I opened my file yesterday containing my latest wip and discovered I haven't been in that file since July 18th. That's a long time to be away from the "people" I hold near and dear to my heart. I can only speak for myself, but when I'm working on a manuscript I become involved emotionally with the characters. When I'm away from them I miss them, actually find myself thinking about them. They are real to me. When I opened the file yesterday it took a while to familiarize myself with the plot again and to remember where I left the bad guy and what he was doing. When I started reading the manuscript and getting back into the scene I found myself excited with a new energy and new ideas.

I've read several books about putting a wip in a drawer for a while, but I have never done that until now. It wasn't a conscious effort, it was because we were leaving for vacation and I didn't take my lap top with us.

I wanted to see the world from a different perspective, not from that of a writer. When I have access to my computer ideas spin around in my head and I can't wait to put them down. I've become too lazy to write anything out by hand any more. It's so much quicker to type everything. While we were driving across country and I was taking in the beauty surrounding me, I felt myself relax and let the characters go. In other words they were on vacation too. Away from me.

Now that we are home I am reading my manuscript from different eyes. The characters seem new to me. I have a new found energy. Leaving the lap top at home was a good idea. I'm ready to tackle and hopefully finish this project within the next month.

What a great idea that was, leaving my manuscript in a drawer. I think it was Stephen King's. Do you think he knows what he's talking about?