How to Get Back into Writing after Taking a Break
Crack that writing hiatus with these easy steps
I’m not going to lie, writing is the only job I want to do in the world and honestly, it’s the only thing I think I’m good at.
My family and friends won’t even let me carry a tray with drinks on it because of how clumsy I am. People often mistake me for someone who’s athletic because of my body build, but I’m crap at sports. Except maybe chess, that’s a sport, right?
Writing is the perfect job for me, I get to build my own world and articulate my thoughts into something in front of me. Writing is the only way I can express myself thoroughly without saying “nevermind”, like what I do in real life.
But what happens after a writer goes into a hiatus?
Being the kind of person who pushes herself until she’s burnt down is hard. I sometimes wish I have a little more sense of balance in my work and responsibilities.
Regardless, I still think it’s a useful trait to have if I want to achieve my dreams — my family and friends don’t fully agree though.
Although my last vacation was technically a birthday/last hoorah with my best friend kind of trip, in reality, it was my family and friends’ nagging to take a break that led me to buy a plane ticket to Vietnam.
They were getting worried about my mental health, and I figured it won’t hurt to appease their minds and take a break. Though, I despise airplane rides. The only thing that’s good about them is this:
I decided to take a break from writing as well for the whole duration of my vacation, which was 9 days — I brought my laptop just in case the itch to write gets a little too much, and it did. I wrote one on Medium as a thank you to the readers:
So, how does a writer get back into writing after a hiatus?
Yesterday when I got home, I swore I could still write three articles before I finally sleep after two days.
I put down my bags, sat on my bed and opened my laptop. The next thing I know I woke up from an 11 hour sleep with a drained laptop beside me.
This morning, I swore the first thing I’ll do was to write as soon as I wake up. Boy, I was wrong again — I had blueberry tea and stared into oblivion for 3 hours.
I didn’t know what was happening to me. I was dead itching to write something but as soon as I had the chance, I mentally couldn’t.
Obviously, now that I’m writing this I managed to crack the writing hiatus.
Here’s how I did it:
Doing nothing helps
Whether you’ve just got back from a trip and still have that vacation high or you were just swamped with other work or family stuff, the first thing I realized that helped me was doing nothing.
It’s kind of a mental reset, and our body needs rest too. Most hiatus I see is from taking care of kids, so just relaxing definitely would be a good way to start.
I don’t have kids but I have three little brothers, it’s not the same but I get tired when taking care of them when they were a bit smaller, I can’t imagine the toll of doing it full time.
Eat a good meal
I know this isn’t your typical advice, but nothing beats a good meal. I had kimchi stew and pork buns and it was the best.
I’m a firm advocate of self-love, and a firm advocate of treating ourselves once in a while. Go have that comfort food you’ve been craving for.
Just because we’re writers doesn’t mean we should be starving artists.
Stop making excuses to not write
Truthfully, I had that meal stated above as an excuse to slack off a little but it really did help but we should draw the line where it’s necessary.
I had a full list in my head of what I should do first before I start to write like walking my dog or going for a run but I figured if I keep making other plans, it might be another writeless day for me.
If you’re like me and have a million excuses not to write, the best way to combat that is to put things into perspective.
You don’t have to go to the supermarket now, that coffee place will still be there after you’re done writing, that cigarette stick can wait for an hour or two — the point is if you can push it off, it probably isn’t as important as writing.
Just freaking write, dude
The best way to break of a writing hiatus? Yes, you’ve guessed it — write!
I find that it’s best not to overthink things. You have a topic? You don’t necessarily need to outline it in your head. Get out of that bed and just trying one sentence at a time.
You’ll be amazed how that one sentence can turn into a full article. It’s what I’m doing right now.
It doesn’t need to be perfect, just write your heart out.
It’s mentally hard to get back into writing especially when you haven’t done it in a while. As I’ve said, I’m a firm advocate of self-love, although I struggle with it, it’s important to take a break from our daily lives.
The world will still go round and round whether you’re writing or not. When I was on my birthday trip I realized something important: There’s more to life than your dream job.
It’s a realization I had a hard time grasping but it’s true nonetheless.
If you want to be a great writer, write but it’s important to look up once in a while.
