The Break Pays Off With Breakthroughs

It took me a while to decide on a title for this post, but I think this one does it justice. The ten day break between rounds paid off for me this week. I didn’t write at all during the week, but did complete revisions on the first three chapters of Vessel. I also managed a ton of plot breakthroughs on the whole Children of the Sidhe series. The overarching conflict for the series came together in my mind and I worked through some of that in the individual stories as well, especially what it meant for the third novella in the series, Flight, which I’ll draft later this fall.

Yesterday, I wrote 650 words on my urban fantasy work in progress. Today my husband was amazing (as usual, I assure you!) and took the kids to my parents’ for breakfast. Three hours with the house to myself. I wrote 2,350 words, worked out some plot kinks, and cleaned up my manuscript. I also took a long luxurious shower in a quiet, empty house, because I proved this week that breaks pay off. 🙂

Hope you other writers and ROWers are blessed with an active muse this week. Happy writing!

About J.R. Pearse Nelson

J.R. Pearse Nelson is a fantasy and romance writer from Oregon, USA. She lives with her husband and two daughters among the plentiful trees and clouds of the beautiful Willamette Valley. J.R. is always searching for the magic in our world. She weaves tales rooted in mythology, bringing legend to life in modern-day and fantasy settings. J.R. is the author of the Of the Blood fantasy romance series, the Foulweather Twins fantasy series, and the Water Rites fantasy series. You can connect with J.R. and learn more about her fiction at her website. Visit jrpearsenelson.com.

5 comments on “The Break Pays Off With Breakthroughs

  1. Sounds like you’ve been ultra productive. Wow!

    I love the flexible goals of ROW. I also love the fact that we can regularly check in with one another – encourage and be encouraged by our fellow ROWers.

    ’til next time…

  2. Sounds like your first week of this round has been great, I love long showers!

    From your comment on my blog it sounds like you have NaNoed before….any tips would be gratefully recieved!

  3. @Stephanie: I agree, it’s nice to have encouragement, but it also holds me more accountable than I can manage by myself. Nice balance, and fun, too!

    @Em: My piece of NaNo wisdom is not to waste a single second beating yourself up. It only gets you off track. Single-minded determination is the way to get through. Of course, there are also practical strategies like stocking your freezer with wholesome made ahead meals for when you really need to get back to writing. And scheduling plenty of writing time — like twice as many blocks as you usually have. Sometimes it feels really good to blow off your scheduled work in a high-pressure situation. That’s insane, I know, but I know myself well enough to plan for blowing off a couple of days. I also like self-bribery. I tell myself I can have that mocha if I go back to my machine and do another 1,000.

  4. You did a little bit of updating to your profile, didn’t you? Good job!

    Yay for awesome husbands, wow to your word count, and good luck with your goals! I’m looking forward to reading Vessel at Christmas (if not sooner? :).

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