The party goes on without me
ByIt’s been almost a month now since I left AfterEllen.com, and I’m still getting used to the idea that I don’t have to scour the Hollywood trade sites every night for news, or watch every minor lesbian subplot on TV (although I have to admit, I didn’t mind watching Ella and the model on last week’s Melrose Place).
One of the things that pushed me into leaving was the realization that not only was I burned out, but this was actually hindering the site from being as good as it could be. As most writers will tell you, it takes a certain amount of emotional energy to write analytically, regardless of whether you’re writing a short blog post or a 3-page article (especially if you’re trying to make it entertaining at the same time). Trying to navigate the phalanx of Hollywood publicists, managers, and network executives to get information or an interview takes a toll, too.
Really, the excitement starts to wane after doing almost anything for over 7 years, especially 14 hours a day.
But being burned out meant I was doing less writing and chasing down interviews, which translated to less interesting content on the site — and that wasn’t OK with me. I wanted the site to succeed, even if that meant I had to leave. (Also, I wanted some sleep, to read books again, and to experience this thing called a weekend that I’ve heard everyone rave about.)
The last month has only affirmed my decision. It’s been great to see all the good things happening on AfterEllen.com since I left — from the interviews Karman and the writers have lined up (many of which haven’t been published yet), to Trish’s Morning Brew column (which I love and wish I’d thought of myself), to the interesting entertainment coverage they have in the works that won’t be published for awhile.
I talk to Karman and Trish a few times a week, but mostly just to answer random technical questions, catch up on the latest lesbian entertainment gossip, or just to say hi.
Turns out, they don’t need me all that much — and I couldn’t be happier (or more well-rested). Now that I get to be a guest at the party, instead of hosting it, it’s fun again! I still tend to automatically scour for typos (a habit that will probably take me years to undue), but now when I read AfterEllen.com’s blog posts and articles, I just get to enjoy them with everyone else.
Not that I have a ton of time to do that, unfortunately — I’m hard at work again, on an entertainment-related site still in development that Lori and I were recruited to run.
Yes, it was a short break. But my new job doesn’t require writing or interviewing anyone.
And for the first time in years, watching bad lesbian movies is entirely optional.
sounds like your changes are working well for you (and for everyone) can’t wait to hear about/see your new site!
glad to hear your rested, and i am enjoying the new site here, please don’tlook for typos in this i’m a terrable speller especially after a 20hr day haha have a cracking weekend
It’s good to hear that you’ve been enjoying relaxing and are able to step back and see that it was the right decision to leave. To the AE readers it may have seemed sudden but we know it must have been a lengthy and difficult decision to make.
I’m glad you are happy in your new role and I look forward to seeing what you do next.
Glad to hear you and Lori are well rested, cant wait to see what you do next, make sure u let us know all about it, Im enjoying your new site. : )
Glad to hear you made the right decision, and intrigued by this new site you mention. Is there a launch date yet?
Thanks everyone for the comments!
Re: the new site - no launch date yet, but aiming for sometime in the next 3 to 6 months. I’ll post updates when I have them.
Hey Sarah!
Mixed emotions. Sad that you’ve left Afterellen, though I’m glad to hear about your new site with Lori! Is it going to be an expansion of this one, or an entirely new site altogether? What’s the topic/subject area to touch on?
LOL about watching bad lesbian movies. Who cares if people thinks it’s bad, as long as you like it!
I know I’m being terribly obnoxious here, but shouldn’t the ‘undue’ in “I still tend to automatically scour for typos (a habit that will probably take me years to undue) be ‘undo’ …?
Happy Thanksgiving from an avid and yearlong AE follower — who is so grateful that you created AE <3
@raelin - it’s a new site, created by start-up; I can’t go into details yet about the subject area except it’s entertainment related (mostly).
@ane - that was an intentional typo, just a little joke b/c the sentence was about scanning for typos.
Thanks to both of you for the comments!
Had a little chuckle at “undue” -and figured that you hadn’t lost the edge after only one month…! Enjoy yourself, you most certainly deserve it!
Hi Sarah,
What a surprise to find you have left AfterEllen! I guess I shouldn’t be so suprised since I don’t browse the site as regularly as I used to, but I guess I unconsciously expected it would always be there when I checked back and that you’d always be the face of it.
In any case, though of course you’ve already heard this hundreds of times: Thank you for all your hard work! I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as most of your readers.
I see this post is almost a month old, so I hope you’ll still read this comment some time or an other. And I hope it’s not too full of errors, otherwise I’ll just blame it on English not being my first language
I like this website by the way; still enjoy your writing as much as ever. Anyway, it’s kind of odd writing like this to you since you don’t know me at all ^_^” (though I guess it’s become customary on the Internet)
Good luck with everything!
Yuen
(The Netherlands)
P.S. The picture in the header of this website really made me laugh. The computers in the terminal room of our study at uni are all named after Star Trek characters. Of course, this information is of no use to you whatsoever, sorry
Oops, I just noticed the header displays a different quote every time. To clarify: it read “resistance is futile” when I was writing the previous post.
Sarah,
Everyone needs a break every once in a while, and I can understand that after 7 years it was time to step down. Your (me!) loyal afterellen readers will miss you though.
I just wanted to say thank you for creating such a wonderful site, one that I stumbled upon during my quest for answers and one that opened me up to a whole new world of possibilities. Afterellen gave me new friends, new role models and of course new crushes
But most importantly it showed me that there was a whole LGBT community out there, and as I lept head first out of the closet I did it comfortably. Afterellen showed me that there are web series and books that I can actually relate too and taught me to be proud and stand up for the community that i’ve grown to love so much.
So Sarah Warn, even if you never come back to us, please know that I will always be greatful to you as well as your amazing (ex)staff.
Good luck on your new project and remember, don’t work too hard!
Cheers,
Stephanie