Seven Sensible Steps to Success As an Author
Step 6 (continued): Taking a break

The second draft usually takes me three or four months to complete. But before getting down to it, I generally take a break of at least several weeks from the work.

Indeed, I will often do so at the mid-way point of a long and time-consuming book.

Like a baker’s loaf, I put the typescript aside and cover it over – to give the yeast time to prove itself, and see if it will rise...

Put it in the oven to cook for a while, if I may extend the metaphor, and discover if the bread tastes as well when I come back to it in the morning.

For me, this short break gives the mind time to rest – to smell the roses, as they say – and to review the book at some leisure without the urgency of the original creative impetus.

It's extraordinary how very worthwhile it can be.

Next: the wonderful wells…

Photos:

Bread in oven, by Jean-Bernard Vuille. Wikimedia Commons.

Rosa Gold Glow, by Stan Shebs. Wikimedia Commons