Writing In No Time: When the Worst Happens
When a real crisis intrudes, you may need to take time off from writing. Just don’t let it drag on forever.
Here’s my last excerpt from the article I wrote called “Writing In No Time,” published in Children’s Writer in 2010, updated and expanded in these posts.
When a real crisis intrudes—sick kids, ailing parents, a job change or divorce—you may need to take time off from writing.
Just don’t let it drag on forever.
Plan how you’ll handle the crisis, and schedule a time to return to writing.
In the meantime, try to find ways to include writing in your life. Carve out five minutes a day to write a haiku or jot down a snippet of dialogue you heard. Join writers’ group meetings on Zoom for an hour or two a month. Read an article in a writer’s magazine or a few pages of a writing book.
This helps remind you that writing is waiting for you when you’re ready for it. When you do have time to write again, it might be easier to start if you’ve kept it in your life even in small ways.
Write Better Right Now: Learn to write better in 10 to 15 minutes per week with short videos/ posts that include assignments for practice. Most weeks also include a post on “writer support thoughts” for tackling the mental side of writing and publishing, plus a post with quick tips for better queries and pitches. Chris Eboch is the author of 25+ mystery and romance novels (as Kris Bock) plus over 100 books for young people.