Summer Confession of a Creative

S​o.  At the start of the summer I came to the realization that I only have so much creative juice to work with in a single day. ... 

I had just finished the latest draft of the third Milana Legend, and I was exhausted.  So I actually did the thing I'm always encouraging young writers to do: I printed out the whole thing and stuffed it in the snack cabinet (cause I'm weird like that).  Then I flipped the calendar to September 1 and scribbled, Go back to Milana.

​Then I took a vacation.

​I sketched and painted and played in the sand to my heart's content, and chose not to feel guilty about it.  I worked on something entirely different (Faith & Fairies), much to the delight of my daughters who are too young to read Milana yet.   I have scratched out notes about some family Bible studies that I want to create someday.  I have been playing with making Milana Legends swag (which is fun stuff, like shirts and mugs from the Sandy Turtle Tavern).

​So there.  I confess I haven't worked on that next draft at all.  But before, the part of my brain that edits was running on empty.  Now it's bubbling over again, and I find myself eager for September.

And I just want to encourage you, dear reader: if you have some creative thing that you love, but you find yourself needing a recharge, take heart!  Find the oddest cabinet, shove it in, and give yourself permission to take a rest.  You'll be glad you did.

​After all, even God took a break from His creating, right?