When I first started writing, it was purely for the pleasure of writing. As time went on, writing became a passion more than a hobby. Writing stopped being something I did to relax in the evening and became something I had to do. There was no gun to my head, no deadline I was staring down, but an internal imperative pushed me back to the keyboard and left me feeling incomplete if I did not make that time.
As much as I love writing, I still need a break from it from time to time.
Now, I work a day job and have plenty of time when I’m not writing. Even when I’m at home, I can’t always dive straight into my current WIP. Being a husband and dad of three means my time is not always my own. Cooking dinner, taking care of pets, checking homework, and more keeps me away from the keyboard more often than not, so I take my writing time seriously, and when I need a break from it I usually fill the same time slot with my other hobby activities.
So, what do I do when I need a break from writing?
My first choice is painting miniature figures. If you are familiar with Dungeons & Dragons or other tabletop games, you know all about the miniatures used for keeping track of your characters or the monsters that are being faced. As a lifetime DungeonMaster I paint more monsters than anything, but I also paint miniatures for other games such as Battletech. But I also paint miniatures that will never see the tabletop, because I do them just for my own enjoyment.
Something about the hyperfocus of painting allows me to detach my thinking from all of the writing work I have to do or the dead end I have written myself into. For those precious hours it is all about the colors and bringing something else to life. When I am done, I feel a bit recharged and ready to tackle my writing again. A good painting session can descramble my brain enough that I can get myself out of whatever jam I find myself in.
Lately, I’ve felt a bit guilty about the time I spend on painting because I have so much writing I need to get done as self-imposed deadlines get closer, and I know it will be a struggle to get the work done. I sit down to paint and I almost stop myself, but I keep at it because I know I need it.
Recently, I went to Ret-Con, and during one of the panels, a panelist said that you don’t have to write every day to be a writer (we’ve all heard that little fallacy now, haven’t we?) because it is not all about getting words on a page. Sometimes you will spend your writing time thinking about a scene, looking for inspiration, or finding ways to recharge. They mentioned painting, photography, and jewelry making as other creative acts that may be just as important to your writing as banging away on the keyboard.
It was like a bomb went off in my brain. Painting was not just an escape from writing, a necessary distraction, it was part of my process. Diving into creating something else fed into the creativity of my writing, not something I needed to feel guilty about. Rather than feeling like I was letting myself down by taking the time to paint, I started looking at it as an important part of my process. Maybe it’s not right for everyone, but for me it was the perfect release and I have given myself permission to make time for it, no matter what.
I guess what I am trying to say is that it is important to take breaks from your writing, especially when the stress levels are high. I’m not saying you should use your hobbies as an excuse to avoid your responsibilities, but you might just find that taking that break to pursue your hobbies will make writing more pleasurable in the long run. When I sit down to write, I want to enjoy it as much as I did when I was writing as a hobby, so I let my other hobbies help me get there.
So, find something that energizes you when you need to take a break from writing, and you’ll be happy you made it a part of your process.
A Murder of Wizards: Apocalypse Rising Year Two Armageddon Angels
Book Three
Eric Swett
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Haileybug Publishing
Date of Publication: 12/9/23
ISBN: 979-8867576660
ASIN:B0CN7HJCGN
Number of pages: 251
Word Count: 95,789
Cover Artist: Eric Swett
Tagline: The Grim Reaper looks for a serial killer who is ritually murdering wizards and taunting them in the process. He needs to find the killer and stop him before his plot comes to a disastrous conclusion.
Book Description:
Apocalypse Rising: A Murder of Wizards is an Urban Fantasy about a fallen Angel named Justin. He just happens to be one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Grim Reaper himself, Death.
Two years have passed since he remembered who he was and what he is. He is regaining abilities and memories he lost when he chose to fall to earth and live among humans, but he has a long way to go before he can fully reclaim his title. When Justin is asked by a friend to investigate a string of supernatural murders he can't say no. Justin discovers he has a connection to the murders and has to find the murderer before their plans come to fruition.
Excerpt:
“Don’t look.” Justin turned and pulled Lilly to him. He tried to shield
her from the gore splattered about the alley. The copper stink of fresh blood
assaulted them as they stood across the street from the scene. As the Grim
Reaper, eons of death dulled the impact for Justin. He wanted to keep Lilly
from it if possible.
“I can’t.” Lilly looked away, but it did not help. Despite being blind,
the murder shone in vivid technicolor to her. Being Justin's Oracle gave her
sight far beyond what any normal person enjoyed.
The pull of death drew her attention, and in her mind's eye, the scene
coalesced as clearly as if she stared at it. The violence and butchery lit the
aura surrounding the dead body in angry tones of black and red that shone like
a spotlight upon the murder.
She placed her hand over her mouth to keep from vomiting.
The splayed open corpse's entrails hung about the alley. The smashed
kidneys hung from the side of a dumpster. The lungs sat in a pile against the
alley wall. The liver dripped blood into a shallow pool beside the corpse. The
buzzing of flies grew louder as the dead man's evacuated bowels drew them to
the feast.
The callous mess made of another human left her uneasy.
She wanted to block it out, bury her head in Justin’s chest, and flee
the scene. She tried to look away, but ancient instinct forced her to bear
witness to the death of a fellow human. Her instincts buzzed with warning. Her
palms sweated, and her lips trembled. A predator lurked nearby, and she needed
to be aware.
“Lilly.” Justin put an arm around her shoulders and turned her back to
the horrific scene playing out in the alley. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
Justin wanted to go home and leave it all behind them. Lilly wanted to
know what happened and needed him to tell her so she did not have to face it
alone. The closer they got to it, the more apparent the full extent of the
horror became.
“What…what is it? What happened, Justin?” Lilly held onto him tightly,
seeking comfort in his strength.
He apprised the situation with a practiced stare. His experience on
earth gave him some insight, but his familiarity with death brought everything
into focus. He scratched at the stubble on his chin as he considered the dead
man. “Looks like a sacrifice of some sort, a ritual, but not one I’ve seen
before. Doesn’t appear demonic, but it could be part of a summoning. Maybe
something geographical...”
“Can we go? I don’t like the way this feels. There is something wrong about
this. I can't put my finger on it, but there is something dark here. It's
tickling my senses, tempting me, drawing me toward it like an inevitable
conclusion.” She turned her back on the scene and shuddered.
“Huh? Oh. Yeah, sure. Let’s get out of here.” Justin guided Lilly away
from the murder. Justin held her hand gently as they walked. “Sorry about that.
Hazard of the profession. As the Angel of Death, I've seen a lot of corpses.
It’s not every day you come across something this unusual.”
Eric Swett is a husband and father. He has a beautiful wife named Tracy and three fabulous children (Zachary, Connor, and Kaitlyn). Between the four of them, he has absolutely everything he really needs in this world. If everything else went away and he still had them, he could die and count himself a fortunate man.
He works in IT, streams video games, and dabbles in 3D printing.
He is a self-proclaimed Geek and does not adhere to a single form of geekdom. He likes roleplaying games, tabletop games with painted miniatures, video games, comic books, science fiction and fantasy, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Doctor Who.
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