Blogging Insights NF # 65 — Holidays for writers/bloggers?
“A writer never has a vacation. For a writer life consists of either writing or thinking about writing.” – Eugene Ionesco
When I was writing professionally, I needed a periodic break from the stuff I was paid to write, but very often that break involved writing what I wanted to write as opposed to what I was paid to write. Huge difference!
Writing is not labor for me. While it has sometimes been a job that earned me a salary, writing for myself was always the kernel of who I am. Now that I no longer earn a living as a writer, I enjoy writing more than ever. No boss looking over my shoulder and no deadlines to meet. The absence of a boss and deadlines is such a relief after years of feeling as if I was constantly under the gun.
I’m pretty sure that unless you are earning your living as a working writer, writing is like breathing.
Writing is not what we do. It’s who we are.
Share this:
Categories: #Blogging, #Work, #Writing, Anecdote, Vacation, Words
SERENDIPITY: SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
Writing is second nature to me! I love it!
LikeLike
More than anything else, that basic urge to keep writing is what makes you a writer. It may not make you the greatest writer ever, but I’m not sure anyone has ever been voted the greatest writer ever.
LikeLike
Well said Marilyn
LikeLike
I think this is why writers keep pushing out material long past the time when everyone is retired. It’s not work. It’s just what they do. I’m not sure what else I would do with my time if I didn’t write.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That being said, I believe that anyone involved in art, and writing IS a task and an art, needs to take a break. In the words of Adrian Monk, “it’s a gift.., and a curse”. My profession is often referred to, overall” as “Recording Arts”, and it is to an extent. I love doing it but there are times when I just have to take a step back from a project to let my ears recover, as well as my mind. When I return I often find I’ve missed something and the time away allows me to address that. I am forever grateful for those breaks as it helps improve my product.
LikeLiked by 1 person
When it isn’t a “job”, writing doesn’t feel like work. It’s an entirely different experience. I LOVE not having a boss OR a deadline.
LikeLike
Oh yes, writing is not work, specially when we aren’t under any pressure to write.
LikeLike
When I was working and writing for a living, I was glad for vacations, but that didn’t mean I didn’t write. I just didn’t write manuals. I wrote things I wanted to write. It’s a very different experience when you aren’t under a deadline or with a micromanager boss.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yes, I can understand that so well.
LikeLike
I also like to write, which actually got better when I took a Grammar & Punctuation class while working at ASU which enabled me to write like I think.., like I speak. What saved me is that I will only write when something inspires me. Of course that spares me having something to say about everything.., and then I will have time to observe many things before the next burst of inspiration. I really admire my friend Marilyn who has so much to say about so many things. We’ve actually had fights…uh… heated discussions about some of those things. We’re both pretty opinionated at times.
LikeLike