Nearly two months ago, I said I was going on a submission break, and I also decided to take a general break from writing in general. I was getting worn out and could tell I wasn’t producing the kind of work I wanted to. There was also the small matter of being in my last term of grad school, which is extra-busy because of the demands of graduating (creating a portfolio, writing a paper based on that portfolio, and an oral defense on top of the regular workload) that greatly influenced that decision.

And now, nearly two months later, I’m ready to go again. I’ve cleared out all the graduation requirements. I’ve let ideas sit and simmer rather than try to push them out before they’re ready, and I’ve even had some new ideas come up as I’ve concentrated on other work. I  feel good about the next few months.

I don’t like that I have to take breaks. Losing productivity means losing momentum but if it’s between losing some momentum or putting out work I’m not completely happy with, I’d rather lose a little momentum. I was lucky in my break that I had work ready to be sent out. It’s been out, doing its thing while I’ve sat, so even though I have nothing ready to go right this second, I still have work out for consideration. I’ve also still got an upcoming publication in Milk Sugar Literature (and was published in April over at Decades Review). I haven’t put together new work in the last two months, but I’ve got work out and upcoming, and that’s a good place to be.

More importantly, I feel refreshed and prepared to take on another year of this whole publication plan. I’m officially coming into year three now, and I look forward to what it’ll bring me.