That moment where you realize you may not have worked in a few days. Or is it weeks…

Months?

It can happen. You might feel a sense of craft ignorance. Do you feel as a writer like you have been ignoring writing? Not necessarily. I have written much on these pages about how even thinking about work can be considered working.

https://dannalexander.com/2015/03/02/thinkwork/

For example. This is my first post on these pages in a few weeks. By no means does it mean I have not been busy. Ignoring writing just does not happen for me anymore. I need to always be working. I have also been on a bit of a break to refocus on health and live a little bit again. I spent a few days in one of my favourite places in the world. That being good old Las Vegas. You have to take breaks. You have to have your health. I’ve often said and written that continuing to write is very vital to my health. For as long as I can remember, working the words has been part of my active and healthy lifestyle. If I stop writing it can and has affected my overall well-being. So I try to never stop. I try to think of ideas while on those breaks. Even a few minutes of silence can inspire hours and pages of writing. My books are proof of this.

Remembering to live can be difficult in any business. Many in the business like me have day jobs and it is a balancing act. I’ve said multiple times that I live in order to write. Well, it seems more and more that I write in order to live. We write as part of living. Sure it would be nice to make a full-time living at it one day and that will happen for many of us. During difficult times it is important to keep going forward. Use your self-identity as a writer as a coping mechanism to pick up the pieces and get back at it.

@WriterDann