Zen and the art of writing by Abie Longstaff

It's a funny business, this writing lark.

One moment you can be feeling low and convinced you'll never write again (see my previous, miserable post). The next moment you can be sitting on a fantastic new book deal (yay! More detail to come...)

I guess the trick (which I still haven't learned) is to simply enjoy the quiet periods: take some time off, see family and friends, play, draw, rest, shop - whatever your brain needs to recharge.

In my busy times I work hard. I write while juggling children and a day job, and my writing moments are snatched from my daily life. I write on the tube, in my lunch break, at gymnastics pick-up, in the queue at the supermarket; wherever I can. It's often frenetic; dashing home to scribble a plot down before I forget it, or getting up early to write character notes before I set off for work.

The last couple of months my work has been quieter. After the initial panic of eek! what shall I do? I settled into a slower routine. I started to play a bit more, draw a bit more and take longer over my plots and characters.

I've also caught up on all my boring admin,

been to France to visit my parents,




seen a wonderful exhibition of picture books,



done lots of lovely walking,



sketching,




and spent proper time with the kids. All of which has helped me recharge ready for the frantic writing ahead.

It's reminded me of Jane's lovely post on composting

http://picturebookden.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/ideas-composting-by-jane-clarke.html

where she wrote about taking the time to let ideas grow. All that time recharging has brought loads of ideas to the surface, ideas that are ready to grow into books.

Next time things are quiet, instead of panicking, I'm going to tell myself to enjoy the peace and use the time to recharge.