We all know the really loud idea that “real writers” write every day no matter what. But we also know that human beings take breaks from our jobs and our hobbies because we have complicated, interesting, difficult, beautiful, embodied, messy, and hopefully long lives.

Writers—and here’s a big important secret—are in fact human beings.

The writers I know have days, weeks, months, sometimes even years of not writing (or not writing regularly, or not writing in our core genres) for lots of reasons. For example:

• We have bodies and they don’t always work great.
• We have caregiving responsibilities that are sometimes all-encompassing.
• Our other work doesn’t always leave time and energy for writing, especially in combination with body challenges and/or caregiving responsibilities.
• Grief bowls us over.
• We run into fun opportunities and decide to embrace them, even if that means setting aside our writing for a while.

Life happens! It is okay to take a break from a creative practice.
 
The problem is that, although most people want to go back to writing, it can feel really hard after time away. If that’s you, here are some strategies that will help.

I love a good style sheet! Like, genuinely, what a joy. So, if you’ve been looking into editorial services and wondering what on earth style sheets are … or why editors seem to imagine you want one … I’d be delighted to fill you in.

Should a particular romance novel, novella, or story be written in the past or present tense? (Should romance in general be written in the past or present tense?) Well ...

Some romance writers know with absolute certainty that a particular story has to be told in the past tense or in the present tense. Some people only write in one or the other, in which case: Problem solved, carry on!

But a bunch of other people get really stuck on the question of the storytelling tense--when is the story being told? during or after the narrated events? Sometimes this is a stressful decision when a writer is just beginning to play with a sparkling new idea. Sometimes it comes up when someone's trying to get a handle on a draft that just does not feel right.
 
Here's my own (informed, yet personal) take on present vs. past tense for romance fiction:

When you think of a writing group (or, interchangeably, a writers’ group), I’m guessing the first model that pops into your mind is a bunch of creative writers exchanging parts of their drafts and critiquing each others’ work. Maybe in a coffee shop.
 
If you’ve had bad experiences with a writing group in the past, perhaps these coffee shop people are being kind of competitive. Or pointing out typos in an early draft. Or striving relentlessly toward publication while cliquishly looking down on less “serious” writers.

But I promise you, there is a whole wide and diverse world of writers’ groups out there!