On Burn Out and Rest

 Happy Wednesday! 

I think I've talked about burn out and writer's block before... probably because I experience periods of them quite a bit haha But here I am, talking about them yet again with some (hopefully) new and helpful tips on how to get through them both! 

I've been having a bit of writer's block lately. Ok... a lot of writer's block. It's been a bit of a rough writing patch all the way around and I think I've been feeling a little burnt out. I started to put a lot of pressure and expectations on my writing and forcing myself to write even when I'm tired and drained. I realized on Monday while writing with a friend that writing has started to feel like a waste of time. It's a joyless kind of writing that feels like a chore. And if you're a writer, you know how awful that feels because writing is something that we do out of love and passion and it brings us so much joy and fulfilment. I honestly haven't felt that (for any extended period of time) since I finished the last book in The Archive Series back in March. I've written almost three full first drafts of different projects and all of them I've come away feeling less than satisfied and very much discouraged and unhappy with my writing. The only draft I felt any sort of enjoyment in the writing of it was The Runaway and it was a short lived joy... 

I realize now that maybe I should have taken some time before drafting anything. Maybe I should have given myself a break after finishing The Archive Series instead of instantly wanting to dive into something new. And maybe I should have given myself a break after writing The Runaway instead of jumping right into the sequel. Writing the sequel has been a real struggle. It's rivaling the sequel of Weapon Icean with how difficult the first draft is being and since starting my Oceanography class... I feel like the stress has only gotten worse. This class's workload is no joke and it's left me with not having a lot of mental energy to write after getting all my work done for the day. 

All of this has made me realize how important it is to rest and to take breaks. To not instantly throw myself into the next thing just because I'm afraid of not having a big project to work on. And I mean, seriously, I do have a big project to work on! Along with all of that, I'm also editing Emerald Phantom and getting it ready to release in November and I just published the first book in that series! So, I don't have to worry about not having a big project to work on since I'll be editing and working on a five book series for, well, however long it takes for me to publish four more books in a series haha 

But it's hard to feel so tired and drained while doing something that you usually love. It's hard to feel burnt out and unmotivated and dispassionate about writing. Not having a story to fall in love with and characters to walk side by side with after having a full year of that in 2020. I've been rewatching Shadowhunters and there's a scene where Magnus tells Clary to draw as he tells her a hard story because it was her bliss and I realized, writing is my bliss. It's the thing that makes life easier and happier and brighter. And when I don't have anything to write and I feel unmotivated and burnt out... that bliss is gone even though I know it's a temporary feeling. 

What I'm really saying is... I should have given myself rest when I needed it from the beginning. You can't go, go, go all the time and expect yourself to not burn out. That's just not how we work. Our bodies and minds and hearts need rest and that's OK. I was so afraid after finishing The Archive Series that I would never write anything like that again. That I would forget how to write. I let that fear drive me to jump from one project to the other without having anything to show for it and ended up tiring myself out and leaving me discouraged and frustrated. Now I know not to let my fear get in the way of giving myself rest. Of letting myself have time to process and not feel this constant need to put out content. Because for me anyways, once I became published, I always feel like I have to stay relevant. I always feel like I need to be putting out content or publishing something or writing and being productive because if I'm not then I'll fall behind everyone else. I'll become irrelevant. But sometimes we need seasons of not putting out content. Sometimes we need seasons to just edit instead of drafting or drafting while editing a separate project. Sometimes we need to let ourselves not be productive for a little while and just be... 

I thought I would share some ideas I have for how to help burn out. Some things I'm going to try because I want to get back to writing things I enjoy. I want to get back to writing again and not feeling so discouraged and frustrated with it all. 

• Don't stop writing. I read an article all about writer's burn out and how a lot of writers quit writing after they have burn out... and they never write again. I actually put up a post a few months back on a writer's Facebook group explaining how I felt and so many writers commented saying how they felt the same way a year or even a few years ago and stopped writing and never got back to it. That scared me so much. I couldn't imagine stopping writing and not going back to it. The article said to combat that while also letting yourself rest, is to keep writing. Don't stop just because you don't feel like it. But I would also say, don't over do it. Write some short stories instead or a novella or just write a hundred words a day. Just don't stop writing because sometimes once you stop... you don't start again. 
• Take the pressure and expectations off. My creativity suffers and dies when I put pressure and expectations on myself, which is exactly what I've been doing for months. The constant need and desire to put content out and stay up to date and relevant sort of sucked the life right out of my creativity. I thought once I put Golden Touch out, that would help... but it hasn't. So now I have to stop writing to publish and stop putting all that pressure on myself and let go. Just write for fun with zero expectations to publish any time soon. As if I would anyways. I have four books to still publish in this series and I definitely do not plan to publish two series simultaneously. 
• Refill your creative well. I've been doing this a lot lately. I've been reading a lot more than I did at the beginning of the year and watching more shows and seeing new movies. Consuming good art and entertainment that I love has really helped and inspired me a lot. 
• Keep your eyes on your own lane. Another thing killing my creativity right now is measuring myself up to other people and finding myself lacking. I see other indie books getting way more attention than my books. I see other indie authors becoming popular and being where I would like to be right now. I see books getting lots of reviews and love on social media and authors having found their fanbase and thriving. And... while I am happy for them... I'm also jealous and envious and it's discouraging. It makes me put more pressure and expectations on myself to do more and be more. But sometimes you have to put the blinders on and focus on your own road. Harder said than done... but I'm trying to be better at this. 
• Work on something you love. Right now, editing Emerald Phantom has been amazing for me. I absolutely love this book and I totally fangirl over my own characters and am always so excited about this book every time I sit down to edit it. Something I have never felt before when editing a book. Usually I hate editing but I'll never not be happy to dive back into the Archive world. Whether it's editing or writing or going back to an old project you enjoyed a lot, just find something you enjoy to work on. 

I hope some of this is helpful to you. I'm trying hard to do all of these things. To take the pressure off and let go of my discouragement and frustration. It's hard, but something I need to do if I want to get back to enjoying writing and feeling better overall. 

Have you ever struggled with writer's block or burn out? Do you have any tips for how to get through them?