Making the Most Out of Your Vacation from Writing

For the past week I've had a plethora of guests in my home and writing has been a big no-go. Whether it's because I was trying to squeeze every last second out of our time together, we were all running about to the beach or other attractions, or I couldn't get into the right head space to churn out some words, I got very little done. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, of course. Taking a break from your work, from ALL of your work, can be quite the opposite. I'm not only ready and inspired to start writing again, but excited about it.

This isn't all to say I did nothing over the course of the past week, though. When we planned to have everyone come stay, I knew I would not have hours a day to devote to writing. In fact, I assumed I wouldn't write a word. But then I decided I would not look at this as a hindrance, but as an opportunity. I was about the spend a week with a group of people who I rarely interacted with and did not see live and in-person save for once a year.

I was about to see a bunch of potential characters audition for my next book.

I pretty much keep to myself. I imagine most writers are like this. It's probably how we all got this way! Besides my husband, I don't talk with a whole lot of people. It's exhausting and anxiety inducing, and I'd rather avoid it as much as I can. Unfortunately, without interacting with people, learning how we all communicate and the differences between us, all of my characters will be the exact same person, won't they? So I decided to use my husband's family's vacation to do mini character studies of them as the week went on. They were trapped in my house, after all; they couldn't help but be observed.

I felt a bit like what I imagine a psychologist feels like. Why does he say that? What makes her feel that way? Why is this four year old so interested in pretending to be a dog? I looked at how they held silverware and wore their hair and said good morning, and I tried to put meaning behind everything. I asked them questions and listened to their stories and tried to piece together how they got to this point in their lives.

Then I found myself equating them with my existing characters. How like my brother-in-law is my character Jack (name pending, will most likely change) already? My brother-in-law (BIL) may be in his first year of college and Jack may have recently been broken of a hypnotic spell and run away, but they are both embarking on new experiences where they are on their own for the first time in their lives. They're both young, male, heterosexual, cisgendered, naive, curious, ambitious. So I began to apply some of BIL's traits to Jack, imagining how Jack would do a thing, and then being pleasantly surprised to see BIL do that thing in the same way. It was like watching Jack come to life before my eyes.

Now, I know Jack will change as his story unfolds, and he will slowly drift further and further away from BIL's character, but I feel closer to Jack now and more confident to put his actions and words into writing. I have a more solid jumping off point, and that is a wonderful feeling.

So despite that I typed up very few lines (I did get some!) over the past week, I still made progress. Of course, I wouldn't suggest forgoing your precious time with your family to psychoanalyze them, but if you're anything like me (and if you're a writer, I bet that you are), you'll probably find yourself doing the same thing.