Many of us “choose” to write because we feel an inner need to make-up stories, play with words, to let our imaginations run wild, and to give our voice a forum. We usually decide to write what we like to read or what we think we can write better than the book we just read. It’s easy to fall in love with our characters, envision ourselves in the settings (even if just as an observer), and feel protective of our creations as we send it out into the world. Although we may have dreams of fame and fortune, we don’t choose a career as an author because of the financial security or job benefits.
Writing SHOULD be something we enjoy.
Unfortunately while we hone our craft and begin writing the novel we always dreamed about, real life intercedes. There are bills to pay, families to take care of, mundane house-keeping to interfere with our creative side, and other life responsibilities to monopolize our time. Maybe we are holding down “other” jobs to support ourselves and we have to make extra time to get any writing in. Or maybe we consider ourselves lucky enough to get other writing jobs to earn some real money, but the writing isn’t creative, there are unreasonable deadlines and very little reward for finishing the product. Still we push ahead and force the words out and then feel too spent by the time we turn to our creative writing, the kind we want to be doing.
The result is Writer Burnout when the words just won’t come, we are too tired to even think and putting the words on paper to satisfy an insistent publisher becomes more chore than calling. How can we avoid and survive burnout?
Prioritize – if you have deadlines or need to do research, get the things you need to do out of the way so that you aren’t feeling over-pressured or feel like you failed because you missed a deadline. Be selective – accepting tedious assignments in order to pay your mortgage is one thing, but accepting tedious assignments so you can buy frivolous items you know you really don’t need or want is very different. Be realistic – an editor calls with an assignment and an unreasonable deadline and there is no possible way you can get it done, let the editor know you need more time BEFORE committing to do it, chances are if you (and the editor) are reasonable you can buy yourself more time. Negotiate – you know the prices you are being paid on your just-to-pay-the-bills-work are well below the standard rates, suggest an increase but be reasonable and willing to compromise and you may be able to lose some of the un-fun work and leave more time for creativity.
If you feel yourself beginning to drag or you no longer look forward to writing (even your creative work): Take a break – nourish yourself with words, in other words, read, read, read; Take a walk, breathe some fresh air, play a few games (Sudoku, word searches, solitaire…) or watch some TV; Change your environment. Make sure you are getting enough sleep and don’t forget to eat regularly with healthy foods. Make time to exercise and stretch. Write something else, even if it is just mindless free-writing. Staring at a blank computer screen or forcing meaningless words won’t make you feel accomplished. Change your routine, instead of spending hours updating your (necessary) promotional social media and then turning to your writing, try writing FIRST.
Learn to applaud every accomplishment and don’t worry about writing something that EVERYONE will like, that is impossible, just write the best you can. Believe in your story, write about the things you like, and be proud to call yourself a writer.
Writing Exercise: Free write about something you are passionate about. Set your timer for 15-minutes and just write, don’t worry about editing or even making sense. Just write about anything, no matter how random, until the timer goes off.
Writing Prompt: List the last five things you wrote about, published or not. Now write five things you would like to write about. How many of these things match?
Challenge Assignment: Using the characters in your last WIP or published work, (use characters from a book you read if you don’t have your own), and write them into one of your own significant childhood memories – use only those fictional characters. Make sure you keep those characters true to who they are.
