After Six Days of Making Stuff, do you Need a Day Off?

Creativity makes our lives better. But sometimes we can become institutionalized by our routines, and lose sight of what matters.

A famous novelist was once asked if he writes on the weekends. He replied, “Only amateurs write on the weekend.”

I think it was V.S. Naipaul who said this. He was a helluva writer but kind of a jerk about a lot of things, which is why it was probably his quote. It’s a cruel and elitist comment. How nice that the world has allowed you to not write a couple of days a week; some of us have to create things whenever we get the chance, which, for me, is usually the weekends.

Still, it’s useful for any of us creatives to take a break from time to time if only to recharge our creativity. I mean, even God took a day off.

My typical day off

Lately, my days off have been through the sin of overcommitment. This past Thursday I went to dinner, followed by bowling, with family. Anticipating the loss of my evening, I’d taken the afternoon off from work to allow myself time to write.

There was an errand to run, but I thought I’d have plenty of time to write before dinner.