How to Come Back to Your Writing Practice After You’ve Been Called Away
By Tracy Hahn-Burkett | February 10, 2023 |
“Studying outside Gleeson” by danisabella is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
That was a big detour.
I haven’t been here for a while—for several years, actually. I’ve been away from most creative writing, too; since 2017, my time and my focus have been directed elsewhere. Given an existential crisis in American democracy and my professional background in policy and politics, I felt obligated to do what I could for that cause. So I’ve spent these past years strategizing, planning, writing, editing, teaching, organizing, listening, advocating, witnessing, testifying, leading, going to meetings (goodness, did I go to meetings), and many other things.
But I didn’t write anything that wasn’t political—fiction or nonfiction. And I really missed it.
The crisis is far from over, but some breathing space over the last year-and-a-half has given me a chance to evaluate how unbalanced my life has been without my creative writing practice. I’ve realized that I must come back to it.
But how?
After such a long period away, I knew I couldn’t just take my old WIP off the shelf, open it and waltz through it with a red pen. As I began this new phase of writing, I wasn’t confident about my skills. My craft was rusty. I could write you an op-ed about a wide variety of current events, but that’s not the same as creating a crisp dialogue, a riveting scene or just the right amount of tension in the right places in a narrative.
I needed a plan to bring myself back. So I created a short syllabus for myself, to ground me in craft again and return me to a place where writing creatively feels familiar once more.
This syllabus is one I believe will work for me. While I chose every resource based on my own needs and what I know about the writers/teachers involved, there are of course plenty of other excellent resources out there, as well as lots of ways to do this.
Here’s my program for getting back into my writing practice after years away:
- I recognized that though I’ll probably never use any of them, the notes I scribbled and left all over my house, car, purse, etc. while I wasn’t actively writing means that my head never entirely left the game. I gave myself a little pat on the back for that (start with positivity!) and moved on to the work.
- Listen to author and Grub Street instructor Michelle Hoover’s 50-day The 7am Novelist podcast. This 50-day series began live on October 1, 2022, but I’m listening to it now. Michelle hosted a new guest or two covering a different topic every day for a half-hour, and the series is fantastic. The podcast was so successful that she’s announced a follow-up, The March March, for, you guessed it, this coming March, and I signed up about five seconds after the email announcement hit my inbox. I may even get up for the live, 7am broadcasts, and reader, I DO NOT get up that early!
- Write something new in a familiar(ish) form. When I started writing creatively, I began with personal essays, and I love the form. So I took a class at Grub Street focused on a particular topic, and I wrote my first long-form essay. It felt sooo good to write it. The essay is on submission now.
- Art. I’m not a frequent student of other arts for the purpose of inspiration, but I know that when the well is low—or even when it’s not—sometimes consuming a painting, novel or film of dazzling creativity unexpectedly triggers that part of my own brain. The key is not to search for inspiration, but just to take in art for its own sake. I never know what will surprise me.
- I’ll admit this sheepishly here: I have never read Lisa Cron’s Story Genius. But it’s sitting next to me on my desk as I type this, and I’ll be studying it shortly.
- Author Alexander Chee recently taught a unique online, two-part seminar called, “What Is A Novel For?” via the Shipman Agency. This is another event I couldn’t attend live, but I have the recording. My understanding is that this particular seminar is a one-time event, but he will teach others via the Shipman Agency in the future.
- I look for posts by our own Donald Maass as often as I can. He offers insights, particularly on character and tension, that differ from those commonly found in other craft books and workshops.
- I’m going to keep writing essays, because I love them, and I have a short story that needs work, too.
- And at some point in the middle of all this, it will be time for my novel.
I know to some this may seem like procrastination, but this is what makes sense to me. As a former ballet dancer, I know that you don’t just put on your pointe shoes and perform on stage after, for example, injury has kept you away from practicing your art for a while. You have to build up to it. You take class, you listen to your body, you see what your capabilities are every day and you push to the next level. You test yourself. You teach yourself again, reminding the muscles and pushing them forward. You rehearse. At some point, you get to where you used to be and then you pass that marker. You grow. You perform. You listen to director’s notes. You improve upon your last performance. You’re a better dancer than you were before.
This is how I become a better writer than I was before. And I’m so happy to be back.
Have you ever been called away from your writing for an extended period of time? If so, how did you make it back?
Tracy Hahn-Burkett is a writer and public policy advocate who has written everything from speeches for a U.S. senator to texts seeking proof-of-life from her kids in college. She’s published dozens of essays, columns, articles, reviews and a story, and teaches writing for advocacy. She currently lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her husband, cat, and dog, and she is revising her first novel. Her website is TracyHahnBurkett.com. You can find her on Threads as @tracyhahnburkett.
[coffee]
Thank you for this brilliance. Exactly what we needed at this time and place, emerging as we are from the pandemic of distraction…
Thank you, Deb. It’s true: the pandemic certainly hasn’t helped!
You didn’t miss much. Just the Big Five attempting to become the Big Four, dead authors rising from the grave, a wave of inclusiveness, Woke Attacks, fiction written by AI chat bots, you know, same old-same old.
We missed you, though, welcome back and thanks for the shout out. Enjoy your return and please write us some stories! We still need those.
Thank you, Don. I’m sure publishing has been very quiet. Maybe we should just let ChatGPT write the stories?
I’m just kidding, obviously. I’m so excited to write those again. Humans will always need stories created by other humans.
For more on ChatGPT writing stories, stay tuned for tomorrow’s post…
Welcome back, Tracy! I’m so glad you’ve reconnected with your writing again–and that you’re back on WU, too. You’ve been missed.
Thank you, Therese. I’ve missed you and everyone here, too.
And I will be sure to come back for that post tomorrow!
One thing I’ve learned from my excursion from one genre to a different one: it is good to learn, learn, learn but there comes a point when you have to stop reading and listening and taking notes to just plain write. I catch myself, once in awhile, going back to reading, learning and taking notes, and I get back to business.
I found I had trouble while I was writing magazine articles, switching to the essay form because I felt I wasn’t being creative in my articles, just reporting. But that’s not true. I’ve always had the creative knack that bleeds into every genre I’ve tried. Now I just have to focus.
Good luck in your return, just remember, eventually you’ll have to just write.
Oh, Andrea, I’m well aware of my natural tendency to fall into learning and researching rabbit holes. After all, what do we learn best at school other than how to learn? And I do love to learn about almost anything. But you’re right: the writing must happen, too, and that’s why I’ve already begun. I just need to get there in the way that works for me.
Wow, same. Indie published the second book in my trilogy in March 2017 and since then devoted my time to political activism. Have done some writing but not Had a dream the other night that an agent told me she wanted to rep the third book. At the moment, it’s a beautiful mess of a WIP. Vowed to get back to it! Your informative, useful, timely post helps–already signed up for the 7am Novelist. Thanks!
You won’t be sorry, Shelley. There’s something for every fiction writer in the series.
And thank you for your activism!
Oh yes, I relate. After writing 12 novels in 5 years (under a pen name), and not taking the time I needed to fill the well in between, I was in desperate need of a planned hiatus. Like you, I also needed to recover from extensive demands in my personal life.
The year break turned into two (I needed more recovery time than I’d realized) and it gave me space and perspective on my career as a whole. I gained unexpected clarity about what was working and what wasn’t, what I wanted and what I didn’t.
Next, I launched a Year of Learning. I started a 12 Month Book Club focused on craft books (we began with the recent Donald Maass book; Story Genius is next month). I picked classics I hadn’t read yet (Writer’s Journey), or books that went in depth in areas I wanted to level up (Scene and Structure by Jack Bickham, a great book).
I also initiated a 12 month group short story challenge to ensure I was still writing a little. These stories are like running scales: practice designed to sharpen my skills. No other expectations.
The year is up in August and I’m excited to see what comes next. I’m a different writer now, both in terms of my skills and my goals. When the next book comes, what will it look like? It’ll be fun to find out.
I enjoyed seeing your personal learning plan and felt a kinship with you as I read it. I also appreciated your dancer analogy. What a great reminder to give myself the grace to warm up and get back to regular production at a reasonable pace. It won’t happen overnight and that’s okay.
Yes, Donna, exactly. We have to warm up–or at least, I know I do, and you seem to feel that way, too. I’d love to know how this turns out for you: how will your writing be different, will you surprise yourself? It’s kind of an exciting set of thoughts, isn’t it?
I’m so glad you’re back to fiction and essay writing, Tracy! I think plans like these are useful even when we haven’t been away from writing for a long time.
Thank you, Sarah! I think you’re right; it’s often a good idea to take a step back and see how you’re feeling and if there are ways you want to improve and/or change things up. I hope your writing is going well!
Thanks so much for the message Tracy! And I’m so glad the series was helpful to you and that you’re diving back into your work.
Tracy, this is a wonderful post, and so timely for me. After being “called away” (great term—thanks) for a few months by the disruption of moving halfway across the country, and the many frustrations of resettlement in this new atmosphere and climate, I dreamed the other night that I was struggling to shoehorn a new endnote into my research-based narrative NF project. The note refused to fit, no matter how much force I applied. The note and I wrestled, and the note won. It would not be placed. Once awake, I began to wonder whether I now need to re-envision the project, which can take any of several different forms depending on how I approach it and on what kinds of information I select from the abundance of available material. Physical move —> creative move? I’ve often had dreams with clear messages, and this may have been one.
Meanwhile, I enjoy looking back at your older WU posts, which are always sprightly and more than worth the time. I take to heart your advice in today’s post that the road back (as laid out in your meticulously detailed road map) is gradual but will lead to new competence and joy.
Welcome back. Your approach to returning to the call of creative writing is both resonant and familiar to me, and I heartily endorse it. (Thanks also for taking the time AWAY from your writing, to work for the betterment of our society.<3)
What some call procrastination seems to me to be preparation. I suspect that we do things when we’re ready, and often we don’t know when that will be until the time arrives.
Sounds to me like you’ve got a really good agenda for preparing. Best of luck with it. I’ll bet it works
Great to see your name and face up here, Tracy! I’m rooting for you as you go back to your writing. And if you’re looking for a new way to procrastinate, how about sending along some examples of well-crafted and effective proof-of-life texts to evasive college kids… Sending hugs xoxoxo