Choosing to Relax Helps You Achieve Success as a Writer

by Beth Vogt @BethVogt

As I mulled over options for this column, American Ninja Warrior (ANW)was on the television in the background. I don’t aspire to conquer those crazy obstacle courses; I’m an armchair American Ninja Warrior. And while I cheer the competitors on during their runs, I love hearing their how-I-got-here stories even more. 

Alyssa Beard is one of the top female ANWs, but the 2018 season was disappointing for her. She made it to the Las Vegas finals, but fell on the first obstacle. How did she handle such an unexpected end to her season?

She gave herself permission to take a break from her training and took a three-week backpacking trip through Italy with her sister. She didn’t quit—she regrouped.

I don’t know what your summer has been like. Maybe you’ve been laying around in the hammock sipping strawberry lemonade and plotting all sorts of new stories. Or, maybe like me, you’ve juggled real life and writing life. Some days you’ve been successful and some days you’ve struggled to keep all the balls in the air.

And maybe, just maybe, you feel like you’ve been juggling and walking a tightrope at the same time … and you’ve lost your footing and every single ball you’re trying so hard to control.

If an elite athlete can take a break, then we can, too. 

I realize a three-week backpacking trip to Italy might be out of the question may be out of the question for a lot of us. But maybe a weekend away is a possibility? How about spending some time at the neighborhood pool – and not bringing your manuscript? Or going to see some of the local sights you’ve always meant to visit, but have never gotten around to? Or having coffee with some non-writer friends. You do have non-writer friends, right?

Sometimes rather than pushing through, the best thing to do is to give yourself a break. I’m all for not quitting, but relaxing and catching your breath isn’t the same as abandoning your goals. And sometimes unwinding is exactly what you—Yes, you!—need to refresh your heart and mind to achieve writing success.

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Award-winning author Beth K. Vogt believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” Having authored nine contemporary romance novels and novellas, Beth's first women's fiction novel with Tyndale House Publishers, Things I Never Told You, released May 2018. Moments We Forget, book two in the Thatcher Sisters Series, releases May 2019. An established magazine writer and former editor of the leadership magazine for MOPS International, Beth blogs for Novel Rocket and The Write Conversation and also enjoys speaking to writers group and mentoring other writers. Visit Beth at bethvogt.com.