Taking a break from your writing career doesn't mean its broken

I've barely written for the last 3 years, and I haven't blogged in a long time either.  Yet here I am, thinking about what I want to say, carefully choosing my words and remembering how much I enjoy the social media aspect of being a writer.

I was first published way back in 2007, and have been published seven times since.  These days only two of my books are available in e-book form - feel free to check them out!  I'm immensely proud of both of them.

Writing is one of those things that never leaves you.  You can take 3 years off, 10 years... whatever... it doesn't matter it is always there.  The trick is knowing when to stop and when to start, and that question is not nearly as easy as it sounds.

My decision to stop writing was a consciously made one, and the whys-and-wherefores of it would fill a blog post on their own.  Simply put, I burnt out. Big time.  That said, it never occurred to me that I would never write again.  I just knew that for a time writing was not going to be a part of my life.

Then in the middle of last year, the urge to write started to nag.  But I didn't listen, made many excuses, put it off, didn't feel like it, promised myself I'd start tomorrow... this went on for weeks and weeks until a couple of things came together.

First I read The Alchemist - a stunning tale about finding your life's purpose.

Then I had a delightful morning tea with Alyssa Montgomery ... and this led to an invitation to join Breathless in the Bush - putting me right back amongst a group of passionate and knowledgeable writers.

And finally it was the discovery of a woman called Mel Robbins.

Mel's TED talk resonated with me in so many ways, and I immediately grabbed the audio version of her book The Five Second Rule (which I highly recommend, Mel is a talker, not a writer and the audio version of her book works a lot better than the written version).  Well, that book changed EVERYTHING.  Using her techniques I sat down, stopped making excuses, and figured out a plan of what I wanted to do, and how to do it.

Easy huh?

Nope.  Not at all.  I'm still lazy, easily distracted, procrastinating, often napping... but, I'm doing something, every day, towards my writing goals.  I want to write. I want to. I haven't wanted to for the longest time but now the joy is back and I want to.

Taking a break from your writing career, no matter how long or short, doesn't mean its over or broken.  Writing (or music, or quilting, or bog snorkelling... ) is part of who you are, and you can't flick it on and off, it's always there.  But its ok to rest for as long as you need.  It's ok.

Love
Tory x