58 - Return from hiatus

Today, Emily & Rachel talk about returning from an unplanned hiatus.

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Transcript

[00:13] Rachel: Hey, writers. Welcome back to story magic. The podcast will help you write a book you're damn proud of.

[00:18] Emily: I'm Emily.

[00:19] Rachel: And I'm Rachel.

[00:20] Emily: And today we are easing back into the podcast after a hiatus, which you may or may not have noticed.

[00:27] Rachel: Yeah.

[00:27] Emily: I don't know if people notice these things. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. But we've been on a break, and we didn't plan.

[00:34] Rachel: It didn't so long. We'll talk about what we've been up to, but basically, we had life. And then we were like, oh, no, we don't have time for podcast episodes. What do we do? And we were like, just take a break. Like, you can take a break. It's okay if you stop recording new episodes. So that's what we did. We took a little hiatus. We took some.

[00:54] Emily: We were like, we'll just skip a week. And then it was two, and now it's been like, I don't even know how many. We don't know when this is going to come out.

[01:00] Rachel: Yeah, in a while.

[01:02] Emily: We still don't know. Yeah. And then we figured we would ease back in by talking about that decision, because I feel like it marks a big change in us.

[01:13] Rachel: Yeah, I agree. I mean, and people like, listening would be like, what are you talking about? You are always so heavily into taking breaks and resting and be like, well, that's not always how we have been.

[01:25] Emily: That's not always been true. We used to write just for folks who don't blog every week. We wrote a blog every week while we had day jobs and you were pregnant and. Yeah, I think I had, like, three jobs. Like, it was crazy. It was so crazy.

[01:41] Rachel: It was crazy.

[01:41] Emily: And I'm proud of the work that we did. I'm proud of the beginning of our business, but I also am like, oh, those poor little babies. They did not have to do that.

[01:49] Rachel: No. We were, like, very much steeped in hustle culture. I mean, we were. And when you're. When you are start. I want to give us to, like, past self grace because we were starting a new business, like you said it was.

[02:02] Emily: Yeah.

[02:02] Rachel: You know, we were trying to build our dream. And so you feel you are personally responsible for that, and then you feel as if you have to do everything that you possibly can to make that happen as soon as possible. You kind of lose sight of, like, taking care of yourself. So we. We had lots of heavy work days, lots of hefty goals. I mean, there, those early days, like, especially after Rose was born, I just would stop working the day job, I would. Then I would start working golden may and like, I didn't go back to like eleven and like, yeah, that just work. I love what we do. So that's also why it never felt like, yeah, I was tired sometimes. I know, but I really stressful and.

[02:47] Emily: A lot and, like, burnout for both of us, I think.

[02:50] Rachel: For sure.

[02:51] Emily: I don't want to say that, like, we, I mean, we had to. We had to do that, I think, to learn everything that we've learned about culture.

[02:59] Rachel: Right.

[02:59] Emily: There's something to be said for. Yeah, we've been in. Not that you have to be in burnout in order to teach about burnout. I don't want to, like, be like, you must suffer in order to teach about the suffering. But I do think we learned so much, and I don't want to be too hard on us, but on our past selves because we were doing the best that we could. But I think the point is, it doesn't, it doesn't have to. It doesn't have to be like that. And sometimes I think thinking about the stakes of a decision can be really helpful. And at that point, the stakes felt so high, right?

[03:33] Rachel: Yes. Because we were like, we wanted to.

[03:34] Emily: Leave our day jobs so badly. And so I think there were other things that we needed to go, like, other mental changes we needed to go through to learn how to focus on the right things with our time.

[03:48] Rachel: Yeah.

[03:49] Emily: But for the purpose of this episode, I think it can be really helpful to think about what are the stakes of this decision that I'm making right now. And for us, with the podcast, past us would have been like, oh, gasp. You can't skip a week of the podcast. Everyone will know your business will fail.

[04:07] Rachel: Right.

[04:07] Emily: And it's like, reality check.

[04:09] Rachel: Probably three people noticed, or they, like, they noticed, but really, what did they care about it?

[04:16] Emily: They're probably like, hey, they needed a break, whatever.

[04:19] Rachel: Yeah. And, like, we have 57 episodes. It probably gave people time to catch up on a backlog. Like, I always appreciate that, so.

[04:28] Emily: I don't.

[04:29] Rachel: We also did.

[04:30] Emily: We also did three interviews.

[04:32] Rachel: Yeah.

[04:33] Emily: During that time, we did an interview with Kat on her. What's her.

[04:37] Rachel: Oh, my God. Caldwell. Lipstick. Yeah. Pencils in the lipstick.

[04:42] Emily: If you haven't listened to that one, it's really good. We'll put the link in the show notes. And then you did the summit. And then we just recorded an interview for the upcoming fantasy and Sci-Fi summit. Is that the official name?

[05:00] Rachel: I think it's fantasy and Sci-Fi authors.

[05:03] Emily: Summit, and we're talking about morally grey characters and villains and how you create those antagonists for your story. So that was a super fun conversation that's gonna come out in the next few weeks. So it's not like we weren't recording stuff for y'all.

[05:17] Rachel: I mean, that's like, our point is that we were doing a lot, and so something. Something had to give, something had to go. Yeah.

[05:24] Emily: And we decided when we started the podcast, we decided that the podcast was never going to be a source of stress. We were like, it's going to be fun. We're just going to. We're not going to overthink it in any way, shape or form. And so that was a test. That was the test of, are we going to. Are we going to do that? Are we going to let it stress us out, push ourselves over our limit? And we didn't. So, like, we just want you guys to take that home.

[05:51] Rachel: That's our takeaway is when things feel, like, super overwhelming or you're caught up in life stuff or whatever it is, like, you can zoom out, you can take a breath, you can look at what are real consequences and what are perceived consequences and be like, oh, it's actually not going to end the world if I don't record a new podcast or if I don't write for these couple days, you know, my life is not over. This is not the end of the world. You know, whatever it is, priority.

[06:26] Emily: It's so easy to look at, like, the lack, right? Like, the thing you're not doing. But I think I always come back to that. What our business coach taught us in one of our 1st. 1st sessions with her was to think about, you know, what's the worst thing that could happen? What's the best thing that could happen?

[06:42] Rachel: Right?

[06:42] Emily: So, like, what's the worst thing that could happen if, you know, we don't do the podcast for a month, literally nothing. Like, maybe we don't. I don't know, the algorithm. I don't even. I don't even know. Do podcasts have an algorithm? Don't tell me. If you know the answer, don't tell me.

[06:59] Rachel: We don't want to hear it.

[07:02] Emily: But the best thing that could happen, right, is we reclaim some of that time for the other things that we wanted to focus on. And so, same thing with your writing. Like, if you're just, like, feeling, you know, tired and, like, you have a lot going on, you have to suddenly move into an Airbnb like I did.

[07:19] Rachel: Yeah. You know, what's the worst thing that.

[07:22] Emily: Would happen if you don't write for a couple of weeks. Let's say, what's the best thing that could happen if you don't write for a couple of weeks? I think it can be helpful just to reframe in that way. So you're not just thinking about what you're. The thing you're not doing versus all the things you are doing.

[07:37] Rachel: Exactly. I say this to my clients a lot, but survival is still doing things. I feel like there's often this perception of if I'm not doing extra, then I'm not doing anything. And you're like, well, actually you're still probably grocery shopping, making food, doing laundry, periodically cleaning your house. Like, there are still tasks that happen even though they feel like, you know, the unseen or the unremembered labor. And, like, keeping those things going is, like, way more important than, like, reporting.

[08:12] Emily: Recording a new rest. A hundred percent and rest is doing something. Yeah, it's. It's refilling your. Wow. Yeah, I read these violent delights. Finally, I read that, and I haven't been reading a ton lately, just because that is one thing that I chose to do over the last couple of months that was really fun. And we've been up to some really exciting things.

[08:43] Rachel: Yes.

[08:44] Emily: Chaotic things and life through a bunch of curveballs. But what have you been up to? Rachel, why don't you tell us all your exciting news?

[08:51] Rachel: The. My exciting news is that my book came out, which is really exciting as. As of the time that we're recording this, it came out three weeks ago. It came out April 8, 2024, which has been amazing. And I've had, like, such a great experience. I feel like it's been very positive, very uplifting there. You know, it's been, like, interesting because of the work we do. I feel like I've been trying to take a very. Not, like, detached in an unemotional way, but in the sense of, well, we've done a lot of this mindset work, so maybe let me see how I can put it into practice. As reviews come in, am I obsessing over reviews, or am I feeling really good about them? It's been kind of a fun process to look at it from our teaching perspective, but also as a writer experiencing their debut book, getting into the world, that's been really exciting because it's been fun. It's been fun. It's been exciting. It's been positive. It's been really fulfilling. I feel like I've met so many new people that are dming me on instagram, and that's been so much fun. Like, I.

[10:11] Emily: It's been cool to watch.

[10:12] Rachel: Yeah, it's been, like, just all around a good time. And I know it's a really stressful time. I mean, it still was stressful because I'm still, like, oh, am I. Am I, like, making sales, or am I getting paid reads or am I getting reviews? Or, like, am I doing enough marketing? You know, all of those things still swirling around in the background. But it also has been, I feel, like, a very positive experience for me, and 100%, I think I can attribute that to, like, the work that we've done for ourselves, you know, because, like, I got. I the way, you know, I got a one star review come in and, like, my life didn't collapse, you know? Like, right.

[10:56] Emily: You know, I'm laughing, but, like, really?

[10:58] Rachel: That's. That's big, right? So, like, it was so fun to, like, really celebrate the positivity. And then also, like, when some of the more challenging pieces came up, it'd be like, I'm gonna let that slide off me like water, like, no biggie. And we just move on, and it's another day, and then all of a sudden, it's three weeks later. Like, I was thinking about this. It feels like. It feels like your wedding day. I feel like anybody, you know, you're nodding your head like, you know what? I'm. You get it. You spend all this time prepping and preparing for one day, and then it comes and it happens, and it's hopefully a really good day. It's really exciting, it's really fun. And then the next day, it's over, and you're like, okay, I guess your life is almost split into before and after. And now I'm in the after period, and I'm like, well, okay, cool, what happened?

[11:56] Emily: So, I mean, I'm assuming that reads are still coming in and stuff, though. Like, you're not, like, continuing your partying.

[12:03] Rachel: When you get married. That's, like, you get to continue the.

[12:06] Emily: Party of, like, people keep reading and reviews keep coming in. Has that been cool?

[12:10] Rachel: Yeah, it's been really cool. It's been. I was joking with Amelia, who's my writing buddy and who's also in TW. We were talking a lot about how you also work so hard for this thing to happen, and then you feel like it's done and over, but now you've just, like, committed to a lifetime of it. Of it continuing. So I'm like, oh, I gotta make another reel today. Excellent. Like, there, then there's been like, you're.

[12:40] Emily: Not just marketing for the, like, release day. You have to, like.

[12:46] Rachel: I want new readers. I keep talking about it, and then I keep talking about it. I'm like, okay, it's been three weeks of talking about it. So that's been interesting. And I'm, I have taken on a very, like, tortoise in the hare type of attitude of, like, I'm not sprinting. I'm not, like, overworking myself. If I make a post today, awesome. And, like, in, in the indie publishing world and especially publishing, like, series, you see tons and tons of, like, you see, like, more growth the more books you release. So it really is like a sustainability type of game. It's like, how can you maintain this energy and then rely on future book releases to bump up? I will say I feel very, I feel very, like, excited about how successful. I feel like it's been to me, like, my kindle unlimited page routes have been, like, amazing. Like, the numbers are really high. Like, that's really exciting. But then you start to see, like, the natural dip of, like, oh, it's been three weeks. And so that means that there's numbers dipping and you're like, oh, my God, does that mean people hate my book? Chill out. Like, you just have to go find new readers. And so, so you have to. It's. To me, I'm like, it's slow. It's slow and steady, baby. Like, you just gotta keep up with it and not burn yourself out. So that's why I was like, I cannot do any podcasts right now.

[14:26] Emily: Well, the other thing that you're doing is you're also. You're trying to finish book the first draft of book two this month, right? So was it weird? Cause I'm gonna be in this place, obviously, in September, but I'm not quite there yet. Cause my Debbie is not out until September. But is it weird writing the second one, like, while the first one's coming out? Like, they're two totally different books and you have to, like, does that, like, break your brain at all?

[14:49] Rachel: No, it doesn't break my brain, but I think that's because my brain can hold, like, a lot of things at once, but mine cannot. But mine is a one track, one track baby. If I have less than three tracks going, my brain does nothing. I need minimum three tracks or else I am a mess. So if I don't have a lot on my plate, then I fall apart. No, but it's been. What's been, like, there? I feel like the first thing that comes to mind is how excited I am for, like, when people finish and they're like, I can't wait for the next one. And I'm like, I'm writing it right now. And, like, I know all the answers that you don't. And then there have been, like, some people in my DM's that are just so kind. And I'm like, do you want a little sneak peek? And then I, like, send them a little sneak peek and I'm like, that's so much fun to me. And I don't care. I don't care about. It's my book, you know? Like, so I'm, like, sharing booktube stuff all over the place. I'm like, who knows if this is where it's gonna end up? But this is what I'm writing right now, so that's been super fun. The flip side, though, that has been weird is, like, I feel as though book one has been very well received. And I'm even hesitant to say that because I don't want to, like, toot my own horn then that's weird. So I probably need to think about that. But it's been.

[16:22] Emily: It's been fucking awesome.

[16:23] Rachel: It's been fairly well received, which has been really exciting, but now I'm like, oh, shit, I have to write a second one that meets all those expectations and that, like, exceeds them. And people now have, like, their own hopes and dreams for these characters and what happens to them. And so now I feel. I feel like book two's launch will probably be more of a mental challenge for me to make sure that I'm like. Or I fear currently that I won't hit those people's expectations. That it won't be as good or that it won't. I feel that, yeah, it won't be what they're looking for as far as, like, they wanted this character to have this thing happen to them and this character. How did this thing happen to them? I'm like, sorry. Like, I already know that's probably not gonna happen.

[17:14] Emily: Oops.

[17:16] Rachel: Yikes. Hope you're not too mad at me. So, yeah, I do feel like it's actually given me tons of momentum to want to write book two, but I do feel like it's added a lot of pressure of, like, you have to write a better book, too. Needs to be more highly rated. Yeah. You feel that because that's what you're doing right now, too.

[17:39] Emily: Yeah. Yeah, it is what I'm doing. I'm working on the first draft of my book too. And I feel like one of the differences between us is that you wrote your book one super fast.

[17:53] Rachel: Yep.

[17:54] Emily: And I have never done that. My first book took me, like, four years, I think. And so I'm like, I don't have four years. And so, like, there's that voice in my brain that's like, you can't possibly write a book that's as good as book one because you don't have enough time. And I keep trying to, like, my affirmations that I, like, write in my journal every day are like, you can. You can do it. You have support. You have help. You will do revisions, but it's definitely intimidating.

[18:27] Rachel: Right?

[18:28] Emily: Like, the copy that my editor got of book one was, like, draft eleven, right?

[18:34] Rachel: Yeah.

[18:35] Emily: I'm like, you're gonna be so embarrassed. Not true. I know. She's not. She does this for a living. She sees for stress for a living. I'm sure it'll be fine. But, yeah, it's. It's definitely weird. It's weird living through, like, these are not uncommon things, right? Like, our clients have gone through this, and our writing friends have gone through this.

[18:55] Rachel: It's just.

[18:55] Emily: It's weird to be on that side of, like, oh, this is what that really feels like. It is.

[19:01] Rachel: I mean, I was thinking very, very similar thoughts when I was, like, about to. Because we're swapping pages right now. So I was like, okay, Emily just finished my book, and I'm about to give her. I did.

[19:13] Emily: That's one thing that I did during this little break. It was so fun.

[19:18] Rachel: But I'm about to give you, like, the draft of book two, and I'm like, oh, my God.

[19:25] Emily: She's.

[19:25] Rachel: It's not as good. Like, it's not gonna be as good. And I was already, like, kind of, like, practicing what I was gonna say to you about, like, this character needs a lot of work. Don't judge me. I already have.

[19:39] Emily: Even, like, between us, like, those voices crop up. I know. I'm like. I'm like, oh, my goodness. You're gonna read my, like, 13th draft of book one, and then I'm going to send you these pages.

[19:49] Rachel: Like, you're going to be like, you imposter. I'll meet you.

[19:55] Emily: I know.

[19:56] Rachel: You're a liar. Yeah.

[20:01] Emily: It'd be so nice if I could promise people, like, these things go away. They do not. They do not go away. You just learn to recognize them and laugh at them and work through them 100%.

[20:10] Rachel: That's my promise to my clients. Is like, you want to stop your inner critic voices. You can't. But you can learn how to laugh at them. And that's too bad. Too bad.

[20:20] Emily: Give them a name.

[20:21] Rachel: Give them a name. You let your. Like, I was joking with another client this last week of, like, I just feel like I've reached a point where I just, like, sassed the shit out of my inner critic. Like. Like, if that's what you gotta do, that's what you gotta do. And, like, you just kind of lovingly. I say that lovingly. Just beat it down. Get out of here. I'm a genius. Stop it. How dare you tell me I can.

[20:52] Emily: Pull this off the way you would a friend?

[20:54] Rachel: Yes, exactly. Uh huh.

[20:57] Emily: Give him all this ass.

[20:58] Rachel: My inner critic is like, you're never gonna write a book to as good as book one. And then I'm like, actually, I'm, like, a brilliant person. I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Goes away.

[21:11] Emily: Don't talk about my friend like that.

[21:12] Rachel: Don't talk about my friend like that. How dare you? Yeah, yeah, that's fun. And then we've also been, like, just so sick. I. And so I feel like everyone was sick. Like, Rose got my daughter got, like, a double pink eye, like, back in February, and, like, after that, we were sick for, like, two months, and it was just like a never ending cycle.

[21:36] Emily: Yeah, it's crazy.

[21:37] Rachel: Feeling better, getting sick.

[21:40] Emily: Kids, man, they really don't tell you. They really don't tell you. They tell many germs.

[21:45] Rachel: And, like, you just don't get it. You know?

[21:48] Emily: You don't.

[21:48] Rachel: You don't get it. You don't see the snotty child, like, as a. As a person, as a non parent. You, like, see the snotty child and you're like, oh, gross. But then you, like, don't get it. Until that naughty child is, like, the only thing they want is to sit in your lap and snuggle up on you and, like.

[22:07] Emily: And get their snot all over you.

[22:09] Rachel: All over you. And you just know this is inevitable. I'm gonna be ill. And then you have your illness, plus snotty child, plus your husband, your partner, your spouse, and, like, everyone is ill. Yeah, we.

[22:27] Emily: Like, it was, like, nice in some ways. I was sick for, like, seven days, and Bailey and David were fine. And then, like, as soon as I was better, we were like, we're free. And then, like, somehow two days later, they both just, like, went down.

[22:44] Rachel: I was like, how is this possible?

[22:46] Emily: We were free.

[22:47] Rachel: We were free. We were free. It makes sense. Like, I don't think I am. I am a full science supporter. Right. But when you have a sick child, like, you're like, yes, going outside causes colds. And you're like, no, germs cause colds. You're like, no, no, no.

[23:10] Emily: We also gave her vaccines, like, in that little window between where I was better and then they got sick, she had vaccines. So part of me wonders if, like, her immune system.

[23:21] Rachel: Her immune system was good. Yeah.

[23:23] Emily: And then she was sick. So for, like, two days, we were like, is it the. Is it. Is it the vaccine or is it the poor baby? Oh, goodness. And then, like, babies, they can't breathe through their nose. Ugh. Yeah, it was rough. It was rough. And then we had, like, so much family visiting on my end.

[23:42] Rachel: I don't think we didn't have family. No, but I had. So I went on a little writing retreat when my book launched.

[23:49] Emily: Right, you had a lot of events.

[23:50] Rachel: Yeah. And then I went to the readers take Denver conference, which, if you've been on the Internet at all in the last three weeks since readers take Denver happened, which is two weeks ago. Anyway, if you've been on the Internet, that conference was a giant shit show. So, like, I was there. That was crazy. Then I was exhausted. But you had family. I just had, like, events.

[24:14] Emily: We went to DC and then we came back and then we were sick, and then my mom was here, which was lovely. Um, but it's just. Yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot.

[24:25] Rachel: It's a lot.

[24:25] Emily: The last few months were just a lot. Lots of good, lots of crazy. Um, but we're feeling good. We just, um, decided in the tenacious writing program with our community members, we decided to do a big word or progress month. We're calling it make progress May. So to, this is probably going to come out in May, but we will.

[24:50] Rachel: Be in the middle.

[24:52] Emily: We all set very unique and achievable goals for ourselves for the month, and we're going to support one another with our progress. So I'm really looking forward to just, like, focusing, focusing on the writing and just, yeah. Embracing and embracing some play and joy and progress over the next month. But who knows what will happen?

[25:13] Rachel: Who knows? Yeah, I'm traveling at the end of May and I'm trying to finish my draft before then, my book, two draft before then. So that's my big goal. But I'm excited about make progress made because, like, seeing the momentum of other people is really encouraging to me. It's similar to like, Nano, which we've talked about before. I am setting a nano equivalent, like word count goal, but this is not like a nano event in the sense that everyone is doing that. But it will be very encouraging to be like, writing alongside people and seeing everybody's goals and like, everybody's making progress and like, putting effort towards. Yeah, like, healthy, sustainable, sustainable goals. Free from.

[25:55] Emily: My favorite part that's been. My favorite part is we had everybody do our goal setting workshop, anti hustle goal setting workshop, which is basically like, it walks you through how to, how to set goals that are actually within, like, realm of achievability and like fun for you alongside, like, what mindset shifts you might need to go through or want to go through in order to achieve those goals in a way that feels easy and fun. Easeful is different than easy, but it's been really fun seeing everybody explain what they came up with and why they came up with it and why their goals are unique to them and their journey and where their mindset is at right now and the things they're working through. It's been really inspiring to me. I'm like, I got this. I could do this.

[26:40] Rachel: Yes. It makes a difference to be doing it with other people. We talk about that a lot. Community. But even just like, knowing that someone else is, it's like the body doubling idea of like, knowing someone else is showing up. So then that motivates me to also show up. That's really helpful. Yeah, yeah.

[27:04] Emily: Awesome.

[27:05] Rachel: Well, we can probably wrap this one.

[27:06] Emily: Up, but those are updates. That's where we've been. We're excited to be back. We have some really fun interviews with folks coming out in the next few weeks. So keep your eyes peeled on podcast app and just be easy on yourselves, guys.

[27:21] Rachel: Yeah.

[27:21] Emily: Remember, what's the worst that could happen? What's the best that could happen? Yeah, just take it easy.

[27:28] Rachel: Take it easy.

[27:30] Emily: We don't have to hustle through this life.

[27:31] Rachel: No. Awesome. If you want to build a successful, fulfilling and sustainable writing life that works for you, you've got to get on our email list.

[27:42] Emily: Sign up now to get our free email course. The magic of character arcs. After seven days of email magic, you'll have the power to keep your reading, flipping pages all through the night.

[27:51] Rachel: Link in the show notes. We'll see you there. Bye.