The #1 thing every writer needs

8th Paper Octagonal, Richard Tuttle

With scads of wonderful writing blogs and inspiration everywhere, what, you may wonder, could possibly be the #1 thing every writer needs?

I’ll tell you what I think it is …

Breathing room.

Deadline demands, client commitments, assignment assortments—not to mention marketing, blogging, social media, oh my!

We’re constantly inundated by a plethora of client- and self-imposed to-dos; so much so that getting ta-done is, at best, a bit of a challenge. (Especially for those of us diversifying our writing and maintaining a life away from the computer.)

So today, after I’d cranked up my iPod, baked some kale chips and stirred up a pot of Betty Rosbottom’s summer tomato, celery and corn soup from this cookbook (affiliate link), I realized my excitement, creativity and energy took three giant leaps forward in the span of two short hours.

That break, that breathing room was like white space in visual design: a key element that required careful consideration.

In return, breathing room offered up balance and perspective, enriching the thing (in this case me!) in the process.

Your Turn:

• When’s the last time you had breathing room?
• What did it do for your writing?
• Are you willing to schedule some more breathing room into your life? Why or why not?