I used to think that rest days were sit-down-and-do-nothing days. Then I discovered the magic of active recovery.
The idea is this: the day after a long run, instead of sitting still, go for a walk. It allows your muscles to recover from the wear and tear of the run through activity. As a result your overall fitness level increases yet you still recover.
If we apply this to writing then after a long writing project, when we’re creatively exhausted, rather than stopping cold turkey we can instead write for only twenty minutes. We can sit back with pen and paper and explore a character or an idea without the pressure of a deadline or specific word count.
In this way, our creativity is restored through writing and in the end, we’ll be stronger.