Stepping Back: How to Pause the Writing Machine Gracefully
Life is unforgiving when it comes to our hobbies, and it’s hard to find the quiet, dedicated time required to truly delve into writing.
Case in point: I started to draft this article, and then my roommate walked in on the phone with one of our friends. By the time that was sorted out, my laptop battery was close to dying, so I had to give up with only one sentence completed. I wish I could make this up.
Beyond temporary interruptions like these, there may come a time when it’s necessary to step away from writing and redirect that focus to more pressing needs. This has occurred twice already in my life, and now I’m on the cusp of the third. But unlike the other two times where it happened as a byproduct of large changes in circumstances (moving out of my parents’ house, enrolling in a development boot camp), this time I am doing it intentionally.
So, I thought I’d practice some more forethought and write up this article to both inform followers of my blog properties that you won’t hear from me for a while and also share some strategies I’ve developed to help other folks who find themselves in a similar situation.
Let’s jump in.
Remember the Goal You’re Stepping Back to Achieve
If you’ve reached the point that you’re actively considering a writing break, I assume you have a worthwhile goal in mind. One that can’t be adequately achieved without central focus and large commitments of time. Or maybe you just need to recharge the creative batteries — also perfectly valid.
For me, it’s a few different material realities and one overarching goal: to become a web developer. I have moved closer to that goal over the past year; I took a development boot camp to push myself over the finish line, but it’s still just out of reach. After three years of effort and dreaming, it’s a situation that can easily lend itself to despair.
But I’m not going to give up. I will make this happen, and current circumstances have offered at least one path to get there. Yet, it’s going to require that I double down on practicing the skills I learned in my previous course and expand my knowledge across the development field. This kind of learning is best achieved through immersion and repetition, which is difficult to achieve if I’m splitting my time between work, writing, and other obligations. For better or worse, writing is the easiest to set aside for the time being.
Communicate with Your Followers and Fans
Guess you could say I’m cheating by writing this article that will inform my fans of my intentions 😊
I am fortunate, at least in regards to this absence, that I haven’t built up much of a following. In the previous two hiatuses, I stopped the gears one day and nobody really noticed. Heck, I didn’t even realize until one day I thought “Hey, I haven’t written in a while.” Followers of my WordPress blog will know there is a sizeable proportion of “I’m back” posts on the site, many of which are never followed up with another post. College was a wild time.
However, I have been producing content at a consistent rate, and I even launched a podcast with a friend. So — at least in theory — someone might wonder where the hell I went in the coming months. Letting folks know in the channels they come to for your content that you’re stepping away (but will be back) will help avoid that confusion.
Leave “Green Space” so Followers Can Still Enjoy Your Content
If you’ve been in the writing game a while, then you probably have a good amount of content out there already. Whether it’s self-published on a platform like Vocal, printed in an anthology, published in an online magazine, or recorded on a podcast, having that content available will help sate the appetite of any fans for your work while you take this time off. Plus, these are all different locations and mediums where you could be discovered by new readers even while you aren’t generating new content or actively promoting.
Of course, it would also be nice to offer your fans an easy way to find all of that content besides searching around the internet. Enter the publications page, a centralized repository for the links to all your literary achievements. In addition to the page, you can link to your content from your other web properties as it makes sense. Just don’t be obnoxious about it (advice relevant to most self-promotions).
I also want to take a moment to shout out the good folks at Linktree. If you’re a regular Instagram user, you’ve probably seen this tool in action already. Linktree generates a simple webpage that hosts as many links as you want — and for free. You can see my Linktree link for an example. This comes in handy because Instagram only allows you to put active links in two locations, your bio and your story (and stories expire in 24 hours unless you add them to your highlights section). If you have more than one website you want to point your followers to, then Linktree is the perfect tool.
Not a sponsor, just a fan.
Keep Submitting Your Writing
The writing may be on hold, but the submission hustle never stops. You never know when the next great opportunity will arise, and you’re never so busy you can’t take 15 minutes to submit a story you’ve already written.
Case in point: I recently sent in a story for a werewolf-themed contest. I’ve had this story for years, but never did anything with it because werewolves and vampires are almost universally dismissed by horror publications. Who can blame them; I’m fairly certain the Twilight saga led to an absolute deluge of these plot devices in submissions. Thus, I never imagined I’d find an opportunity where werewolf stories are actively sought.
Sadly, enough time has elapsed between when I first drafted this post and am now publishing it that I can report Eerie River Publishing passed on “Midnight Ride.” Hence why you have to keep throwing the metaphorical noodles against the wall; maybe another one will stick one of these days.
I need to take a moment to shout out an absolutely fantastic writer I stumbled across on Medium: Erica Verrillo. She posts different articles each month with lists of open calls from magazines, writing contests, literary agents, and more. I have used her submission opportunities lists to dramatically expand the number of publications to target. I think any writer or author out there could benefit from Erica’s tireless research.
Continue Supporting Your Fellow Writers and Artists
Just because you aren’t actively writing doesn’t mean you can’t be there for those who are. One of the advantages of the Information Age is that it’s easier than ever to discover other emerging writers and support each other. It can be simple engagement: reading, liking, commenting, and following. Or it can be full-blown support: editing and critiquing their work, serving as a soundboard for new ideas, offering encouragement, and going on each other’s podcasts. In summary, we all can do more to lift each other up, regardless of our own writing aspirations at the moment.
To put my money where my mouth is, I will take a moment to recognize two fantastic writers.
First is Marissa Lete, who has just released her second book Anomalies. I had not yet been introduced to Marissa when her first book Echoes came out, but after going on her podcast Creative Conversations, I was intrigued and bought a copy. I finished it in three days. Naturally, I wanted to be more involved with Marissa’s second book, so I contributed my editing skills to proofread the copy before it went to print. Fingers crossed I didn’t miss anything.
Second is Bri Craig, a poet and playwright who seems to have another poem publishing every time I turn around. Bri has built out a sizeable presence on Vocal. One of her poems was even featured in Vocal’s Top Stories feed. On top of that, she’s been published in several literary magazines, including Bourgeon and You Might Need to Hear This (quite a name, right?). Of course, I would be remiss if I also didn’t include Bri’s “bookstagram” @bri.and.her.books where she shares her latest reads and writing prompts to a 2,000-strong following. Hopefully this pays down a bit of my feedback “debt” from all these years Bri has served as my editor.
Find Writing Opportunities at Scale
As I’ve established, the majority of my non-working hours need to be dedicated to professional education. But that doesn’t mean I can’t still write creatively. It just means I need to be strategic in the scope of my writing.
For example, I started developing my Vocal portfolio last summer during my full-stack web development boot camp with the post-apocalyptic tale of survival “King of the World.” At only 1,400 words, it was the perfect way to keep my writing skills sharp while not conflicting with my coursework. Plus, it kept the creative side of my brain from completely starving during the six months of the boot camp, so everyone wins.
I’m also a big fan of micro and flash fiction contests. Though writing a full story in 100–1,000 words is definitely a skill I’m still developing, they’re perfect “flash in a pan” projects that provide a unique challenge and clear the cobwebs from the writing toolbox.
Keep the Faith
Hopefully you’ve picked a worthwhile goal to pursue. One that will energize you as you feel it drawing closer. That’s how I feel about web development and programming. There’s a certain bliss when I set out to build something and see it coming together before my eyes. Kind of like drafting a story.
Even if you are passionate about the reason for pausing the writing machine, it will not be completely painless. It’s natural to feel some envy as your fellow writers carry on with their craft and net new achievements. Heck, I feel that even when I’m actively pursuing my own writing milestones. But there’s something reassuring about that pain — or so I said in a yet-to-be-published poem that has never ceased to be relevant:
“But that pain contains its own paradox
for if ache results from absence
then that hole still exists to fill.
And you may yet return
some day.”
Stay focused on the end goal and find those little opportunities to let off some creative steam, and you are sure to succeed. Until next time, friends.
Signing off.
