One thing you often hear me say is that I write becuse my characters wont' stop telling me thier stories. Well, this July, I went on vacation--and they, did, too!
It was kind of weird, actually. I expected to do a lot of writing on vacation, where I'd have some idle time, especially on the planes and trains. I packed three notebooks, plus a small one for my purse, and I thought I'd have to buy some on the trip. I didn't even fill one. I wrote some non-fiction--blogs and reviews of all the books I read on the trip. That's what I did with my idle time--read. I haven't read so many books in years! It was actually very nice to escape in someone else's world for a change. You'll be seeing the reviews popping up now and then, at least for the small press books.
So why didn't I write fiction? I was having too much fun just hanging out with my husband, Rob. As you know, he spent the past year in Iraq, so, while we chatted every day in Skype, we weren't together. Even just sitting around reading was a treat. However, I can no longer write fiction in public, even in the presence of my husband. The emotions of my characters show on my face, and it makes me self-consciouis. I can get away with this writing on the computer while Rob is concentrating on his, but in a notebook on a cruise ship? Not happening. Non-fiction was easier: I wrote 6 articles for my book tour, seven reviews and a few blog posts, all on paper, so now I'm transcribing. I also made notes of names I liked, interesting facts I learned and story ideas. I did manage a couple of scenes, usually when I woke up before everyone else, but as I said, my characters didn't talk to me over vacation.
It was kind of nice, actually, but I think if they went away like that permanently, I'd miss them.
What about you? Can you write during vacation? If so, how do you manage?
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