Does Geographical Therapy Help Writer’s Block?

Infinite Sight, a science-fiction tale by Barbara Custer, features a young woman waking from surgery with psychic powers.

Can traveling help with editing this book?

Someone once suggested that the best therapy for any stress is an old-fashioned vacation. I’d planned a few days at Ocean City, NJ months ago. Lately, I found myself having a tough time with the edits for Infinite Sight, soon to be going live. After whining about it on my Facebook posts, I asked my Mylar balloons whether geographical therapy, that is, a vacation would help me through this conundrum, for anything major I do always involves a discussion with my balloons.

Well, my balloonies, who have an answer for everything, replied, “Put a balloon lady on the bus in Franconia, a balloon lady gets off in Ocean City.”

Still, it had been years since I did something like this, back when Mike was healthy. So I went and spent the three days shopping, soaking up sun, reading, and socializing. I didn’t lift a finger to write or edit anything, not even so much as taking notes. I didn’t sleep my best – I never do in a strange bed, away from my balloonies – but the day I came home, I slept 10 hours that night.

40 Flash Fictions, written by Allan Heller, features zombie tales.I’m not going to say that geographicals work for everyone, but when I came home, I found myself better to handle the edits. I found a plot hole that no one had mentioned and fixed it. I’ve made a big dent in the editing mess that I had … enough with confidence that this winter could turn out to be a happy one as far as book releases go. Still, my Mylar balloons had a point. Once, I woke up, thinking that I was in my bed, and rubbed the back of my head against the pillows, searching for Mylar balloons until I remembered that I was in a hotel.

So … I’d like to hear your thoughts on geographicals and writer’s block. Have you tried traveling to wake your muse? I look forward to hearing about your experiences.

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