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Exploring Writing Burnout and Great Strategies to Overcome it
Sunfire
CONTENTS
The Premise
Imagine you’ve been working on your novel for months and you’ve spent a ton of energy working on it. You’ve enjoyed bringing your world and your characters to life and all of a sudden, exhaustion sets in physically and mentally. The desire to keep writing evaporates like thin air and you just feel like you can’t do it anymore. What you’re feeling is a classic example of what’s called writing burnout.
Writing burnout is all too real and it strikes every writer at least one time in their career. It stops you dead in the tracks and you have no energy nor the inclination to persevere. Unfortunately, it can cripple an aspiring author’s career to the point where he simply abandons his book, never to pick it up ever again.
It’s essential that you take action to deal with it now, for it’ll hit you sooner or later. If you think it’ll never happen to you, think again. Having a plan set in place now will help you be ready when it happens and you’ll deal with it quickly and get back to work. The goal here is to minimize how much time you’ll lose while still having your health.
In order to truly conquer writing fatigue, you must first tackle it in two parts: the mental and physical. While you can find many helpful suggestions to reset your mental health online, the truth of the matter is it hits everyone differently. As such, what may work for someone may not necessarily work for someone else. Regardless of what you go with, the responsibility of breaking said block falls upon you.
Fixing the physical side of writing burnout comes after you’ve dealt with the mental side. In many ways, the physical part is actually easier than the mental aspect. Still, only you can fix it yourself.
This is the eighth article in the series looking at writing a fantasy book. For more of the many other articles we have on the website, you can find them on our blog page.
How Writing Burnout Impacts You
Before you can deal with writing fatigue, you must first understand what it is and how it affects you. Having a superb understanding of the problem makes it easier to solve it and burnout is no exception.
Writing burnout affects you both physically and mentally. As a writer, you rely on your brain and body to create a book. Novels nowadays are written in word-processing documents which means you use your hands to type whole pages and move the mouse around to make some fixes or move things around. As you type, you rely on your brain to think about what you want to say and how to say it.
You wind up expending more mental energy than you do for the physical. This is why you feel tired after writing for quite a while and it’s also why you shouldn’t rush it. You can only write so many words in one sitting.
When writing fatigue strikes, it hits you first mentally. You just feel like you can’t do it anymore. Your brain turns to mush and you dread sitting in front of your computer instead of the excitement you had up to this point. Your mental energy here is shot and there’s nothing you can do about it.
As for the physical aspect of it, your fingers are frozen at the keyboard, unable to type even one word. You begin to fidget around, as if searching for something else to do. Your eyes continually dart away from the open document in front of you, wanting to look at something else. You feel trapped in your seat and your body wants to get up and go somewhere else. You can’t spend another moment in the room you’re using for your writing space, so you rise and leave, closing the door behind you.
Some cases of writing burnout are so severe, a fledgling author decides it’s not worth it anymore and abandons his book, never to work on it for the rest of his life. In mild cases, he manages to recover and get back in the swing of things. There are some who actually power through, choosing not to let a little thing like burnout stop them.
Mentally Breaking Out of Writing Burnout
Now that you have a clear understanding of what writing fatigue is, it’s now time to work on solving it — or mitigating the effects it’ll have on you. This is where you draft a plan of action that you’ll use to overcome it when it strikes. You don’t know when it’ll happen, only that it will happen eventually and you want to be ready when that moment arrives.
First and foremost, you need to deal with the mental dimension of it. Writing burnout is mostly a mental thing though it has some physical aspects to it. Therefore, addressing the mental side will go a long way in solving it.
If you cannot write at all, there’s no point in trying to force yourself to write. You’re only hurting yourself. Instead, just take some time off. Sometimes you just need a break to recharge your mental state. It’s okay. It happens to everyone now and then. Who knows? Maybe taking a break is exactly what you needed!
Another way to combat writing fatigue is to change your environment. Try listening to your favorite music. If you have a laptop or tablet device, work outside in lovely weather or go to a place you love like the one you go to for your daily fix of coffee. Sometimes a change in environment can really help.
Doing activities that relax your mind is an excellent way to fight burnout. You can do yoga, breathing exercises, or another form of meditation since it helps calm your mind. If meditation isn’t your thing, do some exercises like running. Alternatively, you can choose to do some of your favorite activities like reading, playing video games, or cooking. They all help you get your mind off your struggles in writing and just maybe they could help reinvigorate your writing energy!
Even though there’s many ways to fix writing fatigue, just remember that only you’re capable of fixing it yourself. Writing a book is a long and arduous journey and fatigue is just one of many stops alongside the way. In order to reach your destination, you’ll have to muster up the courage to overcome it and by doing so, you’ll come out on the other side, stronger and better than before.
Overcoming Writing Burnout Physically
There is a physical component to burnout, though it’s mostly a mental thing. Does it mean you should devote all your focus on addressing the latter? Of course not! In most cases, fixing the mental side usually results in the physical side resolving itself. However, there are times where the physical dimension continues to stubbornly persist.
Exercise is one of the best ways to deal with this. While it’s a great boon mentally, it’s also fantastic for the physical side of it. You’re moving your body which means your blood is flowing all over and it helps you feel alive and full of energy. Regaining your energy is key to getting back into the swing of things.
Having the right diet is important. Writing a book takes a lot of energy which means you need to continually replenish your energy level so eating the right combination of foods is important. When suffering through a round of burnout, it’s easier to gorge yourself on bad foods which only exacerbates the problem. If you slip, it’s okay! Just work on getting back to your normal diet. You want to try to keep things as normal as possible as you battle burnout.
Perhaps nothing is more important in combating writing fatigue than getting a good night’s sleep. Sleep is part of daily life. When you’re in bed asleep, the stress in your body melts off and you wake up in the morning completely rejuvenated and ready to face the new day!
If you have a hobby that’s physical-based like bicycling, it’ll help you work through burnout. You’re doing something you enjoy which helps your mind and body not think about burnout. Other hobbies like hiking or taking pictures outside are great as well too!
Much like the mental component of writing fatigue, you’ll have to do all the work yourself to fix it on the physical side. It might be hard at times, but it’s vital you persevere through it. If you’re truly determined to write a book, you have no choice but to deal with this yourself. In the end, you’ll be all the better for it!
Tying it all Together
Writing burnout can strike at anytime and anywhere. It could happen within the first few chapters or right before the end, therefore you should have a battle plan in place, ready to fight it when it happens. Don’t delude yourself into thinking it won’t happen to you. It will and there’s nothing you can do about it.
The best thing you can do is to prepare and before you can start drafting the plan, you must first understand the nature of writing fatigue. It is a state of affairs where you’re sapped both mentally and physically, unable to write any words. Instead of eagerly looking to write, you dread it and endeavor to find ways to avoid it at all costs.
Now that you understand it, it’s time to come up with solutions. You want to deal with the mental aspect of writing fatigue first. Ideas like taking a break and changing your environment can go a long way in fixing it but only you can truly address it yourself.
Turning onto the physical side, focus on things that help you physically. Exercise and hobbies like swimming can really help you. Don’t forget to have the right diet and get plenty of sleep!
Now that you know what writing burnout is and how to deal with it when it comes, will you take the time to set a plan in place so that you know what to do when it hits you?
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Thanks for reading this and until the next time,
Sunfire
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