Tag: #amnotwriting

The Writer’s Burnout Effect

January 20, 2021 / Chiara

The worst thing that can happen to a writer is becoming “blocked” in their writings. If you do a search on “overcoming writer’s block” on the internet, you’ll find almost five million results.

What about writer’s burnout? I did a search and found over thirty-nine million results. That’s extraordinary. In my author circles, being blocked seems to supersede burnout. It looks like I may be wrong according to the web or maybe nobody wants to talk about “burnout” because that would mean you’ve failed or are a quitter.

Thinking of the difference between blocked and burnout has led me to do additional research.

Writer’s Block Versus Writer’s Burnout. Burnout is something that happens when someone is stressed and overworked for too long.
Writer’s burnout lasts longer than your typical writer’s block and is a lot harder to overcome.
Writer’s block is looking at a page, unable or unsure how to put what is in your head on the page.

I bring this subject up only because I needed to find the distinction between “blocked” and “burnout”. I’ve written about writer’s block, see:

I’m in Limbo

Writer Depression

The Non-Intentional Detour

This however is different. I’m coming off my 4^th book release, “She Made It Matter”. I did blogs, podcasts, interviews, and then the holidays hit, and now here we are almost at the end of January, and I’m utterly exhausted. I’m at a loss and desire to reinvent myself with other writing projects, and I’m struggling in finding other means of promoting my book.

My home life has been a bit chaotic too; my kids are doing both eLearning and hybrid (in-person learning), and there has been many stressors affecting my creativity. So, I thought I had writer’s block, as I’ve been having difficulty writing anything. But now, I realize it might be burnout.

“Burnout can be defined as a loss of enthusiasm, energy, idealism, perspective, and purpose; it has been described as trying to run a marathon at full speed.”― Kathleen Kendall-Tackett Ph.D.

So, I made a list of my issues plaguing my creative juices:

Lack of time to devote to my craft,
Too many outside stressors requiring my attention,
Wanting everything to be perfect in shorter amount of time,
Not having enough patience. Wanting things done right away,
Accepting too many other projects and not focusing on my own writings.

I found that that the biggest factors were #1 and #5.

I was having trouble saying “no” and accepting things when my plate was overflowing, and therefore wasn’t doing what I really wanted to do, and even take care of myself. Too many distractions and noise was crowding my life.

One of my favorite quotes is this:

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” ― Henry David Thoreau

I’m feeling I need to go into the woods right now and do a little living deliberately. I often tell people that my two biggest addictions are reading and writing. I explain it this way…

“I have two addictions: reading and writing. I feel restless and empty when I can’t read fiction, write my deepest thoughts in my journal, or even write down story ideas. Writing calms me, centers me, and provides a healthy outlet for my communication with imaginary friends.”

So, what can I do to re-energize myself?

Take care of my mental and physical being first and foremost with food, drink, and exercise.
Take the time to read books and write at leisure instead of on a time schedule.

I also need to give myself grace to slow down and not always be doing things to please others. And maybe, just maybe, I can get into writing again.

I ran across something interesting: “give my busy mind a vacation.”

That sounds really good right now. A mind vacation. I think that’s what I need. Hmm…no need to reflect on it further.

Have you felt burnout in writing? What did you do? I’d love to hear your best practices.

Until next time…

Be well. Be safe. Be happy.

Resources

How to Overcome Writer’s Burnout (thewritepractice.com)

4 Effective Ways to Beat Writer’s Burnout | Positive Writer

Burnout for Writers | Psychology Today

Burnout Quotes (102 quotes) (goodreads.com)

Writer’s Burnout: Causes, Conditions, and Cures | Two Drops of Ink: A Literary Blog

Writer’s Burnout—it’s really real – BennettInk.com

18 Tips to Overcome Writer’s Burnout | WTD (writetodone.com)

Thursday’s Thought Provoker: Writing Scenes and the Common Seasonal Cold

November 5, 2015 / Chiara

People often ask me if it’s difficult or easy to write scenes in a novel. I tell them it depends on the scene and what I want to accomplish to move the story along.

Some scenes can be summed up like this:

The character’s demeanor clearly pops in my mind, the dialogue is impactful, and the description is vivid. It is a euphoric sensation and I’m writing it all down by hand in a $.99 cent notebook as fast as I can. Yes, I write everything on paper first and then type it. Call me old-fashioned or just plain weird, but I have to see and feel the scribble of the pen beneath my left-hand fingertips. All of it, and every time. It is only then that it becomes real to me.

Everything is flowing, flawlessly and effortlessly, and then, BAAM…I’m there, on a patio, sitting on a beige wicker chair, arms resting on a frosted-glass round table facing a vast blue-green ocean. Listening and watching as the waves are coming up on the sand, sipping a tall sweet tea with a large lemon wedge, and eating a turkey and cheese rye sandwich with sprouts and a generous amount of Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard. Wait? What? Grey Poupon? Really? Yes. See what I mean?

And then other scenes can be summed up this way:

All your ideas are squished up in your brain itching to come out—nervously shaking the fence that they have been trapped in. Pounding and pounding on the chain-link like a migraine headache because they have been engulfed in a veil of fog way too long.

I can visualize the scene but it is so blurry that my eyes are burning. And the more I’m trying to write, the more the whites of my eye balls are getting redder. I’m hyperventilating and perspiring, cursing myself to push out the jumble consuming my thoughts, but I can’t. My ears are piercing like a constant freight train rumbling through, jarring and jilting my ear drums. I can’t breathe, my airways are blocked, and any dialogue or description I’m feverishly trying to put down into words is constricting my throat and rapidly I’m painfully swallowing the ideas away. They are disappearing, oh no, rolling down the esophagus with my saliva.

It’s not working. I need to step away from the notebook, or just surf Facebook for a bit. Until then, I’m blocked. Blocked like the fever, sinus infection, swimmer’s ear, and sore throat which I currently have. Ugh…the sick season has arrived. Is it November already? Of course it is.

For me there are only two kinds of scene writing and it is described above. Until then, I’m out of commission. I am crawling back under the covers for some recover. Be back soon.

The Non-Intentional Detour

November 9, 2014 / Chiara

Today I sat at my desk, which is the kitchen table, and opened the manuscript of my second novel. With a red pen in hand, I recited the following: “Yes, I can. Yes, I will. Yes, it has to be. I know I can, I know I will. It definitely needs to be. Yes, I should, no, I won’t. It’s not happening, you see.”

Head down in defeat, I clip the manuscript back up, rise from the table, and put it away. Then, I stroll to my computer, search for another manuscript—a short story, print it out, and begin editing. Finishing it all in one sitting. A sense of satisfaction spreading across of my face.

This was not my intention, you see. My second novel was written two years ago, and I have done several online edits. But now that’s it’s printed, it has to be read and edited some more, and more, and more. Call it procrastination, call it avoidance. But, I’ll confess, I’m feeling estranged from my story at the moment.

I spent nine years editing and reediting Love’s Perfect Surrender, my first novel. Becoming the characters; learning their quirks; feeling their emotions; and seeing the world through their eyes. There’s nothing wrong with these new characters. They are fresh and quite different.

I shake my head in frustration. Nine years is a long time. Surely, I can’t edit and reedit the same story for the next nine years. On the other hand, that edited short story is looking pretty good.

Maybe what I need is a tasting or reacquainting of the daunting task a writer has to go through in perfecting each and every one of their works. Hmm…Such as an appetizer before the main course; a good stretch of the legs before a long run; a cocktail before wine. Could the edit of the short story be enough of the practice?

Tomorrow is another day. It will come no matter what. I will sit at the kitchen table again, open my manuscript, red pen in hand, and recite: “Yes, I can. Yes, I will. Yes, it has to be. I know I can, I know I will. It definitely needs to be. It’s happening now, you see.”

Until next time…

Be well. Be safe. Be happy.

The Writer’s Burnout Effect

Thursday’s Thought Provoker: Writing Scenes and the Common Seasonal Cold

The Non-Intentional Detour

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