Sparse – definition: not thickly or densely planted
This post is, in some ways, a continuation of yesterday’s theme. When we are experiencing new places, people, cultures and the utter relaxation of a vacation, there is only a sparse amount of time, energy and actual willingness to distance ourselves from it all to write. The lure of vacation treats is strong – just go with it – refresh mind and body. I experienced this when I was in England. Apart from initializing pre-written and drafted blog posts once a day, I did no writing whatsoever for the whole two weeks. This is extremely rare for me but there was so much to enjoy and numerous people to see that it was not foremost in my mind. The bonus, of course, is the numerous photographs I took and events I experienced that can be incorporated into future projects.
It is thought a ‘problem’ to have too many ideas – they densely populate our minds. Crowding out each other and jostling for attention. It can be frustrating when we are embroiled in a current project. We hastily jot down the details of the new idea, too frightened to leave it to chance that we will remember it later. This removes our mind set from progressing with our existing work, if only for a short time. These ‘breaks’ can either be a good thing – returning refreshed and with renewed vigor or a bad thing – lured into the new project and dissatisfied with the WIP.
How do you handle the sparse and dense periods of your writing life?
P.S. the top graph is for Chris McMullen who loves writing problems shown as mathematical problems! http://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/
