by Sarah Varland, @SarahVarland

We’ve all been there—word count slows down. Instead of having your story unfold in a natural way, where you’re pulled along with your characters, eager to see what they do next, you hit…a wall.

Thud.

That? That is NOT the time to pause. That’s good old-fashioned writer’s block and it’s the time to push through, get some word count, remind myself that writing is fun but it’s also an art that requires discipline.

There are times, though, that you might need to press pause, even just for a few days on your writing. If you’re right at the end of a deadline, I don’t recommend trying any of these at home. But there are some seasons of our writing lives where I think a few days or even weeks of a pause can help us write more in the end.

1. You’ve just finished a busy writing season and your brain feels like applesauce. Personally, I don’t write much for the few weeks after I turn in a manuscript. In a perfect world, I would keep writing at least a low level of word count, but my brain is tired and much like we sometimes need to listen to our bodies when they tell us to rest, sometimes we need to listen to our brains too. Just like with physical exercise, you can take this too far. Your body feeling tired if you’re otherwise healthy does not mean you need to spend three solid weeks on the couch reading. Your mind feeling tired does not mean you need to take a three-month break from the written word in general. It’s about balance here.
2. Your responsibilities in real life demand your attention. This one (really like all of them), is tricky. It’s easy to use this as an excuse and if we want to be professional writers we have to act like professionals—not taking an extended writing break every time there are dishes to wash, or a kid to drive somewhere. At the same time, there are seasons of life that it makes sense to press pause. I homeschool and have learned through experience that the end of the school year is a time I need to avoid scheduling deadlines. I’m still a writer then, but I’m a writer who knows her limits and knows that sometimes pressing pause is a smart thing to do.
3. You realize you have lived a much more interesting life on your computer than in real life. Sometimes I get caught up in writing and my characters and it’s easy to use that as an excuse to not fully live my REAL life with such enthusiasm. Again, writing takes discipline. I’m not denying that. But you also have to go out and live life, maybe learn a new hobby that a character is interested in, in order to have the passion to write about it in some stages of life.

Investing in yourself and taking time to press pause on your writing can leave you feeling more motivated and invigorated to start fresh with a new story that your readers will be eager to read.

Tweet: 3 Reasons You Might Need to Pause by @SarahVarland via @NovelAcademy #writing #amwriting #writinglife https://ctt.ec/Z353a+

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Sarah Varland lives near the mountains in Alaska with her husband John, their two boys, and their dogs. Her passion for books comes from her mom, her love for suspense comes from her dad who has spent a career in law enforcement. Her love for romance comes from the relationship she has with her husband and from watching too many chick flicks. When she’s not writing, she’s often found reading, baking, kayaking or hiking. Visit her at Sarah Varland, Author.