I guess every writer gets to a point when they need to focus on the future. I have always wanted to be a writer. I wanted to write to you now and let you know a little bit of what I have been thinking lately. I am beyond grateful for everything I have been able to do with my writing career so far, but as an artist it is time for me to make a change. 

Starting today I will only be releasing a total of three posts a week through my poetry account @aprilhillwriting. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. After five years of creating new art everyday it was very difficult to make this decision. I am going to be doing this for a multitude of reasons…

I have not been feeling as satisfied lately with the response and the support my individual pieces of work have been getting. It is most likely not you reading this right now who have helped bring me to this conclusion. If anything I am a bundle of thanks for your constant continued support. I just have a certain maybe unrealistic expectations in my own head that I am not reaching and I feel my own determination turning to obsession and taking me away from creating.

This obsession I have grown over the past years for gaining more followers, or getting more likes, has absolutely taken over my ability to write well. A single post, even if it might not seem like it, can take me a minimum of 45 minutes to create. That goes for any piece I am creating whether it be a story post, a feed post, or a downloadable post. So after an entire day of living my day to day life, which I do have surprisingly, I still need to spend at least 2 hours making posts for my two accounts, @aprilhillwriting and @theghostofaprilhill. That does not allow me any time for the other writing and creating I would love to do. 

Now, as for the other writing I would like to do. That is the real motivator here. I want to make things that make me feel fulfilled when I make them, otherwise what is the point. I want to take time now to focus on what I think will be the future of my writing which is most likely short stories, comics, novellas and full length poetry books. 

I have been spending a huge portion of my creative time writing posts for an app that does not allow my work to grow organically and for people who might not interact with it as well as they once did. There are other possibilities and avenues for me to progress my art form in and I have not been developing them because I keep telling myself that I am making a difference through instagram. 

I want to build a career out of writing. 

It is becoming more and more clear to me that instagram might not be the driving force for any type of future in writing. I know it has given me many great opportunities and connections to some cool groups and creative, passionate, caring, like-minded people, but it is not building a sustainable future at the moment. I love what I have built through April Hill Writing, it is easily the greatest accomplishment in my entire life, I just want to be more, and I will never fully get there unless I can focus on creating new groundbreaking art. My short stories along with my first book, “A Slow Fall Into Weirdness” and my last book,“Hold This When You’re Scared” are my favourite things I have created and most likely the things you may have never read.

I want to push boundaries, challenge myself, challenge you, and make actual change in people’s brains. Everytime I mention mental health or anything mental health related I notice a significant down tick in interaction with you monsters for the following week or two. That is something I can not let change the way I write or the way I create, because that is the reason I started writing, to help people. In the past I would make ideas up and let people connect with them if they felt anything, and I need to get back where I was then. So I write you this post now to hold myself accountable. I will be focusing more on making work that I think will have an impact on humanity in other ways than poetry alone, and I hope you can come with me and see what happens next.

Thanks for reading.

April Hill Writing.