April 7, 2008
A Dirty Little Word
It begins with a B and has more than five letters. 
The word is BURNOUT. My little dictionary says burnout is a verb: Melt, break, or become otherwise unusable
I think at one time or another most writers have or will suffer from burnout. It’s inevitable. We’re creative people trying to make it in a business. We have lives outside of writing that need our attention, husbands, children, pets, yards, family illnesses and emergencies. And on top of that, we’re querying, we’re writing, we’re sending out, we’re promoting (if you’ve sold) and after a while it renders you…unusable. It wears you down.
You reach a point where you go ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!! I QUIT!!! NO MORE!!!!
Then what do you do? Do you hang it up and walk away? How do you regroup? Or have you managed to find the secret of avoiding burnout all together?
This is going to sound simplistic, but I’ve managed to survive in this business for 25 years and around 100 books (I tend to lose track) because I’ve always thought of writing as a job. Cooler than any others I did before selling that first MS, it amazes me almost daily that people are actually willing to pay me money to tell them stories, and it’s especially nifty to be able to do it from home in my jammies, but it’s always been, bottom line, the way I earn my living.
I wouldn’t want to hear from a painter or plumber that he or she’s just feeling too burned out or busy with “life stuff” to work on a day my water heater’s flooding the attic or only half my house is painted, so, I’m not about to tell an editor who’s hired me to write a book that I’m just too tired to think up — or complete — a story.
Are there times when it’s really, really hard? Sure. And occasionally those hard times last weeks, or even months. But if it was easy, they probably wouldn’t call it work.
*bows down* WOOT!
Joann thanks for stopping by! I’m curious…what advice do you have for the unpubbed who are struggling and almost there but just don’t know if they can make those last few steps?
I meant to come back and add my little burnout story. And yes, I’m one of those folks who said, “Screw this I quit,” then sold…(five weeks later)
*ducks*
But I totally see what JoAnn’s saying here. I sold probably at the HEIGHT of my burnout/wanting to quit, then had to finish a book. Um yeah. It got done, the next novella got done, the next book got done but truly and honestly it took me until this January (and probably due in part to being sick last fall) to find a place where I was really comfortable with what I was doing and how things were going. It’s hard to put my finger on but I don’t feel like I have that obsessive/OMG/YIKES feeling hanging over me (most of the time LOL)
I guess my point being, here, that selling is NOT a cure for burnout. It doesn’t just magically go away (sorry folks).
I’m not one of those writers who writes to escape…if the real word goes wrong, the creative juices dry up. However, that doesn’t stop me from getting the job done (I found that out the hard way) because as JoAnn said, a commitment is a commitment.
Prioritize, cutback, take time for some personal time to do something else that you enjoy.) To be honest, I think the only thing that really works for burn out is a break (length/degree depends on the severity of the burnout.)
I was gonna say Jaq you make it sound so easy
I can’t say I’ve ever experienced burnout, although I have gone through periods where I simply lost the passion for what I was writing. When that happens, I give myself permission to step back and take a break from writing. Before long, I’m missing it like an old friend and dive back in. JoAnn is right about plumbers and painters. I have a day job and I wouldn’t think of not working because I feel burned out. But then, my day job is where I earn the bulk of my income, so unless I want to be on the unemployment line, you can bet I suck it up and get down to work every day. Writing, on the other hand, is what I do as a second job. I may not produce as many books or earn as much money as other romance authors, but I’m okay with that. And contrary to what some might think, it doesn’t get easier with each book. As for those who are unpubbed and struggling, keep struggling.
Gosh, this is a hard one… I think everyone gets burned out even in “real” life. It’s how you handle it, I guess. when I feel WAY over my head, I try not to say too much (and for me that’s hard); I don’t want to send the “vibe” out that I can/will quit writing.
I had a friend a while back say she didn’t know if she wanted to write, I told her if you can walk away then do it but I also told her I didn’t think she’d be able too, that every time she turned on a vacuum (hmm-hmm) those voices would talk to her. So even when writers get burned out, the creativity doesn’t stop.
for whatever that’s worth
I’ve done burnout. I’ve burned up my buddies’ ears complaining about it.
May be in the throes of it right now, in fact. That urge to say, “ok, I’m doing my best at this, and starting to feel like all I’m doing is bending over to pick up the SOAP, so WTF.”
Logically, objectively, the answer is to step back, get some distance, see what you really want, how bad you want it, all that crap.
But when you’re worn out and in the middle of it?
No comment.
I think, for some of us, it might take a break but you’re right…it doesn’t stop.
Oh, burnout that lovely thing that can turn the wholesome human into a raging lunatic. Have I experienced it? Yup. I haven’t finished a story since November of 2007. I’ve started 3 and still nada. I’m revising the book that just won’t act right. And I can’t find an agent to save my life. I want to throw in the towel.
So, I’m planning to spend some time with friends and family. I’ve started to exercise. I’ve promised myself not to torch the computer. But I have to check out of the writing world for a little while. I’m giving myself a break once I’m done with this book from hell. We’ll see how long it takes for me to bounce back.
I guess my point being, here, that selling is NOT a cure for burnout.
Funny I think selling is more of a reason to burnout quickly. It’s just not about writing the book anymore. I miss that. Now it’s edits from your editor, book covers (that may make you nauseous while looking directly at it), promotion, AND more PROMOTION. Gah!
What a great topic! JoAnn gives a good example. I always remind myself that writing is just a job and it’s not who I am. I think that too often as writers we can get caught up either in the production end (writing) or the marketing end (promotion) and loose ourselves.
I think Melissa makes a great point. I’ve seen authors loose the joy of writing once they’ve become published. Balancing writing and promotion is a juggling act and a lot of writers can burnout if they focus too much on building their careers instead of living.
I travel for fun, enjoy good food, music, books and movies so that I can keep the creative well flowing. And I try my best not compare my career to anyone else’s. That’s a stress no one needs.
Nancy I’m right there with you! I’ve got a day job and two kids (and 3 cats!) 2 books a year is comfortable for me. That said, I wrote a LOT more when I first started writing than I do now. Not sure what that says
That’s the biggie huh babe? I think you walk a fine line between walking away and taking that break and pushing through it.
Melissa…I took down my website and cried for days (to poor Raine!)
I know it’s different when you epublish but even at the conference this weekend the editors said, the best promo is word of mouth and writing another good book. I tend to agree. i don’t DO a lot of promo and I feel bad but I’m out here and folks can find me so I guess that’s okay too
Dara I think this is one of the HARDEST things to do. I love my friends and don’t begrudge them a damned thing but most of them can write rings around me *sigh*
Le sigh. I think you’re clairvoyant Amie. I’m burnt out. So very much so that even on vacation I couldn’t relax. Imagine being at the spa and your mind won’t stop racing. You can’t close your eyes and just relax. You’re too busy thinking about your next move and every what if scenario that goes with it.
Like Melissa, I haven’t finished anything since December. I’ve started more than one new project and they sit languishing on my hard drive.
I want to give up but I’m too stubborn for that. So I’ll continue feeling sorry for myself until whatever it is needs to heal and then I’ll start the process all over again.
Burnout?? I have yet to experience it with the writing, but burnout in the real life has affected my writing. So, writing burnout itself isn’t my issue. Is lack of “turnout” a problem for me? Yes. I know it, and have lovely friends (Cece) that kick my tail on a regular basis.
I know its going to happen, its making myself concentrate on the writing after burning out all day at the day job… **sigh**
I WISH Alison Brennan would come by so you could hear about her writing schedule before she sold (when she had a day job in the California state govn’t). It’s very inspiring (lynn)
I’ve suffered both writer and teacher burnout, and honestly, a break is good (oooh, spring break is in three and a half days!
) but JoAnn is right — the rememdy is JDI.
My students would tell you that means “Just Do It.”
Burnout in conjunction with something you love doing and are passionate about hurts. It affects your performance. The teacher burnout really helped in terms of knowing how to deal with the writer burnout when it came. I had years invested in teaching, I was contracted, and even though I could have gone and gotten a different day job, teaching is my passion. I didn’t want to give that up, even though dragging myself through the days (and I mean dragging, even if I was faking and tap-dancing my way through my classes as always) was brutal. Getting myself through each day got me through that year. And like a friend said today, “We get to start over next year.”
With writing, it’s kind of the same thing. I get to start over with the next book. I get to start over with the next query. Sometimes, I’m dragging myself through. But you get through.
And then you’re glad you did.
I’m in deadline crunch, and lost this website, so it took me a while to find my way back and I just stumbled across the question directed to me.
What advice would I give unpublished authors? (Or even published having a difficult time with new sales?) Just keep reading and writing. Then read some more. Then write more. Writing is like anything else; the more you do it, the better you get. (At least that view has kept me writing nearly every day for 26 years.)
And if it’s any help to know, I had twelve rejections on nine completed category novels during a one year period before I sold three books to two different publishers between Thanksgiving and New Years. Part of the reason was that HQ wasn’t buying American writers at the time (other than JD). Also, I was just a bit behind the curve. Since there weren’t any writing groups in those days, and no one but my husband and son knew I writing, I had no way of knowing that sexy short categories were about to burst onto the market, which meant that I was writing what I was reading — late ’70s and early ’80s Presents and HQ Romances.
As soon as Desire launched in June, ‘83, I wrote those new stories that sold. And no, I never submitted the others; I considered them 495,000 words of practice.
As for promotion, except for my website and Romance Sells (on the rare occasion I remember to sign up for it in time), I haven’t done much until this past winter only because NAL sent me — yikes! — 4,997 gorgeous Freefall postcards and I realized I’d better find homes for them.
Before that, I’d had only three bookmarks made, and except for people who requested them from my website, I never got around to doing anything with them, which left me with boxes up in my attic.
My feeling, FWIW, has always been that we all have to prioritize and since I don’t enjoy promo, I’d rather spend my time and energy trying to write books publishers will spend their time and money to promote. For those who enjoy it, super. Go for it. For those who don’t, or feel it’s stressing you out enough that it’s impacting your storytelling or making you feel burned out, I’d like to point out that you can, indeed, have a successful career without self-promotion. Linda Howard, after all, doesn’t even have a website.
Sorry about that lack of paragraphs. There didn’t seem to be any way to preview and I wasn’t sure if it’d accept HTML breaks for those of us who ramble on.
Joanne you rock! thanks for coming back by–and your point about Linda Howard is well taken.
Note to self: Get a preview plug-in *ggg*
Seriously all you have to do is just space down like in an email and it does all the work for you
Honestly, I think the secret is to work at a sustainable pace (whatever that is will vary, not only individually but as life changes happen) and to continually refill the well. To remember that there’s life outside of work, and if all you do is work, the work will eventually grow lifeless. And to do what makes you happy, whenever possible. This includes putting things that make you happy into your current book.