The weekend without writing

I was reading this writer's blog today and came across this line: "A week without writing has been torturous."

I can totally relate, but in the sense of 2 days, not 7

That's right: I haven't been writing for 2 days. GAH!

After I finished a book on Friday, I wanted to take a break from working on my books this weekend. (Partly because I had SEVERE writer's cramp!) True, I have blogged, sent emails, and wrote up a grocery list. But there was NO WORK done on any of my books and NO escaping to the world of fiction to write up a story or such. No poems, either.

I made it a point to ensure I didn't do any writing work at all this weekend, but it's been really hard. I've got short story ideas crammed together in my head. I've got ideas for one of my book projects I want to try out. And ideas for poems to write. Plus, I need to get back to work on the haunted houses book! (Sorry for the hold-up, Martha.) I was practically crawling out of my skin to WRITE SOMETHING!

And not just a grocery list or blog post.

But I was determined to stick to the "no writing this weekend" rule. I tried to concentrate on other things. Catching up on watching movies. Taking my daughter to the park to play baseball. Catching up on reading books. Going shopping. Cleaning up the backyard. Catching up on old emails. Surfing the Web. Hanging out.

In other words, getting myself back into the REAL world!

Admittedly, part of my determination not to write this weekend came from guilt. As I neared the end of the book I just finished, I was SOOO consumed with it. My other projects did get worked on here and there, but not as much as before. I didn't spend as much time with my daughter as I normally do. I slept, ate and breathed my book. And I just felt really guilty for letting it be this HUGE THING hanging over me for that final week I worked on it. I know it's not good to be so obsessed with work, but sometimes I do get like that.

And I just needed time away from it all afterwards. This HUGE load was finally off of my shoulders. I wanted to relax and just NOT be a writer for a couple of days. I wanted to be Mom again. I wanted to be just plain ol' Dawn again. Not Dawn Colclasure, the writer. Or Dawn Colclasure, the author. I wanted to be Dawn Wilson, the wife and mother, again.

But like I said, it has been hard. I have wanted to write SOOO bad! And it hasn't been easy sticking to my self-imposed exile from writing.

But, I am optimistic. I will see this ban through. And, there is another plus: At least by the time Monday gets here, I'll be able to charge back into the writing work full steam ahead!