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I’ve been a lazy writer lately.

I said these words to another writer friend this week.They’ve been haunting me ever since.

We live in a society that often confuses rest with laziness. I think I got caught up in the misunderstanding.

Rest is critical. It is important to athletes and babies and mommas.

It is especially critical to writers.

A lot of writers say the secret to writing lies in the daily routine. I do think routine is essential. Writing well is a learned skill — not a talent. The only way to become a writer is to write.

I write a lot. Thousands of words a day. I write blog posts, articles, and book chapters. I write about faith in one notebook and collect adoption stories in another. I write letters and curriculum plans and copious emails. Perhaps the dailiness of writing doesn’t have to be such a high volume.

Because rest might just be as critical as word count to my writing life.

When I rest as a writer, my brain finds the needed space to make connections, discover understandings, and play with words. It also allows me the time to stretch into new writing territories. Rest restores my energy for education and helps me find my footing in living and writing my beliefs about teaching.

I’m not a lazy writer.

I’m a writer who is paying attention to her process. A writer who knows it is essential to nourish her writing soul.

A writer who will rest.

Think.
Dream.
Play in my notebook.
Find my voice in new writing territories.
And reclaim my energy of old writing territories.

Athletes know rest is critical to their performance. I’m learning the same is true for me as a writer. So there may be fewer words here and fewer articles and the books may take a little longer to write.

But, I’m not lazy.

Rather, I’m learning to rest in order to become a stronger writer.