Writing is hard work, and there will be many times when it seems too difficult. You sit at your desk and nothing much comes. Your impulse is to get up to do something—anything—else, as long as it’s not writing! You think of the lawn that needs mowing, the closet that needs cleaning, etc.

But, stop and ask yourself if you may simply need to take a break from writing and need some physical activity, rather than avoiding the work.

A break can be short- or long-term. It ought to be for as extensive as needed and no longer.

1) There will be times when your writing is simply not flowing. Rather than forcing yourself to continue, feel free to put your work aside and take a break from writing.

You may feel a bit jumbled at first, but, as you do something else—clean house or make a cup of tea—you’ll become aware that you are still grappling with a story whose theme has been eluding you. You have not been avoiding it at all. Instead, you were blocked or “uninspired.” Suddenly an idea arises “out of nowhere” and, voilà, you come to understand your story. Sometimes the breakthrough presents itself later that day or the next over a stack of dishes, or in the quiet of a walk in the woods, or as you look out the window watching the snow. Sometimes the breakthrough requires that you go someplace for a while.

2) Distinguish between avoiding writing and letting an idea mature.

Step away from writing for a moment and think about exercising.

You may not always enjoy exercising but you know the difference between avoiding it and having a legitimate reason to skip it on occasion. You may have a good reason such as being sick or having a temporary crunch in your schedule.

Examine how not exercising makes you feel emotionally. After you avoid exercise, you feel guilty, perhaps put out with yourself; after putting it off for a valid reason, you feel disappointed.

When you decide to take a break from writing, do you feel disappointed?

3) Even if you have avoided writing in the past, when you now take a break from writing does not mean that you are avoiding writing.

Remind yourself of your writing objectives. What do you want to say and for whom do you want to write? What’s your big message?

Instead of wasting energy on self-recriminations about what once happened, understand that you may now need a break and you can control your reactions. A break does not imply that writing is over forever. You can and will rededicate yourself to the task and its rewards—and get writing to the end once again! (See  Write to the End.)

4) As you write many stories, it is likely the process will call for this kind of time out. Don’t be afraid to take a break from writing.

Don’t force your writing. Give yourself permission to step back and reflect on your experience. “How is the writing coming?” Responses will come to you. Use them as best you can to get back to writing.

The best of memoir writing is always a combination of disciplined approach and a courageous plunge into your creative center. Discipline requires scheduling, perseverance and “nose to the grindstone.” A plunge into the creative center is undisciplined, chaotic, non-linear. It is important to learn to know there is a time for both and to respect the difference.

Take a break from writing if you need to.

Good luck with your memoir writing.