send to Amanda and several more to finish fine-tuning. I have 8 chapters of critiques to fix. I am going to back to writing this week, I promise.
5 comments:
Don't you just love dumping dial-up? We've had Comcast since about May, and it has changed my life, let me just say. With all the work I do on the Internet, it has saved my skin.
And don't feel guilty about not writing! You'll be refreshed when you hit it again and you'll accomplish even more.
Sounds pretty much like my week of not writing.
Give yourself a break now and then; it refreshes your writing side!
I took the same time off, perhaps more. My mother-in-law came to watch the children while we were out of town, so we spent time together before we left, then I left my laptop on my desk and disappeared for a week. Wow! A week without a computer, but things have picked right back up and I've even worked through a few things that were holding the story up.
Besides, kids need undivided attention ocassionally, so do adults.
I loved your week of not writing. I'm glad you don't feel guilty. Guilt kills creativity and makes writing no more fun. And I agree about the whole movies deal for Thanksgiving. What is the point of thanksgiving without movies. We saw Enchanted too and had a ball.
NO GUILT, MARCIA! It's okay to take a little break now and then--especially around the holidays!
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