The Need for Play as Part of the Writing Process by Jeanette Watts
Writers tend to be driven. The fact that we think other people want to hear what we have to say gives us a certain…what do we call it? Arrogance? The fact that we are sharing our stories because we want to help people gives us the opposite at the same time: a sense of humility, an obligation to our fellow human beings. So, it seems fair to say that we writers are complicated. Then, add the fact that it is very, very difficult to get all the words on the page – the RIGHT words, which means lots of agonizing over the right words, then work with editors to make sure they are the perfect words. Getting those right words into people’s hands is a VERY difficult process.
All of this reinforces my first statement. Writers tend to be driven.
Writing takes so much work, so much time. How often do writers have other jobs? How often is the writing in progress part of a push to supplement another business?
The problem with all this work…when do you get a mental break?
I don’t care WHAT you’re writing. Writing is a creative process. The creative process requires the last thing writers have time for: play.
So, you have a job, a business, perhaps kids, and this book you are trying to write. When do you get to play? You don’t have time to play – you have to stare at this blank sheet of paper/laptop or computer screen until drops of blood form on your forehead. Or you’ve got the outline done, or the first chapter, but you have hundreds of hours of writers’ block to get in if you’re going to stay on schedule.
My advice: before your head explodes, step away from it. Go play. What is your definition of play? It’s not the same for any of us. For me, it’s dancing, it’s playing dressup, it’s going on a tour of a historic home built in 1872. (I actually started a YouTube Channel, “History is My Playground,” to share my playtime exploits.) For my husband, it’s playing Dungeons and Dragons. For my best friend Bunny, it’s board games. For so many people, it’s travel. What is better for clearing the brain than a road trip? But then not EVERYONE likes travel, and yoga makes a better mental vacation.
Regardless of preferred mode of recreation, it’s important for the writing brain to take a break. Not just a coffee break, or a nap; create a chance to engage with a different part of the brain. Even changing what you read can create new kinds of stimulation. While I was writing Wealth and Privilege, I stopped reading anything else that wasn’t part of my research, because I wanted to make good progress on the book. But I got bogged down (and first books are the hardest to write), and was feeling less inspired. When I took a break and read for pleasure, things went much better!
So: to keep a productive writing schedule, be sure to schedule playtime where you don’t think about your writing. At all. Let the writing part of your brain get some sleep once in a while.
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