What A Writer Needs, Part 13 – Just Breathe

Courtesy of AboutLandscaping.com

Have you been writing like a maniac unleashed?  I have, not always organized, but definitely unleashed.  The thing with being so focused, so plugged in, so entrenched in the world you’re creating is that you forget to breathe.

At times, it’s good to just take a day off.  Do something to soothe your fevered brow–something restful, peaceful, calming.

Why is this necessary?

When we are involved with our own characters and their world, we step out of ours.  It’s refreshing and invigorating to go out with friends, visit family, or just go to the movies.  Today I visited one of my daughters and paused as I was leaving.  Her white lilac bush was in full bloom.  She has lived there for two years, and I never noticed the lilacs before.

I paused to breathe in their heavenly scent.  It’s the moments like that which add sweet endearing details to our lives and the stories we create.  Recently I was reading Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris.  There was this part where Sookie is driving in the car and singing with the radio.  Sookie admits to herself that she can’t sing.   That one sweet moment endeared the character of Sookie Stackhouse to me all over again.  The way to write such moments for our characters is to live them.

Tomorrow leave the house and just breathe.

–Susan

Susan Hanniford Crowley

http://www.susanhannifordcrowley.com

Filed under: Characters, Emotions, Helping Other Writers, problem-solving, stress, writing, journal, diary, resolve, worked, relax., romance, romance novels, Settings, Susan Hanniford Crowley, True Blood, What A Writer Needs, Writer's Life, Writing Topics