Meghan

Stop Talking Bad About Your Writing: 4 Writing Tips

Self-doubt is pretty common among writers. This can lead to us talking bad about our writing, which I believe needs to stop.

We may think our books aren’t good enough. We may get frustrated because they’re not what we want them to be. Or we may just feel like our writing is bad. But no matter how bad you might be feeling, I would encourage you not to talk bad about your writing or your WIP.

Now, this isn’t to say that you should keep everything bottled up.

It’s okay to question your story and acknowledge or discuss its problems. That’s how stories get better.

The issue comes when we wallow in our books’ problems. If we stay in this negative place for too long, we start to perpetuate the idea that these problems make us bad writers.

If you say these negative thoughts out loud enough, you may actually start to believe they’re true. It creates a negative headspace that is unhelpful and unproductive. And it certainly doesn’t help you enjoy the process or build a happy writing life.

Something else to consider: you are the biggest advocate for your story. If you want other people to be excited about your work, you need to talk about it positively.

And to talk about it positively, you need to see your work positively. I’ve found it helpful to practice this outlook at all stages of the writing process, so I try to think of my work as positively as possible.

Here are some tips that help me see my work in a positive light day in and day out so I don’t talk bad about my writing:

1) Don’t focus on the end result while you’re writing

Be patient with your process and progress.

Celebrate the victory of simply moving forward on a regular basis. Remember, it’s okay if your book is not good while you’re working on it. It actually isn’t supposed to be good until you’re finished.

Try not to think about someone else reading your work and embrace the experience of writing. As long as you are making progress, things are going well.

Now, like I said earlier, I’m not saying you can’t acknowledge that your WIP is bad while it’s in progress. I do this all the time.

But I don’t let the fact that my book isn’t good yet be a bad thing.It’s simply a fact.

I trust that my book is where it needs to be and that if I keep putting the time in and moving forward, I will end up with a story I’m happy with and that I enjoyed creating.

Focusing on creation and not the result makes it easier to stay in a good mind set.

2) Don’t get caught up in “my book sucks” or “I hate my book”

Living in negativity is a waste of time, and it doesn’t help your book improve.

Instead, take the time to understand exactly what you don’t like so you can fix it. Similarly to the point above, it’s okay to say you don’t like your book, but it’s not okay to wallow in this feeling.

If you can’t get past “this sucks” you might find that the idea working on your project becomes torturous. So instead, try to figure out what the problem is.

Give brainstorming or freewriting a shot. They may help you get to the bottom of your book’s issues.

Also, if you haven’t finished a complete draft yet, try to keep writing until you do–even if you hate your book. For tips on how, check out 6 Tips for Finishing Your First Draft and Stop Editing While You Write. You also might want to take a look at Why Writers Should Embrace Imperfection in Their Writing.

3) Focus on what IS working

Maybe it’s a character, maybe it’s the concept, maybe it’s one scene.

These are places to pull from. These are places to celebrate. Let these areas remind you why you started writing this in the first place. Let these elements inspire the parts of the book that aren’t working yet.

And once you know what areas you like, take the time to figure out why.

Just like understanding what you don’t like can help you fix problems, understanding what you do like can help you appreciate your book and move it in a direction that makes you happy.

4) When someone compliments your work, say thank you

Don’t blow it off or down play their compliment.

Your work mattered to someone. Even if you don’t think it’s your best, that’s something to appreciate.

This doesn’t make you egotistical. It makes you grateful.

I would encourage you to use compliments as a source of inspiration. If your work mattered to someone once, there’s no reason to think it won’t again. I also think allowing yourself to take a compliment will make you feel better about what you’ve written and see your work more positively going forward.

This tip is for the sake of your reader as much as it is for you.

As writers, I think most of us found our way to writing because a story mattered to us at some point.

Personally, I connect with the stories I love deeply. It would gut me if a creator of something I love replied to a compliment by saying, “it was nothing,” or “it could have been a lot better,” or “I’m glad you liked it but I wish some things were different.”

People like things because they connect with them. Don’t dismiss their connection to your work. Say thank you.

I hope this helps you to see your work in a more positive light!

For more on the side effects of negative self-talk, check out this article from VeryWellMind.

Now it’s your turn: Have you ever caught yourself talking bad about your work? How has it influenced your writing, if at all? Tell me about it in the comments!

How to Write an Unlikable Character: 3 Writing Tips

By Meghan 9 Comments

First, what is an unlikable character?

There are probably a few similar definitions out there, but I’ve always thought of them as characters I wouldn’t want to be friends with or invite over for dinner.

Maybe they’re the “mean girl” stereotype, destructive, or self-destructive–whatever the case may be.

The bottom line is, they’re not someone the average person would choose to spend time with if they were to meet in real life.

I’ve seen a lot of talk about unlikable characters in my time as a writer, and it’s something I’ve thought a great deal about.

It’s come up in workshops, in rejection letters, and even in reviews of some quality books. Traditionally, it’s seen as a negative note; “This character is too unlikeable.”

I think there’s a flaw in this note. To me, it seems like it’s missing the true character issue.

I don’t believe characters always have to be “likable” but I do think readers need to either relate to the character or understand why the character acts the way they do.

To me, understanding a character is essential. Relating to them is nice, but I don’t necessarily need that in order to enjoy the story.

How to Write an Unlikable Character: 3 Writing Tips

So, if you’re writing an unlikeable character, or if you’ve ever gotten a “too unlikeable” note, here are three tips to consider:

1) Make sure you understand the motivations of your unlikable character

If you’re writing a character who’s out of control just because that’s how they are, then they’re not going to come across as very believable.

In real life, everybody does stupid things and everybody makes bad decisions. But we always have our reasons.

The same should be true for your character. If your character can’t help but be destructive, there has to be some underlying issue.

It might be inherently psychological or it could be that something happened to make them that way. Either way, you as the writer have to understand why they behave the way they do.

Once you do understand your character’s motivations, make sure you share them with your reader fairly early. I’m not suggesting an info dump in the first chapter or anything like that, but if you want your reader to follow this character, it’s important to get them on the character’s side early.

I would say before the halfway point, your reader should have some understanding of your character’s motives.

2) Give them redeeming qualities

People are very rarely one-sided, so it can be difficult for a reader to understand a character who is.

If you have a character who is constantly making bad or selfish choices, give them another side to complement that.

Maybe their life and relationships are a hot mess but they’re an amazing parent. Maybe they do some immoral actions for the sake of someone worthy. Or maybe they have a big secret they’re carrying around that would in some way explain their actions.

There are a lot of directions you can take this.

If you’re having a hard time, consider what or who your character cares about and why. The “why” might point you in the direction of something redeeming. These traits will make your character more interesting and help to draw your readers in–whether they like them or not.

3) Have at least one character who does understand your unlikeable character

The company you keep says a lot about you, so if you surround your character with good people, or at least one good person, who understand your character, it will create curiosity in your reader.

They too will want to understand the character.

You can also use these people to help explain your character’s struggles. If there are other people in the character’s life who are rooting for them, it will be easier to transfer those emotions to the reader.

However, in order to pull this off believably, you need the elements above to be working as well. If your character has no redeeming qualities or believable motivations, then these understanding characters are going to look like doormats who unnecessarily put up with the unlikeable character.

No one will come across as understandable or relatable, which won’t help your story or your character.

I hope this helps you write your unlikable character!

Now it’s your turn: Have you ever been told you have an unlikable character? Have you ever read a book with an unlikeable character? If you have, did you understand the characters? Do you think this influenced out you thought of the character? Tell me about it in the comments!

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Stop Editing While You Write: 5 Great Writing Tips

By Meghan 8 Comments

It’s important not to edit while you write. In fact, the mantra for every writer in the first or early drafting stages should be, “I’ll fix it later.”

It can be a challenge to keep that in mind, but it’s SO important.

If you’re editing while you write, you’re ultimately getting in your own way. It’s hard to edit a book in progress because you don’t really know what you have yet.You won’t know until you finish your draft.

Every time you stop writing to edit, you’re putting yourself farther from the finish line.

For the purposes of this post, I’m considering “editing” to mean both fixing language/grammar/sentence structure and more substantial plot changes.

Basically, anything that you might stop writing to fix.

Stop Editing While You Write: 5 Great Writing Tips

Here are five tips to help you stop editing while you write:

1) Make a list of problems

This is something I rely heavily on. In the past, one of my biggest excuses to stop writing and edit was, “I need to fix it before I forget.”

But every time I went back to fix something it kept me from moving forward.

Now, I keep a running list of problems so I know what I need to check in on later. I keep bigger, overarching issues in a page on my notebook and more scene or chapter specific issues in the notes section in Scrivener. (If you’re in Word, the comments feature can also help with this.)

This way I only stop long enough to jot down some notes, then I get right back to my word count.

Meghan Rogers shares Stop Editing While You Write: 5 Great Writing Tips - in photo: the right to write written by a typewriter

2) For big changes, pretend you already made them and keep writing

Tell me if this sounds familiar. You’re moving through your books, hitting your word count, then out of the blue, you have a revelation about your project.

And it’s a MAJOR revelation.

One that completely changes the direction of your story, and it impacts things you’ve already written.

Since this revelation is so big, it would be easy to think you need to stop writing, go back, and put the changes in before continuing. But you don’t.

You need to keep moving forward.

Like the point above, all you have to do is take a time out and make notes about the changes you want to make.

Then you keep writing as if you’ve already made them.

Save changing previous writing for after you’ve finished drafting. If you don’t, it can become a domino effect.

Once you make one big change, it won’t be long until you start making others. Keep your eyes on the prize and get to the old stuff later!

3) Remind yourself that it’s supposed to be bad

It’s amazing what changing your way of thinking can do for your writing.

I think one reason a lot of writers have a hard time not editing while writing is that we get too focused on the end result.

When a book’s in its early stages, it is at its worst, so it can be easy to get hung up on how bad it is.

One idea that really helps me manage this is to remember that it’s supposed to be bad right now.

Meghan Rogers shares Stop Editing While You Write: 5 Great Writing Tips - in photo: Writing Tip: It's important not to edit while you write. In fact, the mantra for every writer in the early drafting stages should be, "I'll fix it later."

It’s not called the writing “process” just because it sounds good. It’s actually a process. Your work needs to be bad before it can be good.

So, if you’re in your first or second draft and your book is a hot mess/bad/the-worst-thing-ever-written, then CONGRATULATIONS! You’re doing a good job!! Try to remember that!

Once I got used to the idea that drafting + bad writing = a good job, it became a lot easier to accept and move forward. For more tips on this subject area, I have a whole post on embracing imperfection in your writing.

4) Write each day’s work in a separate document

Or, you can do each chapter/scene if you’d think that’d be best. The ultimate goal here is to put less of your work on your screen at once. There are two ways this can help.

First, sometimes it can be easier to fall into editing when you get stuck drafting. Then you might think, “Well, let me go fix some of the old stuff, so at least I’m doing something.”

And the next thing you know, you’re editing everything and not moving your project forward.

As much as this may feel like progress, it’s not. At least, not at this stage. It’s actually keeping you from finishing your book, which is a problem.

Second, it can also be hard to move on when you feel like what you’ve written so far could be so much better.

And if you’re having a hard time with Tip #3, simply taking the work off your screen might be the way to go. The less previously written work you have access to, the harder it will be to edit.

Meghan Rogers shares a write tip: If you're in your first or second draft and your book is a hot mess/bad/the-worst-thing-ever-written, then CONGRATULATIONS! You're doing a good job.

5) Write on the clock

I did a post a couple of weeks ago that touched on the benefits of writing on the clock and how I use this technique.

The idea is you set a reasonable writing goal to meet in a given amount of time.

As I mentioned in that post, one reason why I love this approach is that it focuses on quantity, not quality, which is important in the drafting stage.

It also makes it easier to push on and get your words down without editing while you write because you simply don’t have time for anything else.

I hope this helps you stop editing while you write!

If you’re looking for more tips like this, you might want to check out this post: 6 Tips for Finishing Your First Draft.

Now it’s your turn: Have you caught yourself editing while you write? If you have, how do you manage it? If you haven’t, what tips can you share? Tell me about it in the comments!

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The Importance of Setting Reasonable Writing Goals

By Meghan 2 Comments

I’ve talked about how to set manageable writing goals before, but I never really got into why setting reasonable writing goals is so important.

Setting reasonable writing goals has been really helpful for balancing my writing life. When I aim too high and don’t meet my goals, I have a harder time functioning outside of my writing.

I feel like my work day isn’t finished until my goals are met and it’s harder to focus on other things when I feel like I should still be working.

Being fully present is just as important to writing as actually writing. It’s what gives us the experiences and emotions that we write about.

Another problem with setting unreasonable goals is how easy it is to fall behind. Once you do, you’re often in a constant state of catch-up, which most likely only makes you fall farther behind.

From there, it can go one of two ways. You either get discouraged and quit, or you get hyper-focused on your goals and other areas of your life suffer as a result.

Neither option is ideal for a happy writing life.

The Importance of Setting Reasonable Writing Goals

Here are some things I (try to) do to set reasonable writing goals:

Meghan Rogers shares reasonable writing goals - in photo: Writing Tip: I'm making a conscious effort to write less daily in the hopes that I'm sharper and more productive when I am writing.

Under-scheduling

This is something new for me. Basically, I’m making a conscious effort to do less work daily in the hopes that I’m sharper and more productive when I am working.

This will ideally make me more productive in the long run because I’m less prone to burnout and my quality of work is better.

This also builds in plenty of time for things not to go as planned, so it’s easier to stay on track. So far I’ve found that this has made me more productive with the time I have and that the quality of my writing has been better than it was when I was scrambling to do as much as possible.

I plan my day the night before

This gives me a realistic sense of my time and a better handle on what I can accomplish within that time.

I schedule everything, from waking up, to getting coffee, doing yoga, writing, appointments, work, travel time, and even watching TV. If I have all of my time accounted for, I can’t afford to procrastinate, which keeps me productive throughout the day.

It’s also nice to see where my time is going and to see if I can sneak more writing time in if I need it.

For example, if I end up on an unavoidable phone call during my writing time, I know I have the window of TV time later in the night to get more work in.

It’s also helped me see how much of time was going to non-essential or repetitive tasks so I can alter my schedule accordingly. Thanks to this, I started batching a handful of daily tasks, which has helped me find more time to write.

Stretch Goals

I’ve mentioned these before. The idea is every day you set a ‘light’ goal that you can guarantee you’ll have time to accomplish. Then, have a stretch goal that you really want to accomplish, but it’s okay if you don’t.

This (ideally) gives you something realistic to work towards while still working to be as productive as possible. This also keeps you from wasting writing time if it turns out you’re super locked in and end up with some extra time on your hands.

It’s a good solution if you’re like me and find yourself getting over ambitious with your goals. This way you can be realistic without selling yourself short.

If I get behind, I don’t try to catch up all at once

Instead, I make a plan to chip away over an extended period of time.

So, if I miss a day of writing, instead of doubling up I’ll add a few hundred words to my daily goals for the next week or so. If I don’t have time to add to my daily goal, I add another day to my overall schedule.

I’d rather be a day late and have something I enjoyed creating than push myself to the point that writing becomes a source of stress. I’ve found this is something my writing benefits from.

If you’re on a tight deadline, this may not be an option. Still, do what you can to distribute your catch up work as evenly as possible.

I imagine when you set your writing goals, you probably did your best to distribute those goals pretty evenly. So why does it make sense to double up just so you can catch up?

Sure, it may take longer for you to feel like you’re caught up, but you’ll get there.

However, if you put too much pressure on yourself to catch up at once, it’s likely that you’ll get overwhelmed or discouraged (or both).

This may make you start to feel like writing isn’t worth all this. Writing is always worth it, but pressuring yourself to write, isn’t.

Do what you can to avoid putting yourself in that kind of situation.

Meghan Rogers shares reasonable writing goals - in photo: Writing Tip: If I get behind on my writing goal, I don't try to catch up all at once, Instead, I chip away over an extended period of time.

My Reality

Setting reasonable writing goals is admittedly a weakness for me. I like to be productive and I always think I can do more than I realistically have time for.

Plus, goals keep me motivated. Whether it’s fixing a scene or hitting a word count, meeting a goal gives me a feeling of accomplishment, even if I don’t like what I wrote that day.

But I also know I’m a better writer when I’m a balanced writer. So, I try to check myself whenever I start to get too caught up in my output and my goal of finishing my project.

These tips have been a huge help in maintaining (or rediscovering) that balance.

I hope this helps you set reasonable writing goals!

Now it’s your turn: How do you set reasonable writing goals? Have you found yourself struggling to meet your goals? If you have, how do you manage it? If you haven’t, what tips can you share?

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How to Create a Novel Revision Plan: 5 Writing Tips

By Meghan 1 Comment

You finished the first draft of your novel! (Yay!!) And it’s probably a hot mess.

The good news is, it’s supposed to be–so you’re doing things right!

As exciting as it is to finish a draft, I know first hand how overwhelming it can be to tackle revision.

Here are some tips that have helped me create quality novel revision plan time and time again.

Pick an approach

Before you get started, I suggest picking an approach for your novel revision plan. The two I’m most familiar with are chapter-by-chapter or storyline-by-storyline. (If you know of more, let me know in the comments!)

I recommend deciding this up front so you can plan and take notes accordingly.

Chapter-by-Chapter

The idea of this approach is that you’ll go through the book sequentially and address all of the problems in an individual chapter at one shot.

So if you realize your character is acting odd, storyline A is weak, and an aspect of storyline B doesn’t make sense, you’ll fix all of these problems in any given chapter before moving on to the next one.

This approach will probably work better for people who prefer to multitask.

Storyline-by-storyline

If you’re less of a multitasker (like me) you might want to give this approach a try.

Instead of juggling multiple problems at once, focus on one problem at a time.

In this case, if you notice your character is acting odd, Storyline A is weak, and an aspect of Storyline B doesn’t make sense, you first go through the book and fix your character in every scene where they are off.

Then you do the same thing for Storyline A, then Storyline B. I

personally prefer this method, but that’s because I know it works for me. If you’ve never tried either, give them both a shot at some point to see what works best for you.

Read your book

Now that you have your approach, take a step back and see what shape your story is in.

It might be tempting to start revising based on how you felt when you were writing, but this is often a bad idea.

Scenes that seemed good as you were writing may need some work for one reason or another, and scenes that seemed bad at the time may be surprisingly good when you read through.

I would recommend giving yourself some time off before you dive in so you can see things with fresh eyes. Shoot for at least a week if you can.

Once you start, don’t make any changes as you read–especially early in the revision process.

Your goal here is to simply see what you have to work with and to identify your novel’s problems.

Document problems as you go on a blank piece of paper. If you’re going chapter-by-chapter, try writing down each chapter number than listing any problems. If you’re going storyline-by-storyline, have a page for each character/storyline, then document page numbers and issues on the appropriate page.

Or figure out some hybrid that works for you (if you’re going with storylines, maybe document issues by chapter then sort them by storyline later).

Again, these are just some suggestions. Only you will know what works for you. Don’t be afraid to adapt these ideas as you see fit.

I suggest keeping these things in mind as you read, then mentally going through each area again once you finish and have a better idea of your complete book.

Consider freewriting

Once you know what your problems are, consider taking some time to work out your solutions in an informal way. This is how I start every brainstorming and revision planning session. I’ve got a whole post with tips and the benefits of freewriting, so I’ll leave it at that for now. 🙂

Address bigger problems first

Now it’s time to actually make your novel revision plan.

No matter which approach you take, I highly recommend addressing the bigger problems first.

The bigger problems require the most work and are easier to manage when more of your book is movable or expendable.

If you take the time to fix the smaller problems first, you may end up having to trash some of your solutions to solve your larger and more detrimental problem. And then you’ll have to go back and re-solve a problem you’ve already given time to. I

n some ways, being a writer is like being a doctor. If a patient comes in with multiple issues, doctors will always treat the most life-threatening problem first because it’s essential to the patient’s survival.

You should treat your book the same way. And if you do, you might even find that your smaller problems solve themselves.

Before you start revising, sit down and plan what problem, specifically, you’re going to tackle first, and exactly how you want to solve it. Then move on to your next problem.

You can apply this no matter if you’re going chapter-by-chapter or storyline by storyline.

Don’t try to fix it all in one round

I know I say this a lot, but it can’t be stressed enough.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by a number of problems in your book, don’t try to fix them all at once.

Use this list as a guide and take them one at a time. You can always make another novel revision plan. There’s no limit to the number of revisions you can do to a book. Make it as manageable as possible and do whatever you have to in order to keep moving forward.

I hope this helps you create your own novel revision plan!

Keep in mind, these are just tips and guidelines that have worked for me. Modifying writing advice to meet your own needs and work style is essential to developing a happy writing life, so don’t be afraid to experiment!

Now it’s your turn: How do you approach revision? Have you tried a novel revision plan before? What works well for you? What have you struggled with? Tell me in the comments!

3 Reasons Not Writing Can Help Your Novel

By Meghan Leave a Comment

I talk a lot on this blog about the importance of making time to write and protecting your writing time. But equally as important is taking the time to not write.

Most writers I know fit writing into a busy life. Maybe you get up early to write before anyone in your house is awake, or maybe you stay up later than anyone to get your words in. Or maybe you write on your lunch break or on your commute.

3 Reasons Not Writing Can Help Your Novel

It can be hard to not write. You set time aside to be productive, so not writing during that time seems like a waste.

It’s also possible you’ve set a deadline for yourself and you think you can’t afford to get behind. But I’ve found that sometimes, taking time away from the page is exactly what I need to take my book to the next level.

No matter when you write or how frequently, giving yourself some time off can be just as important to your finished product as actually writing. Here are some ways not writing has helped me personally:

How your time off writing can help your novel: Writing tip: Taking time to experience the world or take in other forms of creativity helped me write better.

1) It’s refreshed my creativity

You’ve likely heard the saying, “you can’t pour from an empty glass.” This has proven to be true for writing too.

Taking time to experience the world or take in other forms of creativity have often helped me write better.

I have, on more than one occasion, been feeling like my story was boring, unoriginal, or just “off” in some way. Instead of staring at the screen trying to fix it, I’ve gone for walks, called a friend, or fallen down a YouTube hole.

I may not always have a solution when I sit back down to work, but often times, the problem doesn’t seem as big. Typically, this means a solution isn’t too far off.

Other times, taking time to take in another form of art has lead to a story idea of its own.

The ideas for Crossing the Line came when I was watching The Avengers and not actively thinking about writing or creating. The idea for a fantasy series I’m working on came when I was browsing Pinterest for fun.

You really never know when the world will present you with your next great idea. If you don’t spend time away from your writing, you might miss it.

2) It’s led me to a creative solution that had been escaping me

Writers have a habit of overthinking and getting in their own way. Planning time to not write and not think about my story has often allowed ideas and solutions to surface naturally.

For example, I was two drafts into Enemy Exposure when I realized that most of my plot was not working. I struggled with this for a week or two, trying desperately to nail it down, but it just wasn’t coming together.

How your time off writing can help your novel: person watching the television

My deadline was about eight months away, and though I had plenty of time before the book was due, I was now behind schedule.

My sister and I had plans to watch Orphan Black together (I’d seen it but she hadn’t). When the time came to watch the show, a part of me thought I couldn’t afford to take the time away.

But I also knew I’d been thinking this problem to death and I didn’t want to cancel on my sister at the last minute. So kept my plans and put my work aside.

As it turned out, Orphan Black held the key to all of my plot problems. If you’ve seen the show and read Enemy Exposure, you can probably see the influence. Many people have told me they think this book is better than the first, and it wouldn’t exist if I didn’t take time to not write.

3) It keeps burnout at bay

Some people can write every day, but I’ve found when I do, I get fried and unproductive in a little over a week. Six days is my max, then I take a day off.

But even with this schedule, I still feel drained from time to time, and I know if I keep pushing myself through that feeling, it will lead to full-blown burnout.

I’ve learned that I’m better off taking a day or two to watch tv, read, or spend time with friends/family than to force myself to write. I’d rather lose a day or two when I feel burnout coming than a week or two down the line.

Even if you’re someone who can and needs to write every day, it’s still a good idea to step away from your work from time to time.

Even if writing energizes you, consider a few lighter days or a day here and there where you do a different form of creative work.

How your time off writing can help your novel: Writing tip: It may seem like you're "wasting writing time" but you're not. As long as you spend that time in a way that refreshes you, you're not wasting time.

So, how do you find the extra time?

If you can cut something out of your schedule that isn’t writing, do it. But, given how busy most writers are, I realize that may be asking a bit much.

Instead, sacrifice some writing time. I know, this is the opposite of almost every piece of writing advice out there. But it doesn’t have to be a lot of time, and it doesn’t have to be often.

Maybe it’s once a month, or once every other week–whatever you feel like you can do. It may seem like you’re “wasting writing time” but you’re not. As long as you spend that time in a way that refreshes you, you’re not wasting anything.

Part of being a productive writer is taking care of your brain. Not writing is essential to that. If you need some things to do, I have a whole post on How to Declutter You’re Writing Brain.

I hope this gives you a good idea how time off from writing can help you and your book!

If you’re looking for more on this subject, Bustle has an article on the benefits of taking time off from work. I think a lot of this can apply to writers too!

Now it’s your turn: How often do you take time away from writing? What refreshes you when you do? Tell me about it in the comments!