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I don't rest well. Not intentionally, at least. I can rest
just fine when I have a pile of work to do and I'd rather just make cookies or
watch Netflix, but when I have all my work done and desperately need to rest
before starting my next project, I'm terrible
at it.
I'm supposed to be resting now. After pushing through a large pile of work,
it's in my best interest to rest up before I start on a new book, but somehow
having universal permission to rest takes the sweetness out of it. Stolen rest
is just better.
There is always a danger to me resting. I do things I
shouldn't. I dye my hair, for example. At this very moment, I find myself
itching to dye it, even though I swore I'd grow the last fateful dye job
out. It isn't that I really want to dye
it as much as I want something to do. Something creative, and if my own head
has to be my canvas, so be it.
The other day, I chopped up my wedding dress. With scissors.
In my defense, I wasn't resting then, but I
was in one of my more creative moods. Creativity combined with no direct
writing project doesn't always bode well for me. In the case of my wedding
dress, I think it turned out! In the case of my hair... let's just say it will
grow out.
I've been accused of being a workaholic. To those people, I
say, you've never watched me waste time when I'm supposed to be working on
Chapter Twelve! Chapter Twelve is the witching chapter where your fabulous new
novel doesn't feel new anymore, and the end is too far away to spur you on.
It's the place where my motor sputters and dies and I'm left watching Netflix,
mixing up homemade bathroom cleaners and pondering new ways to be cheap instead
of getting proper work done.
At Chapter Twelve, I sometimes dye my hair, or more
fatalistically, cut it.
In my book, Perfect on Paper, I write about a novelist. She's a bit like me--incomplete unless she's got a
project to work on... and she's fresh out of ideas!
If you like romance, come find me at my blog
where I blog daily about the writing life and the
things that happen when I'm venting my creativity. I'm also on Pinterest
and Facebook. Come by and say hi! Who
says writing has to be solitary?
Hi Patty, I can't keep up with you. I wish I had your energy.
ReplyDeleteE. J. Lane
Emma--Well, I do this for a while and then crash... I'm nearing a crash. ;)
ReplyDeleteWe can all tell you don't rest! I guess you're pretty good at stealing it when you need to!
ReplyDelete