Starting in the spring of 2023, I found myself facing some intense writer’s block. I really struggled to write. My dream of being a writer and publishing a book was in jeopardy because I wasn’t doing the one thing you have to do to actually become published—write.
I’ve experienced writer’s block before, but this was different. I struggled to not only know what to write but to work up the motivation to actually write. At least, I struggled with the motivation to write anything that would get me one step closer to publishing a book.
I’m still not sure where this intense disdain for writing came from, but I have some ideas. My 9-to-5 job now includes some pretty hefty levels of writing (non-fiction, communications-related writing, of course) and I also took on a side freelance writing gig that required (and still requires) some high levels of writing, but largely on topics that I simply do not find interesting. So it’s not that I wasn’t writing, but the thousands and thousands of words I was putting out each week were draining any desire to write more for me. I was letting my writing dreams wither in the wake of writing too much.
I know that seems contradictory, but I think it’s the truth—and a trap that many writers often fall into. We want to write and we want to make a living off of our writing. This means that we writers often write anything but what our heart tells us to write because the “anything but” can actually make us money.
But I digress.
While last year’s writing desert left me feeling very unfulfilled and unhappy, I found myself continuing to not do anything about it. I continued to write for work but not for pleasure. I continued to feel disappointed in myself whenever I saw a friend find writing success (don’t worry, I’m always still happy for them, too!), and I continued to feel utterly and hopelessly lost when it came to my writing.
You see, I’ve written two books that have gone nowhere (at least so far). I submitted the first book to agents and received lots of requests, but ultimately no offer. I wrote the second book for a specific romance line at Harlequin and never received an outright rejection, instead receiving not one, but two revise and resubmits. It felt like I was headed in the right direction, but getting nowhere fast.
The one thing that ultimately led me into the writing desert was that second revise and resubmit—it made me re-think what I was writing, what I was doing, and where I was going.
Everyone has those moments in their writing career when they have to choose what to do next.
Unfortunately for me, I chose to stop writing. It wasn’t an active decision, per se, but it was a decision, nevertheless. That’s what writer’s block ultimately is—a decision to stop. A choice to pivot from writing to something else.
Like I mentioned earlier, I never actually stopped writing altogether, but I stopped writing for me.
And dear reader, it was awful.
I’ve felt quite lost this past year, and while a lot of it did have to do with outside factors, I neglected the biggest factor in my feeling like I was wandering lost through the desert—writing.
And I didn’t even realize how this made me feel until I got back into it. Sure, I was writing in the past year, but I wasn’t writing toward something. I wasn’t writing with a purpose. I was feeling overwhelmed with my day-to-day tasks but getting nowhere with my personal writing.
So in April, I made the decision to change that. I felt inspired to write again, and I was tired of having to answer the question “What are you working on?” with nothing. I was long overdue for an answer to the question, myself.
The biggest thing that made a difference as I embarked, once more, on my writing path—a path that now is headed out of the desert—was time.
I was spending a lot of my time on things that didn’t matter—things that weren’t going to get me out of my writing rut and that certainly weren’t going to get me any further in my writing career.
I came to this realization when I saw a clip from Mel Robbins on TikTok. She spoke of this very thing—time—and how it’s a valuable resource that we often give away for free. In the clip, Mel explained that much of our time every day is already spoken for—we don’t have a say over how our time is spent at work or school, for example. But we do have time in the morning and in the evening that we can spend furthering our goals. Despite this limited time we have control over, we often give it away for free—not to another person, but to the internet. (I searched high and low for this clip but couldn’t find it—this article from Mel Robbins gets at the gist of the original video.)
It was a jolt to my system, because not only had I been avoiding writing, I’d been giving away any time I had to spend on my writing to social media.
The realization was truly . . . gross. I can’t think of another word to describe the feeling, but it was the wake-up call I needed to get going on my personal writing again, no matter the cost.
For me, that cost is a little bit of my sleep every morning as I wake up early to write for an hour at 6 a.m. Mountain Time on weekdays, but it has been so worth it.
I’ve joined the London Writers Salon to help keep me accountable as I write (it’s amazing what a hundred strangers from all over the world on a Zoom call can do for your motivation), and I’ve gotten nearly ten chapters into a new book.
I’m writing what I want to write again (yes, including this newsletter!) and it feels so incredible to be back on the figurative writing horse.
A quote shared in one of my recent Writing Hours with the Salon perfectly encapsulates the changes that I’ve made to make writing a priority again, and ties in nicely with that clip from Mel Robbins that got me started on this journey back to writing for myself:
“You have to actively work to eliminate the things that don’t matter from your workload. If you haven’t figured out how to do that, you haven’t mastered your craft.” — James Clear, 3-2-1 Newsletter
I’ve decided to try and master my craft by taking back my time spent scrolling online every morning and applying myself to writing once more. I’ve decided to eliminate distractions as I write with other writers and make progress toward my dreams every day.
And I’m finally feeling inspired again.
How to Juggle All the Things While Building Your Author Platform republished on my blog
I’ve never been one to read fantasy. My friends Amber and Nicole can attest to that—they’ve tried to introduce me to some of their favorite fantasy books and I’ve tried to love them, but nothing ever stuck. At least not until recently.
I, like many readers, have been sucked into the Sarah J. Maas universe. It all started with ACOTAR last year, and I’m now two books away from finishing the Throne of Glass series. While the series is long, and therefore a bit of a slow burn, I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve especially enjoyed reading outside of my typical genre—these books have enough love in them to satisfy my little romantic heart but great characters and an overall story that leave me wanting to read more.
After mentioning them earlier in this newsletter, I think I would be remiss not to share more about the London Writer’s Salon. I only learned about the Salon about a month ago through an unassuming little ad on Instagram, but I’ve found the supportive community and the welcoming space to log on and write to be invaluable! In fact, I wrote most of this newsletter during the Writer’s Hour earlier this morning.
There are different tiers to join the Salon, and I’d highly recommend checking them out if you’re looking for something to spur on your writing. Writing on Zoom with a bunch of other creatives in the morning (my camera is usually off because I log on at 6 a.m. Mountain Time and only have time to make my bed and a cup of tea beforehand) is really the kick in the pants I need to keep putting fingers to keyboard. The writing advice the London Writer’s Salon often quotes is from Neil Gaiman—you can either do nothing, or write. It’s a helpful framing for the Writer’s Hour or any time you sit down at your keyboard to get in some words!