Uploaded February 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
With Nanowrimo encouraging people to write their book in a month, hustle culture telling us we need to grit our teeth and work all hours of the day and night to pursue our dreams, and the traditional publishing process taking years, it can feel like we need to get our books written and on submission NOW.
But is this thinking helpful? Does pushing ourselves to write lead to better, more consistent work, or burnout? If we sacrifice our wellbeing as writers in the short term, will our future author selves thank us in the long term?
I've been thinking about this a lot lately - the perceived urgency created by the length of the publishing process (once I finish the book, it might take two years to find an agent and another year to find a publisher and another two years to make it to print, so I'd better hurry up!), and whether it's helpful to writers. Or whether it's better to just let go of the expectation of producing great work quickly and enjoying the process.
What do you think? Do you feel like there's a sense of urgency to complete the writing process because the (traditional) publishing process takes such a long time? Or would you consider writing without even thinking of getting published?
LINDSEY'S QUERY VLOGS:
- Part 1: youtube.com/watch?v=1xChFmn7JWQ
- Part 2: youtube.com/watch?v=JrbSIrHGrRs
FIND ME ONLINE:
Instagram: instagram.com/jp.writes
Website: jpwrites.co
Nanowrimo: nanowrimo.org/participants/jpwrites
#writing #writer #publishing
With Nanowrimo encouraging people to write their book in a month, hustle culture telling us we need to grit our teeth and work all hours of the day and night to pursue our dreams, and the traditional publishing process taking years, it can feel like we need to get our books written and on submission NOW.
But is this thinking helpful? Does pushing ourselves to write lead to better, more consistent work, or burnout? If we sacrifice our wellbeing as writers in the short term, will our future author selves thank us in the long term?
I've been thinking about this a lot lately - the perceived urgency created by the length of the publishing process (once I finish the book, it might take two years to find an agent and another year to find a publisher and another two years to make it to print, so I'd better hurry up!), and whether it's helpful to writers. Or whether it's better to just let go of the expectation of producing great work quickly and enjoying the process.
What do you think? Do you feel like there's a sense of urgency to complete the writing process because the (traditional) publishing process takes such a long time? Or would you consider writing without even thinking of getting published?
LINDSEY'S QUERY VLOGS:
- Part 1: youtube.com/watch?v=1xChFmn7JWQ
- Part 2: youtube.com/watch?v=JrbSIrHGrRs
FIND ME ONLINE:
Instagram: instagram.com/jp.writes
Website: jpwrites.co
Nanowrimo: nanowrimo.org/participants/jpwrites
#writing #writer #publishing
