The momentum trap
As a writer and certified life coach, I’ve seen a pattern—both in my coaching work and in myself—that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough. That pattern is what happens to us after we finish “the thing.”
My most recent reminder came in late November. I’d been pushing hard, working late nights and early mornings, trying to hit a deadline on a traditionally published book. I pride myself on never missing a deadline, so the final stretch always comes with a kind of brutality. Particularly when there’s a contract involved. I turned the manuscript in two days early and hit a familiar wall: exhaustion, brain fog, and that strange emotional drop that follows an all-out sprint.
I should have been thrilled that the book was submitted. Instead, panic moved in and it looked something like this:
What if my editor hates it?
What if my readers hate it?
What if influencers/trade magazines/reviewers hate it?
The what ifs rolled on and on. What if… What if… What if…
It’s the plight of a writer with too much post-deadline thinking time on her hands. And it hit me—hard—that this wasn’t new. I’d been running this loop for years without naming it.
I told myself it was just part of being a working author. Pitch/plot, write, launch, repeat. Over and over again. Sounds normal, right?
Except many of us don’t acknowledge the unspoken fear lurking behind that pattern: what happens when the work is done and nothing immediately replaces it?
The in-between where we spiral
In publishing—and in many creative careers—there’s always an in-between. The post-submission silence. The income gap between projects. The lull after a launch. The stretch of time where you’ve done what you can do, and now you’re waiting on timing, other people, or simply the next wave of energy.
The pause isn’t the problem. The meaning we attach to it is.
When we interpret the in-between as danger (or something negative), we tend to react. Fast. We overcommit. We scramble. We take opportunities that aren’t right. We grind ourselves down because rest feels like risk. We tell ourselves that if we’re not actively producing, we’re not performing. It’s not a character flaw. It’s a nervous-system response to uncertainty.
The writer’s cycle: completion, pause, panic, reframe
Once you identify the pattern, you’ll recognize it everywhere. It often looks like this:
- Step 1: Completion
- Deliver the book. Wait for edits. Publish the release.
- Typical thought: I should feel relieved. Why do I feel edgy?
- Step 2: Pause
- There’s a lag. Silence. Waiting. No immediate replacement.
- Typical thought: I should be doing something right now.
- Step 3: Panic
- The mind searches for threats.
- Typical thoughts: I can’t let momentum drop. What if nothing comes next? I should be doing something.
- Step 4: Reframe
- You remember to reframe the negative thoughts. You recognize this is the cycle and that the pause has a purpose. You don’t have to react from fear.
The best part is that the reframe is learnable. Like anything else, the more you practice, the better you get at it.
The problem writers don’t talk about
In my coaching practice, I’ve seen people make amazing shifts when they can name what they’re feeling without judging it. For writers, the pause can trigger a tangle of emotions: anxiety, guilt about rest, fear of disappearing, fear of financial instability. Left unexamined, those feelings can turn into reactive decisions such as overcommitting, chasing the wrong opportunities, burning out, and losing creative joy.
All of this can happen even if the pause has plenty of legitimate reasons. Those reasons may include:
- Editor timelines and revision windows.
- Agent response windows.
- Marketing lag (because visibility takes time).
- Algorithm shifts.
- Rest and recovery (because creativity is not an infinite resource).
Even when the next thing isn’t here yet, it doesn’t mean the time in between is wasted. Sometimes the pause is where your nervous system catches up with what you just did, or where your next idea starts forming.
I’ve noticed something else in all of this. The more hard-wired for reliability a writer is, the more the pause can register as a threat.
Responsibility is an incredible strength—until it turns everything into a threat.
When you’re used to being the reliable one, it’s easy to equate safety with constant output. After all, producing books can mean increasing income, maintaining visibility, solidifying your reputation, and keeping readers engaged. Those are real concerns.
But the trap is believing you must fill every gap immediately to stay safe.
Panic action vs. aligned action
When the pause hits, most writers reach a point where they must choose between panic action or aligned action.
Panic action looks productive, but it’s fueled by fear:
- Overcommitting to something “just in case.”
- Saying yes to unwanted work.
- Lowering standards to feel safe.
- Forcing output to quiet your anxiety.
- Exhausting yourself to avoid feeling uncertain.
Aligned action is still action, but it comes from a place of stability:
- Closing loops/finishing admin tasks you ignored during the sprint.
- Building marketing plans.
- Resting intentionally.
- Letting ideas incubate.
- Waiting one full beat before making a major decision.
Trusting the pause doesn’t mean doing nothing. It means doing the right thing at the right time.
A quick check-in for the pause
When you feel that urge to scramble—to fill the calendar, start the next book immediately, chase the next yes—pause and run this check-in. It takes five minutes and can save you months of regret.
- What place am I in?
- Completion, recovery, incubation, building, launch, waiting.
- What is this pause asking for?
- Rest, maintenance, reflection, refinement.
- What’s the smallest aligned step I can take today?
- Update back matter. Send a newsletter. Organize a research file. Clean up receipts.
- What am I making the pause mean?
- Is your panic based on facts or on a story you tell yourself?
- Fact: I turned in the book. Now I’m waiting.
- Story: Waiting means I’m falling behind.
- Reframe: Waiting is part of the cycle. My job is to stay steady.
- Is your panic based on facts or on a story you tell yourself?
- What would I do if I knew something was coming next?
- This isn’t blind optimism. It’s a gentle reminder that your career has seasons, and you’ve experienced cycles before.
Aligned action menu for the pause
If you’re still feeling uneasy after the check-in, it helps to have a previously prepared list of aligned actions ready. These are options that support your career without feeding the panic.
Admin/Foundation
- Update your income tracker, budget, and release calendar.
- Clean up files, contracts, and receipts.
- Update your website, newsletter welcome sequence, and backlist links.
- Check your reader magnet delivery and back matter links.
- Batch a few social media posts.
Craft
- Do a gentle reread of your last project for lessons learned.
- Organize stray ideas in one place.
- Build an idea file, a research file, or character notes document.
- Write pages no one will see.
Rest/Recovery
- Sleep on purpose.
- Move your body. Take a walk without “figuring anything out.”
- Reset your nervous system with breath work or meditation.
- Do something playful that has nothing to do with productivity and notice how it refuels creativity.
Connection/Visibility
- Reach out to one peer.
- Celebrate someone else’s launch.
- Pitch one podcast or blog.
- Send a simple note to your newsletter subscribers.
- Comment on a few posts instead of doomscrolling.
The goal in all this isn’t to eliminate the gaps that happen in publishing. Gaps are part of the job. The goal is to stop panicking when they happen.
When you learn to recognize the cycle—completion, pause, panic, reframe—you stop treating every quiet stretch like an emergency. You make steadier decisions. You protect your creative joy. You recover on purpose. And you meet what comes next with clarity instead of a mad scramble.
If you’re in a pause right now, consider it like recess. You’re not behind. You’re just getting a break that will allow you time to recharge and gear up for what comes next.
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Adrienne Giordano is a certified life coach, USA Today bestselling author, and seasoned professional with over three decades of experience in coaching, writing, marketing, and client service. For more information on Giordano’s coaching, please visit www.AdrienneGiordano.com/coachingcorner.