Asking letter-writers to hold off until next year's cycle

[corc00]

Hey, folks! I'll try to make this quick...

I got my undergraduate degree six years ago. I've done a fair bit of work for my applications: took the GRE (did well!), wrote a statement of purpose, and asked for letters of recommendation.

I've also lost all of my undergraduate writing samples. I've been working on a new one, but it's not going well - so poorly, in fact, that I'm thinking I might not be able to apply this year. On the bright side, I'm getting a better idea of the sorts of works I'd like to engage with and how I'd like to engage with them; the downside is that, even though I've been writing professionally for some time now, my skills as an academic writer have diminished considerably.

Anyway, my question is: is there a gracious way for me to ask my letter-writers to hold on to their recommendations for next year's cycle? I gave them ample notice and I suspect the letters are already written. I don't want to seem like I'm not serious about graduate school, but I'm having serious doubts about my viability.