It's Time for Summer Break

TLDR: It's Engulfed in Flames' 2nd birthday! And I'll be back in July, but maybe sooner...

Hi friends,

It just dawned on me that I’ve been writing this newsletter for two years. I published my first post as Engulfed in Flames on June 4th, 2023. I only realized this when I got distracted from writing and started digging thru my archives, but wow, I’ve really been doing this for more than 100 (almost) consecutive weeks. Thanks for sticking with me!!

Knowing that context, it might be odd timing to say that I’m going to take a little break from my Substack. As much as I appreciate my writing routine and the personal challenge of publishing an essay every week, lately I’ve been wanting more. Or at least, something different.

Maybe it’s the changing seasons, but I feel myself pulled in a thousand different directions right now. I have so many things I want to do: build a new website for my business, plan new workshops, and finally figure out a marketing plan where I can balance the somewhat necessary curse of having an online presence with the desire to be as offline as possible.

It’s not all business though; I seem to be craving new routines in all parts of my life. I want to finish a zine I started several weeks ago and try writing poetry again and go for long walks on the beach. This past Sunday I ran into seven different friends downtown; I want more of those spontaneous hangouts. I want time to wander and think about stuff that I don’t normally think about.

And, I want more time to write my essays. I can certainly churn out a decent personal narrative in just a few hours, as I’ve been doing for the past two years now. But my plan with Engulfed in Flames was always for it to be a place to generate ideas that I could dig into further when I had the time. The problem is, I never seem to find the time to actually dig into these topics because I have to prioritize writing something new every Tuesday.

Once I write my essay for the week, I kinda just stop thinking about whatever I wrote. I’m great at mustering up just enough energy to slap together something that’s readable, but that’s it. My writing then goes into the mental file folder of stuff I might think about later, which ends up in some metaphorical junk drawer only days later. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way I have to operate if I want to actually put out a new essay every week in addition to getting my paid client work done on time.

So, I think it’s time for me to take a break from weekly publishing and do some soul-searching about how I want to approach my essay-writing routines. That’s why I’m putting my Substack on pause until July. (If I feel super inspired, maybe you’ll hear from me the last week of June. But no promises.)

My plan when I’m back is to still send out a weekly newsletter, but find a way I can vary my posts so that I don’t have the same level of pressure to produce every week. That might mean that some weeks you’ll have lighter things to read, and others I’ll put out jucier essays that you can dive into. My ultimate goal is to produce more writing that doesn’t just feel like a rough draft.

This shift is one of the ways I’m trying to cultivate more space for my own creative writing. I really enjoy memoir as a genre, and this newsletter has been the most meaningful step I’ve taken to sharing more of my story with the world. But in order for it to stay meaningful, I need to figure out how I can give myself more time to dwell on each essay and really pour myself into it.

Til next time,

Jenn

Ryan took this pic of me on the beach

---

Writing is my full-time job and your financial support will be a giant help as I go on a short break this summer to develop new essay ideas and writing classes. Help keep these things going by dropping a few bucks in my tip jar today.

And while you’re at it, give a round of applause for my 2025 supporters:

Dennis T.

Emma H.

KRW

Grandma Gin Gin

Maddie B.

Tara Y.

👏👏👏