Dealing with Burnout?

What are some ways you deal with writing burnout? Not so much writer's/creative block, but just when you feel kind of brain-tired, perhaps a little less motivated, and the words aren't flowing as much? I have two current WIPs (thanks, ADD) and I'm chipping away at them but I just can't seem to find that smooth sweet spot where the words come out the right way. Have any of you ever felt this? What did you do to remedy it?

I'm stuck somewhere between just forcing myself to hammer away at the keyboard, and taking a break, reading some new stuff and coming back to it later (which is probably the right thing to do.)

But at the same time I feel like time is of some essence and it's like I HAVE to get these done. Am I going bonkers here?

 

Nope, promise you're not. I am in the same boat as you. Huge burnout going on. I feel though if I take a break its so hard to get back into it. I'm struggling getting back to writing (but I also have had a lot going on as well so the time restrictions has been tough) but if I don't do something it will never get done.

So don't stress or feel bad. That's an even worse feeling.

Here's what has helped me get moving.

Create a to-list for the day or week. Have a deadline.
Don't worry about following the outline. Skip to those scenes that you really want to write.
Talk about what you're struggling on. (doesn't have to be to another person, can be to a wall or to the air...) I do my best thinking if I can talk myself through it.
Write something totally different.
Change up where you do your writing. (I can never get anything done at home)
Don't make a word count goal, just write and whatever you've got is a job well done.
Switch up how you write. either have pen and paper, use a recorder, talk to text app.
Always think positive, don't talk down on yourself that nothings getting done. No matter how little progress you make, its something.
Do something to engage your brain. pick up a book, puzzle, video game, exercise. (switch up your schedule/routine somehow.)
Just don't force yourself to write everyday. Switch that up too.

I struggle most having to sit in front of the computer screen. I blame college for that. So I always have a notepad and pen (I also always have my phone) on me in case inspiration hits and I can get those words down before I forget. At the end of the day or week, I'll type up everything I have. Its amazing how those words double.

That's all I got. Hope it helps

 

I never suffer from burnout. Maybe it's because I take weekends off, I don't know, but I've been cranking out book after book after book for years on end with never an unplanned day off and I'm ready to get back into it tomorrow.

 

What @Cephus said. Take those weekends off. I believe it plays into why I'm so susceptible to burnout is the fact I overwork myself. Between two jobs, college classes, and a farm to manage I don't really get a day off. For me to get anything done I need a plan, write out a schedule, and don't forget to make time for myself.

 

I don't do it to avoid burnout, I do it because I want to spend time with my family and that's when we're all home together. I could write 7 days a week, I simply choose not to. Any holidays where my wife and I are home together, I take those days off too. I don't know if that helps, but family is more important than writing.

 

^ That's very close to what I was coming in to say.

It's possible you're starting to outgrow your material. As a writer you'll have times when you sort of suddenly level up and your ideas get more sophisticated. If the stories you're working on are from an earlier period or don't reflect that upgraded sophistication, they're going to feel off and dull.

Of course there are other things as well. Possibly there's something in your life that needs more attention than you're giving it now. If that's the case, then you won't be free to write or anything else until you've taken care of whatever it is. Making art requires a calm meditative state, and anything that disturbs that must be dealt with before you can return to that state.

 

Yeah, when I have other things in my life I need to be attending to, I can't write.

When feeling burnt-out, I find that reading for pleasure helps. Maybe doing something else that you enjoy would do the trick, too.

Of course, my issue is that even though I have these ideas, I hate my writing (perfectionism and hyper-competitiveness), and I don't like the process. There are people like Cephus who get a real kick out of it, but I only get a kick out of "having written", as one of those famous people once said. I find everything about the work to be a chore, no matter how good I think my story idea might be. Never understood how the work could be enjoyable, unless you simply don't view it as work, and how one couldn't view it as work is equally baffling.

Now, I *do* find bloggy writing cathartic. It's like a means of helping me think, of helping me learn more about myself or something else that I am studying, and I enjoy sharing that. I'm trying to get better at the sharing part, the audience part. That is to say, I'm working on making it less self-indulgent and alienating.

But I don't get that same kick out of writing fiction. Luckily for you, that doesn't sound like the same problem you're having. So again, I advise refilling your well with good books (whatever a good book is to you), maybe taking those weekends off (or whatever day/s works for you), or doing something else that you enjoy for a time.

Or, maybe you could try a different kind of writing for a little while? Blog entries? Poems? Non-fiction? Book reviews? Maybe starting a different project, even a smaller one such as a short-story rather than a novel? I don't know.

 

Take a break. Relax, do something else. Don't write until you feel the itch to write again.

 

Well part of it is, as a freelance writer (thanks to being laid off from my FT marketing job when Covid hit...which is also a sort of blessing since it allowed me much more time to write), I have many articles and projects on deadline each month. Those are the only word counts I adhere to. In between, and/or when I finish those, then I have the time to write what I want. In this case, the follow up to my first collection, and another collection of non-fiction essays.

My severe ADD precludes me from writing a full length novel right now (at least that's the excuse I give myself ) so my published works aside from magazine articles and web content are short story collections and essays. The "burnout" I described as having is not really a blockage it's just...an unsmooth process. Like driving on a rough road while riding the brakes. I just feel so herky-jerky about it lately.

 

I also have ADD. Nothing motivates more than an impending deadline, and nothing fuels the burnout more than having plenty of time. That's when I tend to get distracted by random squirrels, etc. I find that mental state and environment make a huge difference. I decide I'm going to do this. I get everything ready. I have a particular aromatherapy scent that I put on, pour myself some coffee or tea, and I put myself in that state of mind where this shit is going to happen, and I don't have a choice anymore.

 

Reece makes a good point. Just thought I'd concur: make sure your environment is working for you to the best of your ability. As somebody who is also easily distracted, what has helped me is actively mitigating those distractions, especially in advance. Then, a strange thing happens where I get "into the zone", and I often don't notice new distractions that might arise. So it's getting into that flow-state that can be difficult. Staying there, at least for me, is somewhat easier.

You could also try meditative practices. I realized that many things that were distracting me, were only distracting me because I was labeling them as distractions in the first place, and giving them that power over me. It's also possible that you may be distracted by other things going on in your mind, rather than physical distractions in your surroundings.

Like Reece said, try to design a ritual that's both enjoyable and effective.

 

Well, having a ritual, or at least a routine, isn't the problem. I've been doing the same thing every day at almost the same time, for months: Wake up - meditate - breakfast - gym - write. So I have my personal and work routines pretty structured. My immediate writing environment is all set up too in my home office, and suited to my comfort (minus my terrible desk chair which I'll be replacing soon.)

It's just settling into that flow has been noticeably more difficult lately. When I get my freelance assignments and/or make new story pitches, I can hammer those out and usually submit them before deadline. It's my personal/other writing that feels like it's taking a punch in the gut recently. I should punch back I just don't want to force it either.

 

One thing I might point-out, unfortunately without solution, is that your freelance assignments I assume must be structured, right? As in, it sounds like you have a customer who is paying you to do something specific, by a deadline, and with that there is some kind of guidelines or criteria to meet.

With personal writing, this is not typically the case, in my opinion. Suddenly you are no longer writing to satisfy a customer's satisfaction.

I'm not trying to confuse you. Rather, I'm genuinely wondering if you think what you're experiencing is burnout, or something relevant to the discrepancy above?

 

Yes, it could be. I write for dozens of different businesses on many different topics but essentially the structure is the same. There's a range for the word count, and some other conventions that are included.

So there may be some challenging crossover to personal writing. I almost know for a fact that when I would write so much promotional material (which you have to TELL, you can't always show depending on space and medium) that that habit affected my fiction writing and got me in to the "over tell/not enough show" habit.