Taking a Breather

When the end of a WIP draws into sight, I have a habit of kicking into overdrive, spending every spare minute, thinking, writing, and tweaking my manuscript.  I will stay up until two in the morning playing with the wording, checking for spelling, and trying for the umpteenth time to get that phrase "just right."  

I hit the end two days ago, sent the manuscript off to my agent, and had every intention of circling back to a WIP she'd sent me revisions on.   I've thought about the changes it needs, talked it out with my critique partners, even went back to my agent to makes sure I wasn’t deleting a thread she thought should stay.  Then nothing!  Haven’t written, tweaked, or opened the WIP in two days.   In fact, this post is the first “writing orientated” thing I’ve done since hitting my email’s send button on Wednesday morning.

I say I've hit a wall, that there is only so much creativity I can drum up before my muse says ENOUGH!  My husband disagrees, says that I am just taking a breather . . . a few days of non-writing activities is all I need to get my head back in the game.

I think he is right.  Last night I had my laptop set up on top of the dryer, IMing while folding towels.  In that brief, five-sentence interaction I figured it out, a small, not-so-insignificant scene that was holding my revisions up.  I’d been staring at that WIP since December, had written an entire NEW ms rather then deal with the revision, and in a brief minute-long internet chat, I’d figured it out . . . over fabric softener and warm towels none the less!