Taking A Break

Asleep at computer
Shanghai killer whale [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]
From about 2014 to now, I’ve been working almost constantly on the Compact Universe. As of right now, two story arcs, a prequel, and 2/3 of the Amargosa Trilogy are complete. All of the final arc stories have been or are in beta, and I’ve reread Storming Amargosa twice now.

My brain is tired.

I’m still working on a detective novel, but I’ve decided to pause on revisions of existing work. With Storming, the series has hit a logical stopping point. I’m about to go on vacation in a couple of weeks, which means I have to stop whatever I’m working on anyway. And frankly, my brain needs some downtime.

So what will I do if I’m not rereading my own work and doing revisions? Read.

Over the last two years, I’ve struggled to find time to read for reading’s sake. I’ve been reading Leviathan Wakes, the first Expanse novel, and it’s taken me months to get through it. It used to be I could get through a book that long in a week or two. I just need to let my brain decompress.

We take vacations from our jobs. Academics take sabbaticals. The idea is to stop and recharge the batteries. Why should writers not do the same?