by Elton Gahr

Created on: March 27, 2009

Sitting down to write is something that I look forward to I plan my day so that I have time every day to put down a few thoughts. This helps to clear my head, relieve stress and put everything else in my day into focus. Yet not long after I sit down to write I often find myself checking my Facebook page, my email, my phone and a hundred other little tasks that have little or nothing to do with my writing.

Turning off all those things is of course important but before you do make a plan. Studies show that the natural human attention span is a maximum of twenty minutes and after that, no matter how much a person may enjoy the task or struggle to focus your mind will begin to stray. This may only last a few seconds but in my experience those moments of inattention grow longer and longer as I continue to try to focus.

This bring me to the heart of the question. When should you take a break from writing? And the answer seems simple enough. Why fight yourself? No matter if you write for fun or money once your attention begins to slip it is time to stop for a moment. In these moments it is tempting to check your email and then get back to writing but I have found that I think and focus much better if I instead do something physical. A short walk will clear my head and actually speed up the writing when i get back so that often I am ahead rather than behind because of the breaks.

This isn't the only time to take a break though. Sometimes the need for a break comes not because you are losing focus but because of something more diabolical. Writers block. There are many types of writers block but the one that I most often find myself in is the middle of the story I don't know where to go from here block(I'm looking for a shorter name if anyone knows of one).

Typically this type of writers block comes from the a subconscious, or sometimes conscious understanding that the story can't go where I want the way i want and still make any sense. Perhaps it is because the character that I have writer wouldn't do what I need, or there is no logical way to save the character. It is at this time that i find that taking a break often helps solve the problem. If this is really a subconscious understanding that the story won't work then focusing on something else will allow my mind to work through it. Sometimes it finds a solution and other times you find that when you come back you are comfortable with the understanding that the last two thousand words you wrote are just going to have to go or the story ending is going to have to change. The solution isn't the point though, the point is that fighting with the answer at your computer screen isn't the best solution, the best solution is to take a break and come back fresh.

A third important time to take a break from writing is when your friends and family begin to forget who you are. Writing for some of us can be an obsession something that expands to take up any space alloted to it and still wants more. Not only is variety the spice of life, but it is important. You can't write about life if you don't have one. Take as many breaks from writing as it takes to find balance in your life.

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