I didn’t expect it to happen in August.
Not in the middle of sunscreen and mosquito bites. Not when my laptop was buried under a towel and I hadn’t opened my draft in weeks. Not when I was so far from “productive” that I questioned if I even counted as a writer anymore.
But there it was—quiet, almost shy:
The feeling of wanting to write again.
Not out of guilt. Not for a deadline.
But because I missed it.
When Writing Starts to Feel Like a Chore
Burnout is sneaky. It doesn’t always show up as exhaustion.
Sometimes, it’s just… avoidance.
You tell yourself you’ll write tomorrow. You open your laptop but scroll instead. You say you’re “thinking” but never type. And suddenly, you haven’t written anything real in weeks—or months.
That’s where I was.
Writing had become something I survived, not something I loved.
And that’s a terrifying feeling for someone who built their identity around stories.
What Brought Me Back? Nothing Big.
It wasn’t a workshop. It wasn’t a fancy retreat. It wasn’t a sudden plot breakthrough.
It was the way my coffee tasted different in August.
It was sitting in a café, watching strangers laugh over souvlaki and scribbling dialogue again.
It was realizing my characters didn’t need me perfect. They just needed me present.
And that presence? It came when I let go of the pressure and let myself feel things again.
Writing Without the Weight
Here’s what summer gave me:
- Slower mornings that reminded me writing doesn’t have to be a race.
- Long walks that turned into plot twists.
- Beach days where I imagined new characters with my toes in the sand.
- Quiet evenings where I jotted down one line. And sometimes, one line was enough.
No word count. No guilt.
Just me, and my stories, finding each other again.
If You’ve Lost the Spark, You’re Not Alone
You haven’t failed.
You’re not broken.
You’re not “less” of a writer just because you’re tired.
You’re human. You’re living a life. And sometimes, your love for writing needs a little air and sunlight to return to you.
If you’re feeling lost or numb or unsure—maybe summer can be your soft reset too.
Not a hard restart. Not pressure to launch. Just a quiet remembering of why you started in the first place.
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Have you ever fallen out of love with writing… and found your way back?
I’d love to hear your story. Tag me or leave a comment, and let’s remind each other that every author has seasons—and love always finds its way home.
Sonia M. Rompoti, MSc, bsc 
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