Take a Break from Writing

 Writing During a Personal Crisis

In one of last week's posts I talked about what to do when you're not writing--when you're exhausted or have writer's block. I'm in agreement with the majority of writers who advise new writers to write constantly. How else are you going to finish your book? Don't talk. Just do. 

However, there are moments in our lives when it is simply not possible, and yet we have to do it anyway.
In December 2015 my Dad passed away in a sudden accident. While my writing schedule has slowed down considerably, I have made enormous strides towards a writing career. It is nowhere near completion.

In the nine months since the accident I've completed the first book of my epic fantasy trilogy and shared it with beta readers, a step I have not yet taken for my writing career. I still upload fan projects on a somewhat timely basis, and as I keep going I find myself going back to my normal schedule.

Writing during a personal crisis is hard, and there is no one way to do it. Everyone copes with death differently. Some people overwork themselves. Some people don't work at all. If writing is as serious of a career for you as it is for me, then we have to find ways to write through personal crisis.

1. It's OK to take a break 

There will be times when you can't write. Everyone needs time off during a personal crisis. Your daily schedule will be rudely interrupted. There's no telling when it will stop. For people who thrive on productively and love to constantly produce new work, this is difficult to accept. I prided myself on sharing silly fanfiction on a weekly basis, just to practice writing, and once my Dad died I stopped sharing the stories with my friends. Eventually I got back into it, but I'm a lot slower with my updates now.

Writing fiction tends to creatively exhaust writers. Sometimes to get through a crisis we need to keep busy, and sometimes the best way to do that is to do something on autopilot. Writing isn't something you can do on autopilot. It requires mindfulness, and experiencing a personal loss can cause you to become temporarily disorganized. Accept rest, but don't let it linger too long.

2. Understand that you have a new perspective 

Because of the accident I have a new perspective on life. It's caused me to rearrange elements of my life to accommodate it. Switched jobs. I even found that stories I've written before are emotionally painful to read now. 

And, yet, as writers we use our personal experience to bring our fiction to life. We find the words to express the intelligible and the emotions too painful for words. Whether you like it or not, you understand something you haven't understood before. You have experienced a rite of passage that has shaped you, and you are not the same. 

When some time has passed, you will find that your experience will make your fiction stronger, as unfortunate as that sounds. Effusing your characters and your story with your roiling emotions may help you cope with your personal loss. Because of the nature of my story, I realized that my own experience has allowed me to add elements I hadn't realized were missing and complete the book. It seems strange to think of your experience as a plot twist, as an event that spurs you into action, but in reality this is how we are moved to action.

3. Just Write Like You're Running Out of Time

Get up and keep going.

Nothing will ever get finished if you don't write, even if at times we can't. Sometimes we feel guilty that we're working on our stories during troubling times. Shouldn't we be focused on our grief? How selfish to work on projects during a period of mourning!

These thoughts can run you down, and they are lies. Your loved one does not want you to keep wallowing in grief. The most important thing is to never stop writing. Your passion will keep you going. Personal loss is so difficult to cope with, and oftentimes our projects end up on the backburner because so many alarming things are thrown our way. Responsibilities you've never had before will suddenly be thrust upon you. But once you stop writing, you may never get back up again.

Take breaks. Start small, and work your way back up again. You have one life to live, and if you are truly passionate about your work then you'll keep going. You never know how far you get until you try.

At the time of his death my Dad had just launched his first online company, which was about to start making money. He never got to see his project finished. Go forth and finish yours, because you never know how much time you have.

The world will never be the same, but we will keep going.