[Scarecrow28]

I was working for 2+ months on my novel before I discovered a major historical innacuracy that completed derailed all of my progress and the plot upon which it was based. I scrapped everything I had done and began writing outlines of each and every chapter to avoid these problems in the future, keeping several scenes that would still apply.

As of now, I've been working on my novel for nearly 5 months, which has exhausted me. I understand that writing a novel takes hard work, but I've been experiencing writers block.

My question is that, if I need a break from writing and want to return to it soon with fresh perspective, is it permitable to work on a short story? This short story revolves around the same character and would contain some of the same elements as the novel and would be used as a "refresher" to my creative process.

[greenLED]

Scarecrow - I find that "free writing" sometimes helps boost my "serious" writing.

OTOH, "writer's block" is such a poorly defined term... If I may recommend something, pick up a copy of "Understanding Writing Blocks":
http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-...7520501&sr=8-1

It has a somewhat academic twist to it, but I found it useful.

[Scarecrow28]

It would still be a fairly serious piece but less so than the novel. I would strip away all the backround information, historical details, and emotions and just create an action-packed short story that is pure escapism. My novel focuses on action and adventure as primary elements but also contains emotional and historical information. It would just be a vacation of sorts. I doubt I'd finish it before my "writers block" fades and I can write again and I could just dust it off and continue to work on it whenever necessary.

I think that the best way to explain the comparison between the two would be by using movies. If my novel is like Saving Private Ryan (action-packed but still containing emotional content and meaning) then the short story would be more like say Hard-Boiled or District B13 (probably haven't heard of the last one). Basically, the short story would be constant action.