Yes, another absence from this blog. It was completely unintentional this time around. After I finished NaNoWriMo in two weeks (I’m still amazed I actually “won” after a couple of years of trying..), my creativity just shut down. The last thing I wanted to do was write. I had these great plans to get back to the w.i.p I set aside for NaNoWriMo and finally finish the sucker. Has it happened? Nope. I have worked on it a bit, but it’s still sitting at a lovely 55,000 words. Not bad really. I’m almost there, but the idea of finishing that right now just wasn’t on my radar.
Neither was blogging, to be perfectly honest. I guess I had to take a step back and take a “vacation” from writing completely. For anyone who hasn’t done NaNoWriMo, you can’t really understand how much it takes out of you. For me, all I did was write. I think I took two days off in the two week span that it took for me to get to 50k words., and that wasn’t even because I wanted to. I just had other things to do. Did I end up wearing myself out during that time? Probably. Do I regret it? Absolutely not.
Yes, NaNoWriMo caused me to take some time out to take a break from writing afterwards. But I’ve also learned new things about me as a writer and that’s the most important lesson I could ever take away from something like that. I wouldn’t trade that in for anything.
It’s okay to take a step back and collect your thoughts. It’s okay to take a break from your writing when you feel like you can’t write anymore. Don’t push it. Just let it flow naturally. If your brain is tired and is screaming for relaxation, do what it says. You will thank me later. 
Oh, and congratulations to all of the fellow NaNoWriMo “winners” out there! Great job on getting to that glorious 50k finish line! I’ll also say great job to everyone who participated. Whether you won or didn’t, pat yourself on the back for at least trying!
In other “news”, it’s come to my attention that I have received a few blog awards. Thanks to those who have given them to me. I’ll start handing them out to others in tomorrow’s post! If I don’t forget… Knowing me, that may happen.
Congrats on your Nano win Melissa. I was in the same exhaustion boat. I “won” Nano in the full 30 days (I paced myself), wrote a blog post about it and then set aside the writing. 9 days later I still haven’t written a single word of fiction… but the urge to create is back now so it won’t be long. Everyone creates on their own timetable, I guess.
Good luck!
NaNo left me with weeks of typos and stream of consciousness sentences.
It was my first. This period, the period after, will affect my decision whether to do it again. Good luck getting back. Congratulations! Robin
Breaks aren’t bad though. Sometimes we need them to recharge. I’m thinking about taking a break from my blog and twitter. It’s just stressing me out too much, and I want to just focus on writing and not promotion or any of that crap for the moment.
you are so right… I still feel like I haven’t slept since Oct 31! For me I now feel like I can write…faster that is. understanding that I was finding a million reasons to delay writing ie Researching.. So NaNo was a great thing.
Congratulations on winning!!!
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I’ve been blogging but I haven’t even wanted to think about writing fiction since December 1st. You are a beast for finishing in 2 weeks!
Thanks.
I’m not sure I would recommend finishing in two weeks. I’m still exhausted and creatively drained, but it was still fun. I’ll probably do NaNo next year. Maybe.
What is this contest all about Melissa? I liked your blog, I feel you should write a bit too often.