A Day in the Life: Breaking the Rules

My name is Stephanie Rowe and I'm a write-a-holic.

Translation: I have to write every single day or I become a raging crazy woman who drives my family mad.

Some authors say that in order to become a real writer or to get published, you must force yourself to write every single day, even if it's five minutes. Never, ever, ever, take a day off.

Well, that's great advice for people who have discipline issues, but that's not me. I push myself so hard until I crash and find myself prostrate on the asphalt too exhausted to get out of the way of an oncoming log truck. It's not just that I'm a workaholic, it's also because I am simply a better person to be around if I'm writing every day.

But I need to learn to pace myself. I need to learn to take Sunday afternoons off guilt-free (guilt-free is the tough part). Or a Tuesday evening. Or anything! Well, once again, I didn't. I've been pushing so hard for the last month, then I finished my revisions at 11:30 Friday morning, then packed my car and rushed off to a conference, and now I'm fried. Done. Finis. Kaput.

I need (gasp!) a day off, and (even bigger gasp!) I'm taking it! So there! I feel so delightfully delinquent, daring to not write and not feel guilty about it. I'm not even going to do email or anything! I'm simply going to shut down my computer and call it a day! I'm so bad and I love it! Hmm... what to do... I think I'm going to purge my office so I don't have to wade to my desk anymore. I'm feeling the need to de-clutter my life and what better place to start than the place where I spend most of my time?

Know yourself. If you're the type to procrastinate, take the "write ever single day" advice and live by it. If you're like me, force yourself to take breaks and enjoy life every so often!

So, I'm breaking the rules. I'm taking a day off, and I'm not feeling one bit guilty!

posted by Stephanie Rowe @ 11:28 AM