These days, I’m writing as an escape hatch from my reality. I don’t know who said it, and I’m too tired to go down a google rabbit hole, but escaping a prison (Of injustice? Of bigotry? Of our own limitations? ) is our sacred duty. And while escaping, we must take with us as many as we can. With illnesses in the family, turmoil in the publishing world, and my own retreat from the water coolers of social media, reality is not where I’m at. Give me a dose of the unreal, the fantastical.
I don’t know if what I’m writing will ever see the light of day–I have millions of written words that haven’t–but I know that by the time this book is done it would’ve served part of its purpose: affording me escape when I’ve been feeling trapped. Whether I’ll be able to take anyone along with me on the journey is a question I can’t answer. All I can hope is the universe gives it its fair shake.
I’ve been so busy escaping that it’s escaped my notice that I haven’t posted here in the last two weeks!
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What have you been up to? How has summer been treating you? What books have you read lately? Did they provide escape, or food for thought?
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My Amazon-bestselling literary crime novels, The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon are on Kindle Unlimited. Add to Goodreads or snag a copy to make my day ! They’re on a KINDLE MONTHLY DEAL in the UK and Australia this month.
And if you’d like to read a book outside the series, you can check out You Beneath Your Skin. Find all info about my books on my Amazon page or Linktree.
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Writing to escape reality is much better than other not-so-good ways to escape the ups and downs of life. Keep writing, Damyanti, and I await your next novel patiently, no matter how long it takes.
(Attempt 3)
Writing, and reading, are excellent escapes.
“Let’s strive to be better in September!” – Charmaine J. Forde #quote
I have a novella coming out on the ninth. And a post about condiments planned on the A to Z site. Hope you’re well!
J Lenni Dorner (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) ~ Speculative Fiction & Reference Author and Co-host of the April Blogging #AtoZChallenge
This is the one thing I love about being creative ~ it is an escape, and you describe it well. Good luck with your submissions, and thank you for keep me inspired 😊
Writing for escape is a great reason to write. I love reading and writing to escape.
Hi Damyanti – I’m reading to escape things … they keep happening, but at least my brain can be elsewhere … such is life. Oddly enough it’s fired me up to – so I’m probably giving myself a break from living life too much, yet inspiring me. Books about the Medieval era relative to a talk I gave recently – in my latest post … cheers and good luck with the authorships/submissions – Hilary
I hope the universe embraces you with joy and fulfillment.
Thank you so much! I hope the same for you.
Well said Damyanti. 👏🏼 I think we all have the same sentiments as you do. 🙏🏼 While I may not post everyday, I still find respite in journal and simply being quiet. 💖
That’s so lovely to hear!
I admire how easily you navigate the writing space even with the windows of social media barely open. It is so essential for writers to switch off every now and then. At least, I feel so.
I couldn’t agree more. I relish every opportunity to turn off my brain and take a lungful of fresh air or listen to the birds singing.
Writing is simply a release of the exciting things you see in your mind that just have to be expressed. Those thoughts are often dormant as we deal with the mundane things of life but they have to come out eventually and when they do it like a dam bursting when the water rushes to find its way to the end of its journey. That may require exclusive hours and weeks at a time as your fingers pour out that emerging story to pause re-read and edit multiple times until you are finally willing to move on with the story. The story is for you alone but if by chance others catch your vision as they read it does bring satisfaction we are part of a much wider group who see what we see and you relish that shared company.
Beautifully said, Ian! I only wish there were fewer blockages and jagged rocks along the way, but watching the story taking shape seems to make the journey worthwhile.
I’m almost entirely off social media (I still have X/Twitter, but rarely go there), we don’t read the paper, we don’t have a TV, I only listen to sports and music on radio. I’ve decided there are better things to do.
Yes, cutting down the amount of time I spent on social media has been so beneficial to my mental health.
You reminded me that, while struggling with the WIP (I had some good ideas I haven’t been able yet to implement properly), I have ALSO not blogged.
I’ll get there. The list is just so very long.
But I write SOMETHING every day. Because that’s a requirement of life somehow.
The world is in an extraordinarily weird place – of course we feel it.
But I have one significant task: finish Pride’s Children: LIMBO (while marketing the first two volumes in the mainstream trilogy). I KNOW I will get there – I’ve done this twice before.
You’ll get caught up, or reassess and change whatever priorities need redoing, because you’ve got this. You know how to do what you do.
Thank you for the reassurance, Alicia! When I’m stuck in the thick of it, it’s often hard to consider what might come after, but taking a step back and reassessing my priorities always helps. Write something every day is an accomplishment and so worth it in the long run. Before I forced myself to make a change, I would allow myself to skip days, which turned into weeks, which ended up being so detrimental to my writing practice. You’re absolutely right — it’s a requirement of life for me now.
I feel the same way, Damyanti! I may not write specifically to escape, but I still find an escape in it.
It’s incredible how many of us feel the same way.
I know how you feel…I just relocated 3500 miles…to say I’m having difficulty with adjusting is an understatement. I finally”escaped” the West Coast but evihere at home has changed and I’m feeling out of sorts. With time, this too shall pass. Remember, everything is all right in the end; if everything is not all right, it is not yet the end.
Such wise words. Thank you for sharing, Denise. Change is inevitably challenging and uncomfortable, and I’ve often fallen into the trap of remaining stagnant to avoid discomfort. But it’s so necessary. I hope you settle in soon!
I’m writing to escape from the reality of the US and the world, mostly poetry. It’s all I have time for, as I’m working on a novel launch for October 1.
Good luck, I hope the launch goes smoothly!
Thank you, Damyanti. So do I!
I think we all need a little bit of escapism, movies, games, reading, writing, and reading and writing are probably the most healthy forms of it.
Agreed — except for when I fall too far into the writing rabbit hole and forget to look up from my screen!
I can’t imagine not writing to escape! That’s why many people read after all.
Interestingly, I find that tackling real world problems through my writing can make reality easier to grasp, while giving me a means of escape. It’s a strange contrast!
For me, reading novels is the escape patch and writing is the stress relief. Of course, I’ve also compared reading to our mind’s food and writing to its exercise.
Absolutely! Nothing challenges my mind like trying to work out the twists and turns of writing a novel, and nothing brings me more satisfaction than when I finally untangle the knots.
I totally get that, Damyanti! I don’t usually write to escape per se, but I escape nevertheless.
Writing has done more for me than I ever thought it could.
Take your time to heal, reality will still be there when you’re feeling well enough to return.
Thank you! As difficult as reality can be, I do find it reassuring knowing that it will always be a familiar place.
My chosen fictional stories are by nature escapist, to a time long ago. It is comforting.
One of my favorite things about books — their ability to whisk me away from reality and into a million different lives.
Hi Damyanti 🙂
The past couple of weeks I have also been thinking more about so-called “slop” that can increasingly be found seeping down into such rabbit holes. A good “jumping off” point for escaping the muck might be:
https://socio.business.blog/2025/07/13/ass-artificially-sentient-slop
🙂 Norbert
A great post, Norbert! The acronym you used is so apt, too.
Hahaha — Mr Solana himself wrote “sentient slop” in his article (which made me sort of LOL 😉 ). I had been fishing around for such an appropriate “Artificial Stupidity” acronym, and this one seemed to win the prize!