The day I took a break from writing

I for one have never believed in writer’s block– up until this moment. For the past 3 months, I seem to have written non-stop, jumping from one job to the next, ghost writing and editing like I was this unstoppable genius. Well, I sure thought I was! With gusto, I kept on moving at the speed of light…

And then a job comes that makes my mouth get dried up of all those accolades which I’ve been feeding myself with.
Writer of life!
Inspiration mama!

Writer for Africa!

Nah, I wasn’t moved by writing in this instant. What have I done within these three months that had led up to this moment?
Right now, all I wanted to do was mindless stuff, like go to the movies, hide under my duvet; basically stay at arms’ length from writing. As hard as it was for me to accept it, yes I was having Writer’s block, but my own special type of it- one which I call ‘Writer’s fatigue’. (Just because I like to feel special)
I had written so much that I had overstretched my capacity at least that was what I could make of it.
How will I deal with my writer’s fatigue?
Ok, I think the whole ‘writer’s fatigue’ thing has been building up till this moment. It didn’t start today, and even when I tell myself that it just started I know it’s not true. So here’s what I plan to do:
1. Evaluate myself
My kind of person is one who puts my all into a project or any other thing which I lay my hands upon. I immerse myself into a project and then, I have to step back for rejuvenation. However within the last three months, I haven’t really been getting ‘off time’. Now, I might have gotten more money, but I am still short-changing myself. Even if that’s like a hard pill to swallow, I just have to gulp it down- because it’s the gospel truth.
2. Do something ‘stupid’
Again, I fall under the category of individuals who are super goal-oriented. We set targets and all hell breaks loose if we don’t meet them. It feels like we get a certain high from meeting our goals. Simply put, we are those people who are always doing ‘something’ and never doing ‘nothing’.
When I talk about doing something ‘stupid’, it really doesn’t have to be something out rightly ‘stupid’. It just means getting involved in what you wouldn’t ordinarily do- something which other people wouldn’t mind doing, but would be surprised to see you doing. Whatever that is for you: seeing a movie, oversleeping, going for a comedy show, going for a boat ride- just do it. (P.S: Don’t ask me which version of ‘stupid’ I’m going to be within the next few days. I plan to keep it private)
3. Read a Book
We all know that reading and writing go hand in hand; and that great readers make great writers. I am such a sucker for reading good books, but I am so guilty of not having read enough within those months of ‘over-writing’. If anything would help make me come back to writing with zeal, it should be reading, and so…I would get a good book, and just revel in the plot and nuances of the author, and craft my own stories in my head along the way (hopefully).
4. Talk, talk, talk
I am not a talker, I am a writer. In fact, one major issue I might have with friends is that while they pour out their minds to me, I’ll probably just stay there, nodding my head and inserting ‘Ohs’ and ‘Ahs’, as if those were the key words in the conversation. Well…except for a few people to whom I bare my heart.

Which brings us back to this statement: I am not a talker, I am a writer. A little part of it, well, I think is quite selfish because when I’m talking to someone, I can’t predict how long that individual’s response would be (and thus, how much of this response would eat into my time!), but when writing, I don’t expect my computer screen or my pen to talk back at me…so, easy way out.
Maybe if I connected more with people by talking to them, instead of just observing them and gaining inspiration from my observations, I would be able to get even more inspiration from actually making conversations. Just random thinking, but who knows? Trust me, if the talk part doesn’t work, I will withdraw back into my shell (is that good or bad?).
5. Do Nothing

Yes. I will actually stay under my duvet and do nothing, just lie there and let time pass. I don’t know if this is therapeutic, but this is the logic behind me doing nothing: instead of documenting my thoughts per second on paper or typing them out, what if I just let them float in my head? There’s the random chance that I might get a brilliant idea while doing nothing, but then, I could document that briefly and resist the urge to write an entire chapter of it, and then go back to you guessed right, doing nothing.
These are my random ramblings from the day I decided to take a break from writing.

Hello fellow writers, I would appreciate comments on how to deal with writer’s fatigue, and how you have successfully handled any such circumstances within your ‘writing life span’!

Thanks (Expectant)!