Happy Holidays

As we approach the holiday season, I am reminded of the holidays we’ve left behind us; namely the summer holidays. When we (writers, authors etc...) go on holiday somewhere with sun, sea and sand, do we relax as much as we should or not? I know what I’m like, I’m always coming up with stories that could be based in these foreign climes; taking notes about language, culture and other foreign stuff that I wouldn’t have thought about sitting at my desk at home. I don’t mean to presume that all people holiday in exotic locations, maybe you like to holiday at a damp train-spotting campsite. But while there, do you switch off, or like me do you keep your brain ticking over with novel ideas?

If I’m correct, then when do we actually get a holiday? When do we get time off? It’s not like working for a company where one would receive paid holidays, time off comes at a cost. We earn from our writing, if we stop writing, even for a week, then we lose part of our earnings. I don’t mean that we have to be typing the story out, I’m including just thinking about the story in this situation. All the planning, the research and the editing are part of what we do, to truly have a holiday, we must refrain from doing any of it.

If any of you are reading this that are not writers, then you might think that switching off completely is easy, but I’m sure I speak for most professional writers when I say we can’t switch off. It’s what we talk about most of the time and think about all of the time. So going back to the original question, when do we writers get a holiday? I’m sure there are those of you out there who can manage it, and if that’s true then please let me know your secret, I would love a holiday where I don’t see the scenery and write down its effects so to accurately describe it in my next novel.

Let me know what you think. Read, follow, comment and enjoy. M x