August is birthday month in our house and the time of year when my husband takes holidays from work. I usually take time off too and this year was no exception. In fact, I was really looking forward to switching off from everything and taking a complete break.

Taking a Complete Break and Why It’s Good For Creativity

I’ve been writing a lot this year and I think my brain needed a holiday as much as my body did. We planned a short stay in Breaffy House, Castlebar, Co. Mayo at the start of the month. You can see the fabulous building in the photo above. We booked in on Wednesday and stayed until Friday. Two nights of heaven. This was followed by a trip to Dublin zoo on Sunday for my daughter’s 15th birthday. Emma loves the zoo and this is her yearly trip and it was great to have such wonderful weather as well. Last year it rained when we were halfway around. This Saturday we have ComicCon for my son Conor’s 12th birthday. As you can see, August is busy but we love it and look forward to planning things to do every year.

Switching Off Social Media

While on holidays it was so great to just switch off and not have to worry about blogging, marketing, social media, and so on. It’s so easy to get caught on the marketing merrygoround when you’re an author. Constantly worrying whether you’ve posted enough, too little, too much promotion, not enough real life. It’s a never-ending vicious circle and to be honest, taking a break felt amazing. We walked in nature, played crazy golf with the kids, spent time outdoors, and just enjoyed being a family without any social media or devices to interrupt our days. It actually got me thinking about how reliant we’ve become on social media and our phones. The first day away from them feels so weird, like something is missing. The day seems to drag as well. Once you get over that first day though, you forget all about it and you just relax and enjoy life.

If it has thought me anything, it’s that I need to take a break more often. Shut off social media and get out and enjoy life.

Recharging Creativity

I had great plans for reading a writing during my time off, but that didn’t happen either. I had so much fun just being away from everything that I didn’t have time to sit down and write. It’s okay though, a break can be just the thing for spurring creativity and my mind is filled with ideas now for new stories for Nightmare Realities 2. I’ve already started this book. Four stories have been completed and it’s coming along nicely. This is another collection of short spooky stories for children aged 9+ and once again, Emma will be doing all the illustrations. I am hoping to have it finished in the next week or two and then it’s off to my publisher for edits.

The stories for this book have been going round in my head all week and I think having a break, being out in nature and reminding myself what fun is, has had a great impact.

I’m excited to be getting back to writing this week and I feel fully refreshed and revitalised.

The point of this post was really just to remind everyone that it’s okay to take a break. To shut off from the world of social media and relax. You won’t miss out on anything while you’re not looking at your phone, and if anything, you’ll probably realise that there is a lot more to life than what’s happening on Facebook or Twitter. There’s so much more time in the day too when you’re not constantly checking for updates. So, go and have fun, take that long walk, play crazy golf, run around chasing your kids, play and have fun. Afterall, isn’t that what life is supposed to be about. You’ll always find time for work and writing, but it’s also important to look after your mental health and laughter and having fun is just the way to do this.

Until next time,

Have fun,

Amanda

Amanda J Evans

Amanda J Evans is an award-winning Irish author and writing coach. Amanda writes adult romance that often crosses into paranormal and fantasy. Growing up with heroes like Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones, her stories centre on good versus evil with a splice of love and magic thrown in too. Her books have all won awards and her novella, Hear Me Cry, won the Book of the Year Award at the Dublin Writers Conference 2018. Amanda is also the author of Surviving Suicide: A Memoir from Those Death Left Behind, published in 2012.

www.amandajevans.com