E.T.C

E.T.C. = End of Thinking Capacity

This is kinda me right now. I’ve been working solidly on the same book for two years, developing it for eight and I’m wrung dry.

I wrote to one of my mentors, who has been published for the last twenty-five years and she said ‘It’s absolutely fine to have a break in between drafts!’ Man, those were sweet words! I think I had the false belief that if I stopped, I’d be doing myself & my progress a disservice. Then, just to make sure that advice was actually sound—I emailed my other mentor. You know, second opinion and all that! He said the same thing. In fact, he told me he was on a break from something he’d just written! Phew!

This helped me realise that it’s okay to reach the end of your thinking capacity on a particular project. Time and space are a necessity for creative endeavours. And a momentary pause, doesn’t mean it’s the end. For me, all this is a long, drawn out deep breath before I tie up my shoelaces again and shout ‘ONWARD!’

By the way, this hasn’t meant that I’ve stopped. By no means! I have three other writing projects on the go and it’s been amazing—since stopping one, the others have flowed so well. So, brain breaks are good, a necessity, but it doesn’t have to be over when you’re at your E.T.C.