Knowing when to take a break

My husband will probably laugh when he sees my topic for today, I tend to be a work-a-holic. This is a popular trait among writers. We work long hours often with little reward. This is why you MUST love this craft in order to live this life. But it is important to take breaks and know how to use these breaks to improve your writing.

Yesterday I finished my non-fiction book, ‘How to Care for Special Needs Dogs.’ As I recommend to everyone, I’ve printed out the book and will do a final read through before sending it to my publisher, Who Dares Wins Publishing, next week. But I’ve stared at these words on my MAC Book Pro for so long. In order to really make the most of my final read through I need a break.

Tonight I’ve scheduled the babysitter and my husband and I are actually going on a date, this is rare for us ever since our daughter was born. Not only will this be fun and good for us, it will also help my book. Sometimes taking a step away from your writing is the best thing you can do. It refreshes your mind and gives you greater focus when you return to your work.

I view switching genres as another good way to refocus on a topic. As I wrote my non-fiction, it helped me to be able to put it down and work on my YA for a while. I found that I was more productive on the non-fiction when I returned to it. However, it is important to get away from all writing for a little while. My usual writing schedule will resume tomorrow but for this Friday I owe my husband a movie. We’re seeing ‘Sucker Punch.’

I’m looking forward to the publication process on my first published novel, ‘How to Care for Special Needs Dogs.’ I will keep this blog updated when I get the official release date.

When do you take breaks? What do you do on a break?