Hibernating your writing

How to pause mindfully

The end of the year can be a lot.

Whether or not you celebrate holidays in December, there is still New Year waiting at the end of the month, and the race we often run to cross off all the things before January 1.

Sometimes, this period allows for writing time, and sometimes there is less time for writing than ever. If you’ve got family everywhere, the kids are off school, and there are presents to wrap up to your ears, or if you just need to step away from the computer and all your projects for a pause, here’s a process that will help you step back from writing.

The mindful pause.

When I ran an intensive course, Dream to Draft, that helped students write the first draft of their novel in 13 weeks, most of them wanted to leap right into revision once we finished.

With a lot of encouragement begging, I convinced nearly everyone to let their novels rest for at least a few weeks before revising. Writing benefits from fresh eyes on it, and those eyes can only be yours if you take breaks.

Perhaps the end of the year isn’t a time you would choose a break, but we might as well make the most of it if your schedule forces your hand.

Rather than fighting with reality and trying to grind out some work at the expense of sleep and connection with family and friends, what if you made the holidays a mindful pause and returned to your writing in January, refreshed by the time away?

Wrapping your writing to rest

Here are the steps that make walking away from a piece of writing easier, because you know you’ll have an easy time getting back in the swing when you return.

Step One:

Write yourself a letter about what you’ve been working on in the project. Include as much detail as you can. Think of future you as another worker who will be stepping into your shoes to take over the writing and give them a thorough overview of where you were.

Example: “I’m working on the middle of the novel, and have written the scene where they find the body, but not the scenes just before where there need to be some people missing at various points to raise suspicion later. I’d like to have suspicion on characters X,Y,and Z in addition to THE ACTUAL KILLER. I’ve already realized that characters Q and R are way to similar and should just be combined.”

Step Two:

Share in detail what you plan to do next. If you hadn’t taken this break, what is the very next step you would have taken? Again, share as much detail as you can, because this will make it way easier for your future self to return to the project.

Example: “I’ve also got a clear picture of the last scene which is [WON’T BORE YOU WITH THE DETAILS] and am pondering writing that next and then working backward toward the point I’ve reached in Act 2, Memento-Style. It feels exciting to write this way, and it makes more sense to write the climax backward so I can set it up with what came before each scene. Here are the points I want to make sure to include…”

Step Three:

Pick a date when you want to return from the break. Add an appointment on your calendar with a note (or link) to where the above notes are located, and set a reminder to alert you the day before that it’s time to get back to writing.

If we are afraid we’ll never return to the project and that it will be lost if we take a break, having a formal end date for your break will help. If you need to set another reminder partway so that you have that point of connection, most calendars will let you set multiple reminders. With an analogue paper calendar, just write in landmarks of your break wherever they help.

Step Four:

Have some writing adjacent activities planned, in case you panic over taking time away. Possibilities include reading anything book-related, watching films for research, or simply making notes on a particular topic.

Please note that these aren’t required during a break at all, but it can help to have something to do if you get anxious about being away from the work.

Step Five:

Enjoy the time away from writing. So many times I’ve taken an unexpected break from writing because life happened or I simply had too much on. Whenever I felt guilty for not writing on top of being unable to write, it always made the time away from writing worse. Whether due to ill health, or because I was spending time with friends and loved ones while visiting America, it’s always been better to be fully present with how life is going than to beat myself for what I’m not able to get done.

The few times I’ve taken a break without any expectations or remorse, I’ve come back to writing in far better shape and got way more done in the days and weeks after returning.

Enjoy your break!

This process doesn’t just apply during the end-of-year holidays, of course. You can follow these steps before a holiday, parental leave, challenging stretch at work, or any other time writing feels impossible.

If you have other rituals that help you when pausing from writing, please share them in the comments below. We can all learn from each other.

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Looking for support after the holidays?

Your Writing Year Intensives 2025 begin on January 13th.

I’ll be running four 10-Week intensives that allow you to set a writing goal and stay accountable in community, get support and resources to meet your goal before we all celebrate together at the end.

Join for one season or the full year at a discount.