Today’s question comes to use from Ruby @ RUBY READS AND REVIEWS). She asks:
Prompts: Have you taken a hiatus before? How long was it for, and did you plan/announce it beforehand? What do you think makes a hiatus? Is there a minimum time length that defines one? Do you think it should be announced beforehand?
I have not taken a blog hiatus before. With other blogs, I published till I got tired of it, and then abandoned the blog. Because I had done no promotion, those early blogs didn’t have many readers, and so my disappearance wasn’t really noticed.
With this blog, I have been fortunate to have more readers, so I think that if I fell off the face of the earth, well, someone would notice. For that reason, if I decided to take some time off, I would probably put a nice pinned post on my page telling folks what was going on, and when I hoped to resume. I will be on a cruise in May, for example, and while I hope to be organized enough to pre-schedule posts for that time, I am also realistic, and that may not happen. So there may end up being a ‘closed for sun and surf’ post that goes up while I am gone.
As to the question of what makes a hiatus, I think that largely depends on how active a blogger you are to begin with. If you post 5 times a week, your absence will likely be felt much quicker than if you are someone who posts once a month. If you are a super-regular poster, I would say that anything more than a couple weeks is worth commenting on…and if you are not, well, you might want to say something if you are going to be offline for a couple months.
What should not be obvious is that I take baby hiatuses all the time. I usually plan and write posts far enough in advance that I can take at least three or four days a week off from writing, and sometimes a week or more. I’ve seen what a punishing every-day posting schedule has done to a friend of mine, and I try to not put myself in a position of dreading writing anything. By taking time off in short bursts, I keep my interest alive.
How about you? Do you take regular breaks from writing? How do you balance a regular writing schedule with the need to be present in your actual life? Tips and tricks are welcome in the comments.
The Let’s Talk Bookish meme is hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion.
fifty-two 
I have taken breaks before. I’ve recently come back from a long one. I like when people say they are taking a break. It lets me know that they just didn’t quit, and I hope they’ll pick it up again in the future. I think breaks are just fine. If you need one, take one.
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I try to schedule my posts over the weekend as I want to visit blogs in the week and there are only so many hours each day.
I agree that you can’t give a set time period for when a break becomes a hiatus. Perhaps it’s when others spot you are absent.
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I have never taken a hiatus, but will probably sometime in the future and I would let people know. I appreciate when a blogger I follow announces if they are taking a break so I don’t worry.
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To have taken a hiatus from it I’d have to have ever started blogging in the first place 😉
If forced to put a number to it I’d say a break is skipping 1 or 2 normal updates, or going more than 1 extra month between updates (whichever is less) and a hiatus would be for anything longer than that.
Either way, I appreciate a note letting me know what’s happening and when I might expect to see the next content. But I certainly don’t begrudge bloggers their breaks, or a hiatus to focus on other things or simply relax from the grind of producing content regularly.
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“sun and surf” Those are good reasons. 🙂
In all seriousness though I agree. Short breaks are essential (and posting ahead is sooo helpful).
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Now that you’ve said that, I spent an hour last night making a “closed for sun and surf” graphic!
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Oh can’t wait to see it! 🙂
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Great post! Since I started blogging almost three years ago now (wow, so fast!) I have taken a few breaks. I took an unexpectedly long break this year due to a total reading and writing burnout! I posted every day, sometimes twice in a “day” but I’m also one of those people who say they’re gonna schedule posts ahead of time and then… *cough* never do… 👀 So it was defo a lot and I didn’t feel inspired anymore. The break was necessary though cos I came back feeling more refreshed but also putting less pressure on myself to create content or always be 100% on!
I do like announcing when I’m taking a break though cos chances are my hiatuses might go on for longer than I plan 😂 But I also appreciate when others announce their breaks too, and of course, we all totally get it! I really need to learn how to become a post scheduler to help myself haha 🙈
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The first 4 years I don’t think I really took any breaks. I was so organised in blogging ahead and all that. But the last 2 years have been harder on my mental health so I’ve taken a step back here and there. Last week was a sudden hiatus week lol.
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