Dealing with burnout

[Taribolokemi]

I'm not sure if what I'm experiencing is actually burn out. I have a lot of ideas, but when I try to get myself to put them down it feels like a chore. I tried switching to another project. That helped for a while, but it's been a month and I find myself staring at blank screen after blank screen even though I know what I want to write. And I'm technically not even writing, just plotting.
I've tried everything I can think of. Reading more; I've probably read thousands of words just this week from published books and e-books and online authors and graphic novels and webtoons- I've slept, I've eaten, I've tried to stay off my phone. I've been super stressed because of exams (first one is tomorrow) but normally when I'm stressed writing relaxes me. I don't know what's wrong and I'm getting a bit concerned lol. I told myself I'd be done plotting Draft 2 bt February, but at the rate I'm going I won't be anywhere neat that goal.

So ig the TLDR is; what do you guys do to deal with possibly stress-related writing burnout?

 

[Unimportant]

I'm not sure if what I'm experiencing is actually burn out. I have a lot of ideas, but when I try to get myself to put them down it feels like a chore. I tried switching to another project. That helped for a while, but it's been a month and I find myself staring at blank screen after blank screen even though I know what I want to write. And I'm technically not even writing, just plotting.
I've tried everything I can think of. Reading more; I've probably read thousands of words just this week from published books and e-books and online authors and graphic novels and webtoons- I've slept, I've eaten, I've tried to stay off my phone. I've been super stressed because of exams (first one is tomorrow) but normally when I'm stressed writing relaxes me. I don't know what's wrong and I'm getting a bit concerned lol. I told myself I'd be done plotting Draft 2 bt February, but at the rate I'm going I won't be anywhere neat that goal.

So ig the TLDR is; what do you guys do to deal with possibly stress-related writing burnout?

My guess is that your upcoming exams (tomorrow!!!) has your brain telling itself it should be studying, so it's derailing any writing stuff.

Wait til exams are over and see how you are?

ETA: Take that with a grain of salt. Maybe a whole box. I've realised belatedly that it's MY brain saying that you should be studying for your upcoming exams. Once a teacher, always a teacher, I guess!

 

[Brigid Barry]

Tl;dr: I stop writing for a while.

 

[Chris P]

Great question, and perhaps better placed in the Conquering Challenges or Writer's Block forum where it might get more replies? You can as a mod to move it.

I agree with both above: Take a break until you have more brainspace for it. More generally, for me, I try not to fight it. Any deadlines I have in my personal writing are self-imposed, and my work writing nowadays occurs during work hours. Yeah, it would have been awesome to have my non-fic project wrapped up and being considered by a publisher, but that just didn't happen. Guilting myself over it only makes me less effective at both the writing and the non-writing lives I lead.

 

[Maryn]

Yeah, this is about writer’s block. Scooted sideways.

 

[Taribolokemi]

Great question, and perhaps better placed in the Conquering Challenges or Writer's Block forum where it might get more replies? You can as a mod to move it.

I agree with both above: Take a break until you have more brainspace for it. More generally, for me, I try not to fight it. Any deadlines I have in my personal writing are self-imposed, and my work writing nowadays occurs during work hours. Yeah, it would have been awesome to have my non-fic project wrapped up and being considered by a publisher, but that just didn't happen. Guilting myself over it only makes me less effective at both the writing and the non-writing lives I lead.

oh my bad, I didn't realize lol. Should probably have checked that

 

[Taribolokemi]

My guess is that your upcoming exams (tomorrow!!!) has your brain telling itself it should be studying, so it's derailing any writing stuff.

Wait til exams are over and see how you are?

ETA: Take that with a grain of salt. Maybe a whole box. I've realised belatedly that it's MY brain saying that you should be studying for your upcoming exams. Once a teacher, always a teacher, I guess!

that might be it lol. The exam I had today was cancelled so I've been trying to cram as much as possible in all day. Guess my brain is still in work-work-work mode

 

[Taribolokemi]

Yeah, this is about writer’s block. Scooted sideways.

thank you! sorry for posting in the wrong forum lol

 

[Maryn]

No problem whatsoever.

 

[Chris P]

oh my bad, I didn't realize lol. Should probably have checked that

No worries! It's something we all do at least once, and now you have that story to tell

 

[ElaineB]

A month doesn’t seem worrisome yet. If exam stress is different from other stresses where writing helped, then things should ease once you’re done.

I find when life gets stressful, I have to let go of the writing. Thankfully, my income doesn’t depend on it (though if it did, I’d probably be more productive). I knew December would be tough, so let it go. Now the hard part is getting back into writing. (So much easier to putter around in writing forums.)

Everyone’s different. For me, staying away from writing eventually burns itself out and I find I’m anxious to get back to it.

Go easy on yourself. Get through exams. Then see if you can recommit. Might mean adjusting that schedule.

I did have a job where I had to write a bunch of short articles for a magazine (10 times a year). Without fail, every month I’d get the reporting done then panic. I couldn’t write the damn pieces till the very last minute. It worked, but it sucked. But it made me good with deadlines.

Good luck!

 

[Taribolokemi]

A month doesn’t seem worrisome yet. If exam stress is different from other stresses where writing helped, then things should ease once you’re done.

I find when life gets stressful, I have to let go of the writing. Thankfully, my income doesn’t depend on it (though if it did, I’d probably be more productive). I knew December would be tough, so let it go. Now the hard part is getting back into writing. (So much easier to putter around in writing forums.)

Everyone’s different. For me, staying away from writing eventually burns itself out and I find I’m anxious to get back to it.

Go easy on yourself. Get through exams. Then see if you can recommit. Might mean adjusting that schedule.

I did have a job where I had to write a bunch of short articles for a magazine (10 times a year). Without fail, every month I’d get the reporting done then panic. I couldn’t write the damn pieces till the very last minute. It worked, but it sucked. But it made me good with deadlines.

Good luck!

i'll try my best. thank you for the advice!

 

[be frank]

Towards the end of 2022, I was really struggling to write. I was halfway through writing a WIP I loved, I knew exactly what came next... but same as the OP, I just found myself staring at the screen, unable to write it. It took a good couple of months of struggling through for a friend to identify it as burnout.

At at first, that sounded ridiculous to me. How could I possibly have burnout when I hadn't even been writing anything?! But I sat back and thought about it, and I realised that despite not making any tangible progress in my WIP, I'd still been expending the same mental energy as if I had been writing. I was still sitting at the laptop for the same amount of time, still looking at the document futilely willing the words to come, still taking on the same load... just without anything to show for it.

And the thing is, that was actually more mentally draining than if I'd been successfully writing, because it was being compounded by the frustration and guilt of not producing any output.

So how did I fix it? Same as others above, I gave myself a break (figuratively and physically). Obviously, it's different if you're on a deadline, but if not... publishing is generally not in any hurry, and it's not going anywhere (hopefully!). I told my agent I was taking some time away (they were very understanding), and I gave myself permission to just... not write. I told myself there'd be no guilt and no feelings of "I should be writing! I'm wasting time!" I was going to take a holiday from writing.

I spent a few months not even looking at the WIP. Didn't think about it. I baked. I read books. I caught up on TV shows. I gardened. I made balloon animals. I compiled my family's recipes into a cookbook. And eventually... a few months into 2023, my brain started ticking over again. I didn't actively start thinking about my WIP, but it wriggled its way back into my subconscious. I'd find myself coming up with ideas in the shower or as I fell asleep at night. And then one day, just like that, I was ready to write again. My brain eventually went, "Okay, I'm back, let's get to it."

Anyway, I'm now a big proponent of "if you can afford to, take a proper break if you need it." Pushing through and pushing through and pushing through is seldom the most effective route for anything, long term. Same as athletes take time away from training to refresh and avoid injuries, writers' brains need time away to refresh and avoid burnout.

 

[Taribolokemi]

At at first, that sounded ridiculous to me. How could I possibly have burnout when I hadn't even been writing anything?! But I sat back and thought about it, and I realised that despite not making any tangible progress in my WIP, I'd still been expending the same mental energy as if I had been writing. I was still sitting at the laptop for the same amount of time, still looking at the document futilely willing the words to come, still taking on the same load... just without anything to show for it.

This is exactly how I feel. All of the energy feels wasted. I definitely need to redirect myself for a while as well. Thank you for the advice!

 

[ElaineB]

And the thing is, that was actually more mentally draining than if I'd been successfully writing, because it was being compounded by the frustration and guilt of not producing any output.

God yes, this! Actually writing brings me a high. Staring at the screen is just demoralizing!

 

[alexp336]

Anyway, I'm now a big proponent of "if you can afford to, take a proper break if you need it." Pushing through and pushing through and pushing through is seldom the most effective route for anything, long term. Same as athletes take time away from training to refresh and avoid injuries, writers' brains need time away to refresh and avoid burnout.

This is such incredible advice. I think, personally, the times I've had the most trouble writing are the times when I think I ought to be writing: the self-applied pressure is huge. If you can give yourself permission to stop for a while, and say I'm not writing and that's okay because one day I'll write again that somehow makes a huge mental difference, for me anyway.

Often, in those situations, I'll find it's the times I'm not sitting-at-the-computer-waiting-for-the-words-to-come-why-won't-the-words-come-dammit where my brain unlocks something. In the shower is a common one, or if I'm doing a long, fairly boring drive. No music, just the sound of the road and whatever is churning in my head at the time, and then suddenly I'll have something I desperately want to write down, or a whole chunk of dialog I can just hear perfectly. And I can only assume the reason for that is the absence of "you should be writing!!!" anxiety.

tl;dr: Give your brain a break. You clearly have a lot going on right now, and self-imposed guilt for not meeting self-applied targets isn't going to help with any of that. Stopping writing for a little while today doesn't mean you won't pick it up again later

 

[Nether]

I'm not sure if what I'm experiencing is actually burn out. I have a lot of ideas, but when I try to get myself to put them down it feels like a chore.

Well, when writing feels like a chore, sometimes it's time to sit down and do your chores

Granted, you also have to ask yourself why you write. If it's mostly just for fun, I can understand not doing it when it isn't fun (although sometimes things aren't fun until they are fun). However, if you want to make a career out of it, very careers are always 100% fun, enjoyable, and fulfilling.

But if you need to take time off for exams or something, take time off for exams (although maybe you're done with them now?). The only thing to watch for is when there's always another reason to delay writing because that's when you're really in trouble.

I tried switching to another project. That helped for a while, but it's been a month and I find myself staring at blank screen after blank screen even though I know what I want to write. And I'm technically not even writing, just plotting.

I would just write anything myself. If you know what you're going to do, just do whatever is along those lines and either fix it up or chuck it later.

I've tried everything I can think of. Reading more; I've probably read thousands of words just this week from published books and e-books and online authors and graphic novels and webtoons-

tbh, I find overconsumption of media can lead to a decrease in creativity, not an increase. When the mind isn't entertained, it does more to entertain itself. Honestly, the more time has gone on, the more I suspect intake and output can occupy the same amount of creative space. Which isn't to say that intake isn't an important part of the creative process, especially when somebody is younger and hasn't necessarily read/watched a lot of stories.

That's also not getting into the fact that professionally-produced work can be discouraging because it leads to unwarranted comparisons (ie, your raw work vs writing that's been through multiple hands -- agents, editors, etc -- who do that for a living)

And there are a lot of recreational activities that will fatigue you.

I've slept, I've eaten, I've tried to stay off my phone. I've been super stressed because of exams (first one is tomorrow) but normally when I'm stressed writing relaxes me. I don't know what's wrong and I'm getting a bit concerned lol. I told myself I'd be done plotting Draft 2 bt February, but at the rate I'm going I won't be anywhere neat that goal.

Yeah, well, if you miss a goal, you miss a goal. Maybe the goal was unrealistic, maybe you learned something that will help you hit the next goal. I've missed a lot of writing goals over the years. It happens.

And plotting can be trickier than other processes. It's one reason why I usually don't allocate time specifically to plotting, it's something I do while working on other stuff. Not necessarily because it's hard to coalesce an idea, but because it also takes time to evaluate how the ideas work and fit together.

So ig the TLDR is; what do you guys do to deal with possibly stress-related writing burnout?

Personally, I buckle down. Eventually the burnout burns out.

And non-writing stress can be deferred by writing.

 

[BustedPrinter]

Myself, I think there are different kinds of writers block. Without question one of them is feeling like your words are not good enough, but that is only but one of them.

Another is distraction, and it can come in many forms. Like exams, or in my case selling a couple of houses that I have. It is pretty hard to envision your next scene you are writing about when you are wondering about what will be on your tests, or if you are getting the right price and buyer for your houses. Those stressful distractions cut into the creative writing process.

Another is what you write about. A few months ago I really struggled with doing the same ole novel type which was thrillers. I could not write because it seemed it was just the same ole, same ole. So I always wanted to do a Femme Fetale so I did one... in like a months time. It was what I needed to break the same-ole-type. I state the time taken to write it because the words flew on the page because I was free to just write.

Another is guilt. I am struggling with this now. I can write at work, and now is our slow time so I can write up to 14 hours a day between home and work. In the past few months I have, and have really been productive. But now... I still have all kinds of time to write, but what to write about? My WIP stalled, and yet I got hours upon hours that is being wasted. Soon we will enter our busy season and that time to write will end. My wife does not make it any easier. Every day she asks me, "how many words did you write today". She means well, but there is a lot of guilt when I don't get that many typed out. Its a lot of pressure.

But it is a personal challenge. Writing is insanely personal, so it only stands to reason that personal issues will also reflect in an inability to write.

So too is withdrawal. Yes, withdrawal! When writers do not write there is a withdrawal because for highly creative people... like writers... we get this shot of dopamine (the hormone that gives us a euphoric feeling) and when we do not write, our body craves it. If you think I am being silly the next time you write that PERFECT character description, or nail that setting perfectly, see how you feel inside. You get a shot of dopamine from doing that.

 

[Undercover]

Yes, I would agree. Different kinds of burn out. Rejections can be another stage of burn out. That will do it, surely. If you're getting nothing but rejection after rejection? That could make you quit all together! At this point, you have to be tough as nails, and just roll with it.

There are times when I roll with it, and times I just don't. Like right now, it's been months since I worked on my writing. I still do writerly things, but not the writing itself. I have a lot of books stacked up and a lot of them, (all of them lol) haven't been working. I did it long ago, but as the years go by, it's become unbearably difficult to even get a full request. I remember I was so happy on one of my full requests, that I wrote an entire book while I waited for the answer. It was a no of course, but I had another book to submit so I felt it as a win in my mind.

So years ago, I would get 2 fulls in a day! Now I'm lucky if I get one a year. It's sad, and it's cramped my creativity as a whole. Personalized rejections are even super hard to get. I was fortunate in the past, but now? 7 years of misfortune. I'm asking myself, do you really want to continue? You don't have to, ya know. Haha I'm so deep into this writing jazz, 20 years. 15 and a half books written. I have a virgin book, untouched by comments and rejections. So precious I just want to keep it that way forever. But there's another voice that won't let me. lol So I'll ride out this 55th thousand burnout, and go back to it eventually.

 

[Olden Boy]

Myself, I think there are different kinds of writers block. Without question one of them is feeling like your words are not good enough

That's my problem right there. When it seems I've run out of steam, I go over what I've already written and edit it down, finding improvements here and there, and usually by the time I'm done I find I've slipped back into story mode again.

 

[TheoreticalJoe]

Another helpful thing I found lately while on a Youtube rabbit hole journey at 3 AM was a piece of advice that I never considered before.

It came from a content creator that was giving a chat member advice about creative pursuits. This particular chat member was having problems creating things after work or school (I believe they were also a writer) and the content creator's advice is something I've been implementing with some modicum of success.

Apparently if you have something else to do that your brain considers work, or stressful, be that actual work, studying, school, etc...You should take a nap once you finish the first thing, doesn't have to be long - just an hour is effective - and then when you wake up, your brain will have separated the thing your trying to do (create something) from the things you've had to do all day (work or school or etc) and then it won't feel like work anymore.

I admit, I was skeptical at first, but damned if he didn't hit the nail on the head with that one!

 

[JoeySL]

take a nap once you finish the first thing, doesn't have to be long - just an hour is effective

I never considered this, but definitely worth trying.

 

[rachel-writes-stuff]

I don't know if this will work for you but something that I do is I try and write a short story based on a song. Either as a writing exercise (I once wrote a story based on Super Rich Kids by Frank Ocean) or as a way to articulate what you're already trying to write (I listened to BRAT by Chrissy Chlapecka while I was writing a story with a powerful and feminine female protagonist). It gets the gears going and is a way to tell a story emphasizing your unique voice, which burnout can trample. I don't know if that makes sense but that's what I do.

Just a thought!

 

[BustedPrinter]

That's my problem right there. When it seems I've run out of steam, I go over what I've already written and edit it down, finding improvements here and there, and usually by the time I'm done I find I've slipped back into story mode again.

I used to do this a lot and sometimes I still do. To cure it, I just read the first sentence of a paragraph of the last chapter I left off, but all dialog. This lets me remember where I left off, but without letting myself get into “edit mode”.

 

[rservello]

I'm not sure if what I'm experiencing is actually burn out. I have a lot of ideas, but when I try to get myself to put them down it feels like a chore. I tried switching to another project. That helped for a while, but it's been a month and I find myself staring at blank screen after blank screen even though I know what I want to write. And I'm technically not even writing, just plotting.
I've tried everything I can think of. Reading more; I've probably read thousands of words just this week from published books and e-books and online authors and graphic novels and webtoons- I've slept, I've eaten, I've tried to stay off my phone. I've been super stressed because of exams (first one is tomorrow) but normally when I'm stressed writing relaxes me. I don't know what's wrong and I'm getting a bit concerned lol. I told myself I'd be done plotting Draft 2 bt February, but at the rate I'm going I won't be anywhere neat that goal.

So ig the TLDR is; what do you guys do to deal with possibly stress-related writing burnout?

I am NOT an expert in any sense of the word, but I do understand burnout. I work in an industry that expects perfection and often wants us to work 6-7 days a week and I've had as long as 16 hour days. When I started writing a long form in Feb I was already working on a job that was remote and started at 10am. So I decided to write from 8am (when I dropped the kids off to school) to 10am when I started work. And when that job ended and I've had nothing for months I've continued this practice. I write for two hours, no more no less. When I'm done I have between 1500 and 3000 words written and spend the time off passively thinking of ideas. I finished the second act of my novel just before spring break. I honestly had no idea how I was going to end it. I had the ending in mind, but not a path forward. Being forced to take a week off gave me time to think. The absolute solution did not present itself, but I did clear up some confusion over concepts I was struggling with.

I've continued with this same routine. Two hours of writing. My minimum goal is 5 pages per day. I've had days where I've written 15 but as long as I get 5 I've done my job. And since I'm not over taxing my brain I never feel the inability to get off the starting block. Even if what I'm writing isn't good, it gives me a point of movement. The next day I look it over and revise and start the next page.

Again, I'm not an expert in any way, and I might even be a terrible writer. But I've not had an unproductive day in many months, so it might be decent advise