Returning Stronger: Why Taking Breaks Builds Self-Trust in Writing
Giving yourself permission to rest so you can return to the page with more of yourself intact.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about a concern many writers have shared with me, one I’ve experienced myself: the fear that if you slow down or take a break from writing, you’ll never come back. That fear tells me a few things:
You care deeply about what you’re creating.
You know from experience that sometimes things “out of sight” become “out of mind” (especially common for ADHD writers, but true for anyone).
You might not be setting an intention for your break.
Rest is important, and so is the work you’re producing. Setting a clear intention—or even a simple calendar reminder for when you plan to return—can help reduce the anxiety about losing momentum. Trust me: the writing flow will come back. Stressing about it only makes it harder to reconnect with your work.
Writers often carry a quiet pressure to keep going, especially during a busy season when life is full and noisy. Underneath that pressure is a recurring thought: If I stop, I won’t come back. If I take a break, I’ll lose the thread. If I step away, maybe I’m not serious about writing at all.
For many writers—particularly those with ADHD—that fear isn’t abstract. We’ve all experienced broken routines, long gaps, or projects that felt impossible to restart once they slipped away. So yes, stopping can feel risky.
But breaks don’t have to be a loss of discipline. They can be a practice of self-trust. Taking a break asks you to trust that your relationship with writing is bigger than a streak or a schedule. That you can step away and still return. Often, you return stronger: with more energy, more clarity, and more willingness to engage with the work.
There’s a reason this happens. When we rest—when we stop forcing output—the brain shifts into a different mode: the Default Mode Network (DMN). The DMN becomes active during rest, daydreaming, and mind-wandering. This brain state supports information integration, meaning-making, and creative problem-solving. This is often where insights land, after we stop trying so hard to manufacture them.
Ever have a great idea—or an “aha” moment—about how to fix a plot hole while taking a shower or washing the dishes? That’s your brain’s Default Mode Network at work: a set of interconnected regions that activate when you’re not focused on a specific external task, in other words, when you’re not forcing your brain into intense, focused thinking.
Breaks don’t have to be solitary, either. I often encourage my coaching clients to reconnect with loved ones as a form of rest and creative exploration. Listening to conversation, noticing how people speak and move, reconnecting with the world outside your head—this is creative input. It feeds dialogue. It widens perspective. If you have the privilege of connection this season, it can quietly support your writing in ways that don’t look productive but matter deeply.
What I’ve seen, again and again, is that pushing through exhaustion doesn’t build trust with your writing—it builds avoidance. Rest, on the other hand, can change the emotional tone of returning. The work feels less like a threat and more like an invitation.
Returning stronger isn’t about doing more. It’s about coming back with more of yourself intact.
This is also where many writers benefit from support—not to be pushed, but to rebuild trust in their process and create structures that actually fit their lives.
If that’s something you’re navigating, this is the kind of work I help writers with:
Writing Routine Reset for rebuilding momentum without burnout
One-on-one coaching to support your writing and your nervous system
Developmental editing as a thoughtful check when your draft is either in progress or ready for big-picture feedback
For full details about how we’ll work together, see my services page here. I specialize in helping writers with ADHD, but much of the coaching work I provide is helpful for non-ADHD writers as well.
You don’t have to muscle your way back to the work. Sometimes the strongest return starts with permission to rest.
Which is why, after writing for this newsletter weekly since it launched eight weeks ago, I’ll be taking next week off. Don’t worry, I’ll be back with a new post on December 31, just in time to ring in the new year.
Keep writing forward,
—Candice
P.S. While I’m away, feel free to explore the archives of my past Substack posts here. There’s one about…
The Myth of Consistency: What It Actually Means to Build a Writing Routine with ADHD,
How to Write Forward When Your Brain Keeps Pulling You Back,
and Why You’re Struggling to Write This Holiday Season (It’s Not What You Think).
Want support becoming the writer you’re meant to be?
About the Author
Dr. Candice Wiswell is a writer, ADHD writing coach, and developmental editor with a Psychology PhD. She helps writers create, think freely, & embrace life outside the lines—feeding their creativity, not your inner critic.
Learn more about Candice’s coaching philosophy and how she helps writers here.
Thank you so much for this post. I don't have ADHD, but I have been writing a novel for 5 years, and between moving home, taking care of my child, and starting this substack, it's been a few months since I actually spent time writing properly. I was starting to worry that I was undoing the writing progress I've made since I started 5 years ago, because it's the biggest break I've taken in that time, but your post was just what I needed to give myself a break and nurture a more trusting attitude towards myself and my craft. Thanks a lot!!!