Abstinence and Denial - Romance Writers Weekly - #lovechatwrite

This week on the Romance Writer's Weekly Blog Hop, Jenna Da Sie is playing Devil's Advocate and asking:

If you had to give up something – TV? Wine? Starbucks? –  What would it be and share how you handle it (or don’t).

As a Catholic, the idea of giving something up for the betterment of your soul is deeply ingrained, especially during Lent. Sometimes that carries on after the 40 days – which is how I gave up sugar in my coffee.

Denying yourself something, even if for a short period, can give you a brand new appreciation for it. While romance is my preferred genre for reading, I do try and branch out to others. Not only does it broaden my skills as a writer to be familiar with other plot structures and tropes, but I come back to romance with a new eye.

Giving up something is also a good way to form a new habit. You need to fill that time or indulgence with something else – hopefully something healthy and rewarding.

A hard thing for me to give up would be my glass of wine before dinner. That single glass of wine after work while I'm making dinner is something I really look forward to. Does that make me sound like a lush? I hope not!

Since Jenna was the instigator of this topic, I'm really interested to see what she would choose to give up if she had to. Check out her blog here! It's the next step in our hop this week!