Tuesday, January 3, 2012

The Benefits of a Break

Hope the holiday season has rejuvenated and refreshed everyone. And I also hope that 2012 will be a great year in each and every way, for all of us.

The two week break that I took from blogging as well as other things in life has refreshed me in several ways: I have come back with a renewed vigour to tackle the onerous task of querying a new bunch of agents, with a query that I think is quite decent. I utilized the break to research  more agents (aren't I funny).

During my break I caught up with family and close friends, went out for lunches ( as the college was closed for the Christmas holidays) and read and read. Reading is one pleasure that I would hate to give up in life. The relaxed pace of life has helped me quite a bit. It has literally lulled my writing stress to sleep. Thank God, for that.    
                 
I am also excited about the book I am writing. I have finished one-third of the story (though this is just the first draft). The remaining two-thirds has me excited beyond measure. I hope to finish the first draft by the end of this month. Another thing that I am enjoying is going with the flow for this current story.    
           
I think putting away the Middle Grade Paranormal Trilogy and moving away from it: both mentally and physically, has done me a world of good. I am fretting less and my stress level too has come down. Perhaps it was not the right time for that story. Maybe, God meant for me to write that story later.

I also connected with two awesome writers; one from Canada and the other from America. In one of my emails with Angela Ackerman, while we were discussing my submission process, Angela volunteered to help me polish my query.  Dear Angela has been simply awesome with her insight. Gosh, just by going through my query she has grasped my story. With Angela’s help I have managed to write a decent query. My fingers are crossed.

Another awesome writer from America, Mark Noce has volunteered to read my collection of stories (Mark sure is a brave guy). I am sure that he will come up with an amazing insight where my stories are concerned.

I also want to thank each and every one of you for all the support you all have extended to me and my blog and for being a part of my writing life. Just wanted to let you all know, that I missed you all a lot.

Now tell me, what did you all do during the holiday season and what are your plans for this year. I am eager to hear it all.
                                   

22 comments:

  1. Happy New Year, Rachna! I visited Jodhpur/Jaisalmer during Christmas. Rode a camel, played on sand dunes and danced around a bonfire in the chilly evenings. So ya, I had fun!

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  2. Congratulations on coming back from your break so refreshed and ready to go! And best of luck on all your writing this year. Sounds like you have some fantastic critique partners to cheer you on. A highlight of the break for me? Making and decorating gingerbread boy cookies with a three-year old. Special memories :-)

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  3. Nice to see you back fully charged up and with renewed vigor! Have a lovely year ahead!

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  4. @ Gargi... your Jaisalmer trip sounds wonderful and December is the perfect season for it :)

    @ Kenda...yes, my Critique partners and brainstorming buddies are amazing. Gingerbread boy cookies is a wonderful thing to do in the holidays.

    @ Rahul...I am eager to sink my teeth into this year's goals.

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  5. Welcome back Rachna and congrats on the 1/3 draft complete. That must be a good feeling.

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  6. Welcome back. It helps to take a break and come back with new ideas and renewed energy. Good luck with your endeavors, Rachna!

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  7. Taking breaks is necessary. I took a solid six weeks off from blogging during 2011. Gotta do it to catch up on things, smell the flowers, and meet new people. Glad to you your time off was so rewarding.

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  8. I took a nice break the past 3 weeks too. Really needed it with everything going on here.
    Nice to see you again! Good luck with the new letter. ;)

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  9. @ Slamdunk..yes, I am feeling thrilled that I completed one-third of the book.

    @ Julia..thanks,I need the luck very badly. The break was extremely beneficial.

    @ Stephen...I did all the things I haven't done in a long, long time. Really caught up with the other things in life.

    @ Kristen...thanks for the good luck wishes. I need it very badly for the new batch of agents I hope to query.

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  10. I have to get this sequel done!

    So glad you found some worthy crit partners, Rachna. Have a wonderful, healthy, and productive new year!

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  11. That's so great you are refreshed from the break! Sometimes it is better to put away some books for a while, take a step back. And it sounds like that's really helped you for now. Good luck with your querying and writing that new book!

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  12. Happy New Year, Rachna! I'm glad you were able to take a break and enjoy it, too! Good luck with your querying and writing endeavors. May 2012 bring you lots of good things and happiness. ;)

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  13. Hi Rachna, your stories are looking good:) I'll have a full report for you later this week:)

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  14. I'm glad your break brought you back renewed and enthusiastic. And less daunted by the renowned dreaded query letter. :-) Your new book sounds exciting, and I liked your comment that maybe God wants you to write the other book later, maybe the time isn't right for you to write it now. I'm a great believer in trusting "the process". Good luck with your book. Keep me posted.

    PS thanks for your feedback on my blog changes.

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  15. I'm glad to hear that your break recharged you.

    My holiday season was quite fun, since I made all my Christmas presents and managed to avoid the Christmas shoppers. :-D

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  16. Oy, I need to do this. Only I need to take a break from email, blogs and everything electronic that I can manage to evade. LOL I realized the other day that I never had the internet on my computer when writing my last novel and I think that's seriously why I finished. This stuff is too distracting. It's why (sadly) I think I will eventually have to give up blogging. I'm the sort of person who can't have that much in her life. I really don't think I accomplished much beyond surviving Christmas and the whole internet connectivity thing is in part why.

    Congratulations on the relief I can hear in your "voice." That's huge. Hopefully I can join you someday soon. ;D

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  17. happy new year Rachna. I checked in a couple of times in the last 2 weeks,glad to see you back. I hosted friends this year, had a ton of fun! Back to the same ole' grind now.

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  18. Happy new year. :)
    Please read an excerpt of my forthcoming book Home Shangrila @ wwww.lingchen-lings.blogspot.com and let me know what you think of it. Thanks!

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  19. The break sure has done wonders for u...good luck with the book.

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  20. As always, good to hear from you. Sounds like your break did its job. Every blessing to you and yours for 2012.

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  21. Happy New Year Rachna!! I'm so glad you were able to rest and recharge :) Good luck with everything!

    I've been catching up with my writing as well, and easing back into blogging.. I've been off for a bit as well.

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  22. I spent a lot of time with family, and I wanted to take a break after releasing my second book on Dec 15. But I had my free promo going for my book from Dec 26 to Dec 30. That consumed all of my attention that week while I watched the number of downloads climb and climb.

    I found the days where I had nothing to do, to be quite annoying and I couldn't wait to get back to work. So I sat down with a notebook and beer and outlined a 22 short story series. If my trilogy were movies, this would be my tv show. I finished the second short story last night and I am having a lot of fun writing them and my productivity is way up. 18,000+ words in three days.

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