Out of the old rut and into the new?

I’m back from vacation and eager to get to work on all three of my WIPs. After a solid week of no writing and barely any reading, I feel like I’ve been under water. Rather than clearing my head and giving me a new perspective on things, the week off put some unwanted distance between me and my characters. I spent some time today getting back into their heads and trying to reconnect with them. Like people you haven’t seen in a long time, there’s a period of breaking the ice and falling back into a comfortable relationship.

Don’t get me wrong – I enjoyed my time off. Didn’t have to cook or make beds for a week, no dish washing or laundry folding. But there was also no quiet reflective time either. As a writer, I’m used to living in my head most of the time, thinking, plotting, holding conversations with my characters. I didn’t have time for that this week. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s disconcerting to suddenly have the voices in your head go mute. I’ve wondered what that would be like, and wished for it now and again. A little psychic silence is nice, but rather than having that insistent radio turned back on full blast with a new repertoire, I’m getting muffled bits and pieces of the program. I need to retune.

My new routine starts tomorrow…and the unique thing about it is it won’t actually be a routine. For the next few weeks each day will be a different schedule, and that’s a good thing. I don’t want my new routine to be a rut. I want the freedom to schedule my time creatively so I can maximize my potential. How’s that for doublespeak? All in all, I’ll be happy just to maximize my writing time before the walls of my new rut-een get too deep. We’ll see how things go.