A most happy Monday, dearest elflings! Today I come to you to talk about life and the struggles of creativity and a few changes in plans on this here blog.

I’m going to be entirely honest with you all: Keeping up with everything has been really, really hard lately. Between running this blog, the Fairy Tale Central site, Instagramming, tackling my own writing projects, keeping up with emails (which I have failed at miserably lately, so sorry!), and that whole, ya know, Life thing, I can’t seem to take a breath.

The thing is, I LOVE all of these things. As I talked about just a couple of weeks ago, blogging has been one of the greatest blessings in my life. Fairy Tale Central is an absolute joy to co-author with my FTC girls, Instagram is my happy place, I love talking with everyone via DMs and emails and everything else, and of course writing is one of my greatest passions. Everything I do is because I love it. And, of course, because it all accumulates into the ultimate goal: Becoming published one day.

But it’s been a lot. A whole lot.

Last year, I suffered from severe, severe creative dryness and burn out and just sheer exhaustion. I lost my joy in everything I did. Even doing something as simple as writing out a quick Instagram caption became this insurmountable chore. So I stepped back, and by the end of last year I found an overflowing creative well that I hadn’t experience in years.

In December, I remember being so excited about this year. So pumped to tackle multiple writing projects. And that excitement has stayed with me for a while. But as life has returned to its regular schedule, and things keep cropping up, and my workload piles and piles, I’ve been feeling that exhaustion trying to creep back in. Before I’ve barely even started on those writing projects. And I’ve been wondering what happened. Where has that excitement and creativity from December gone?

So lately I’ve been thinking it over, trying to figure out what is happening. Until it finally occurred to me. I’m using up all my creative energy producing content and keeping up with it all instead of on my actual stories. Any creativity I have is being sucked dry by social media platforms, leaving no room for story writing. And worse, most of my free time is being used on these things.

I meant to start tackling some big writing projects in February, and most certainly had planned to spend most of March on them. But here we are, at the end of March, and I’ve barely even started. Which is kind of a depressing thought. Three months in the year and I’ve barely touched any of my 2021 goals. And the reason for it is because most of my time is spent writing and planning content for other things, or just trying to keep up with everything. I am terrible about thinking I can’t work on my own stories until I’ve caught up on all the other things. Which is…so silly. We should put our writing first and then think about blog posts and emails and what-have-you. And though I know this, I fail miserably on acting on it. *shakes head at self*

My word for this year is Adaptable. I’ve been determined to not let myself fall into that exhausted state of last year by not being so enslaved by my to-do lists, making more time for fun things, and not getting upset when my plans fall to the wayside. And I have actually been allowing for more fun, relaxing things throughout the week, which has certainly helped. But my perfectionist, obsessed-with-schedules self is straining against the reins with this, struggling to find that balance.

And I know this all sounds ominous and like I’m leading up to something terrible. I WILL STILL BE BLOGGING. I promise that. I don’t think I could give up blogging if I tried. At least not in this point of my life.

But what I would like to do is actually make more time for my writing. Because that should be priority and yet, somehow, it always ends up on the bottom of the list. Which is why here we are to almost April and I’ve barely touched any 2021 writing goals.

That needs to be fixed.

I’ve been blogging every single Monday (minus the occasional hiatus) for years upon years now. It’s been a good schedule for me. It’s worked. But life has gotten busier over the years. Back in the day, my only social media platform was my blog, so it made sense to keep up with it weekly. These days though, I have this blog, post multiple times every single month on Fairy Tale Central, post 3 times a week on Instagram, plus am doing much bigger, more time-consuming things with my writing than I ever have before, like querying and major rewrites.

I’m realizing what worked for my younger self has gotten to be too much for my current self. And it’s draining. It’s draining precious creative energy that should be poured into stories.

So to sum up all this babbling:

I’ve decided it’s time to cut back a bit. I’m still going to be publishing blog posts on Mondays, but every other Monday now.

I’ll probably keep my current schedule other places (such as on IG I post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), but I may need to allow myself to be a little less active sometimes. Maybe not commenting so much on other content, maybe trying to not keep up with every little thing put out there. Which makes me sad. I want to be able to read every single post you guys create, to like and comment and answer emails promptly and all those wonderful things. But I’m realizing that’s just not possible.

Because we’re not machines. And I’m learning it’s okay to not be 100% active on every single post put on every single social media platform out there. It’s okay to set aside the phone and laptop now and again and go do something fun and relaxing for yourself. In fact, it’s vital.

The reason I felt a surge of creativity in December? It’s because I was on hiatus. I wasn’t producing a constant stream of posts and in front of the computer endlessly. I was out doing things, hanging with family, allowing my brain to create up stories without being crowded with all those others creatively draining tasks. I was just living, and enjoying doing it. And I need time for that. Especially as I pursue this author thing.

Though a major, major part of the author life is to build that platform and bring in readers, the most important part? WRITE STORIES. And if I’m making zero time for that, what’s the point in everything else?

But it’s more than just making time for my own stories. I also need to make time for LIFE. For just enjoying this one life I’m given on this earth and not feeling this constant pressure to keep up with every little thing that appears on the internet.

Again, I love what I do. My relationship with you guys, with all my internet peeps, is a blessing beyond blessing, and one of the most important aspects of my life. And I never want to lose that. But trying to constantly put content out there and keep up with all the things is hurting me both mentally and creatively. I doubt it will even be all that noticeable for others if I’m a smidge less absent. But it’ll be hugely noticeable for me.

Thus, I shall be switching my blogging schedule to every other week. For now. There will be some months I’ll probably post more, as sometimes I just have a lot that needs posting. But in general I’m gonna try to do every other Monday and see how it goes. BUT don’t forget I am actively on IG and Fairy Tale Central. I’ll still be around plenty. Which is why I’m okay with blogging less. Since it’s not my only social media platform anymore, I don’t think it will hurt anything to keep up a slower posting schedule. But, hopefully, I’ll also be taking more time to feed my creative energy and release it into my stories.

I know this is a whole lot of babbling literally to just say I’m changing my blogging schedule a smidgen, which is really not that big of a deal. But I highly suspect I’m not the only one who feels this way, who feels this constant pressure to keep up and produce all the things and suffering for it.

So consider this post a reminder that YOU ARE HUMAN. Not a machine. And if you need to step back from the screen sometimes to work on your own stories or just to take care of yourself and, ya know, see your friends and family now and again, PLEASE DO IT. There is no shame in not keeping up with everything all the time. So I’m trying to learn myself. Forever a work-in-progress, guys. Forever a work-in-progress. But perhaps experimenting with some schedule changes will help.

I do actually have a post for next Monday! But after that I will attempt this new every-other-Monday schedule. As well as trying to step back more often and making writing a bigger priority.

I’m tired of being tired. So here’s to a healthier lifestyle and feeding that ever finicky creative well!

Thank you all so much for always being here for my ups and downs. You truly are such a blessing! I do hope everyone has an absolutely beautiful April! (Although how is April almost here???)

Real talk time: Who else struggles with making time for working on stories, or just life, in the midst of this ever demanding need for a social media presence? Have you found ways to help fight back the drain? I’d love to hear all your thoughts!