The thing about working in a school, as I do, is that all your holidays are fixed; you get a week off for Halloween, two weeks for Christmas, a week around Valentine’s Day, two weeks for Easter and seven weeks for summer.
I’m coming up to the end of my second week off work, and making the most of my time off by switching off. Aside from reading, which I always do for fun, I haven’t really been writing, for the simple reason that writing for me is work. Yes, it’s my passion – but it’s still work. A typical work day for me involves being in class or in the library; I teach creative writing to sixth form (16-17 year olds, for those folks elsewhere) and I manage the school library on a part-time basis. During my work day, I manage writing time on my lunch break and after school while my son is at his after school club. This system allows me to switch off from both day job work and writing in the evenings and at weekends during term time.
Since I get more holidays than if I worked a full-time job it wouldn’t be practical for me to have thirteen weeks off writing time, so taking time off writing is something that I have decided to do for only these two weeks of Easter break. Before the holiday, I was so busy reading the work of my creative writers, editing their work and giving feedback that I needed proper ‘switch off’ time from all kinds of writing and editing – even my own. I’m over 70,000 words of my latest ghost novel WIP, and very close to the finish line, so having the headspace to gear up for writing the ending has been really good. I think getting back to my draft with a fresh perspective next week will help the story to end with a bang, not a fizzle.
In the meantime, I have been busy spending my two week staycation having family day trips to do all the things we enjoy: nature hikes, fossil hunting, visiting museums and the local library. Ah, bliss.
Leilanie Stewart 