Hello!

The very quick version of this email:

🌱 Taking a break is often a great thing to do for you & your writing

💛 Give yourself time (and grace) as you ease back into writing again

👉 Join my mini writing challenge in September (7th-13th)

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The full newsletter:

A lot of people in Writers' Cafe (including me) have been taking some time off from writing over the summer.

Whether you're having a writing break because you've got kids or grandkids off school, because you're on holiday, or because you've got lots of summer events to enjoy ... it's all good!

Some writers feel a bit anxious about taking time off, but often, having a break is a lot more productive than trying to force yourself to keep writing when you have loads going on, or when your attention is elsewhere.

A deliberate break from writing lets you come back after a week or two (or even a month or two) feeling refreshed and re-energised. You might even find that the solution to a tricky plot problem comes to you while you're not writing, or you get a new story idea, or you find new clarity on your theme.

What trips some writers up, though, is getting back into writing after a break. You might expect to sit down at your desk full of enthusiasm, ready to watch words pour from your fingertips, after a couple of weeks away.

If that happens ... fantastic! I'm very happy for you. 😄

But if (like me) you find it a bit harder to get back into your writing after a break, please know that this is completely normal.

You might feel that you're not quite as focused as usual, or you may find it takes time to figure out exactly where you left off and what you were planning to write next.

Give yourself some time (and some grace) as you ease back into your writing. It's okay if you have some writing sessions where you're more distractible than usual, or times when the writing feels like a real effort. You might like to try writing for shorter bursts of time, or putting some extra things in place to help you focus – like turning off your wifi, or getting out of the house to write.

Soon, you'll gather momentum again, and you'll find that you can enjoy your writing all the more because you've had a break from it.

✨ Fifteen Minutes of Fiction Challenge ✨

If you'd like some support getting back into writing, especially if you've been taking several weeks off over the summer, I've got a new (free!) challenge starting in early September.

Fifteen Minutes of Fiction runs Mon 7th – Sun 13th September. Your goal is simple: to spend 15 minutes each day working on a piece of fiction. That might be outlining a short story, drafting a chapter of your novel, or whatever makes most sense for you.

👉 Click here to sign up & I'll send more details in a couple of weeks.

Enjoy your writing (or enjoy your break),

Ali

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