Burnout is one of the worst feelings in the world. What used to bring you joy is now full of negative feelings, like anger, sadness, despair, or more. It’s to the point where your passion might bring you mental or even physical pain. Sadly, burnout is becoming more prominent with writers and other creatives as of late. If you haven’t experienced it yourself, you likely know someone that has gone through it.
I spent much of 2022 getting into and then recovering from burnout. Getting into it is much easier than climbing out of it. The good news is that I’m enjoying writing again! The words are flowing and I’m falling in love with my characters all over again. Here's five takeaways from my journey (and a bonus new for this blog entry) I hope will help others. While this is geared toward writing (as I’m mainly a writer), this can help anyone in a creative rut.
1. Set personal boundaries.
For a long time, I played a passive role in story creation, believing my writing was inferior to other works out there. Especially when I made the mistake of comparing my early drafts to published books that have been through rewrites, multiple editors, and months to years of work. What didn’t help was my favorite storytelling tropes and elements were not as trendy as others. Pressured to make my book “better”, I forced myself to write tropes and stories I despised, and was frustrated that it wasn’t “good enough”. Eventually, I lost my passion for writing altogether.
I took several months away from writing (though I originally intended it to be just a couple of weeks), and went back to some of my favorite stories and what I loved about them, and what I love in stories in general. I then took a look at what made me write in the first place. This eventually led to a nine page long document of what I like and don’t like in stories and why. With this, I was more empowered to write what I wanted, instead of what I was expected to write, and it put my tastes first.
Rediscover what got you into the craft and what you love about it. Make a list of things that make your heart sing, as well as things you will not do under any circumstance. For instance, you won’t create anything “spicy” or NSFW, but you do like sweet romance and can do that all day long. This can be tropes, art styles, music genres, etc. Share these guidelines with the public, or maybe just a friend, or you can keep it to yourself. Bonus points in that it can build your brand down the line.
Learn to say no to others without feeling guilty. Step away from the internet or certain places if you feel pressured. Take a break and get proper rest. Remember what you love about your craft.
These can be the first line of defense against trend chasing and “you have to”, which takes us to the second point.
2. Don't do something because "you have to".
There is a lot of outside pressure, especially on the internet, that will shout that there is “only one way” to be a good or successful writer or other creative. Fear will creep in that if you do one step of the process wrong, you’ll be a failure and that you’ll be doomed to mediocrity or obscurity. Years ago (around 2016-2017), I believed that I had to have at least ten thousand followers on a certain birdie social media site before I could publish my debut novel or it was going to flop. Seeing my numbers not grow to anywhere close to those stats and watching other authors skyrocket to one hundred thousand followers fueled jealousy and made me feel hopeless and helpless that my publishing dreams were dead on arrival.
Turns out that it’s false. There are many paths to become successful and good in your chosen creative field. You don’t need to do some publicity stunt, or be famous, or create based on a trend in order to succeed. The only thing you really need to do is to write, draw, whatever. There are many stories of creatives that succeeded in all kinds of ways, you just have to look for them. If you want to publish your work, there might be some legal requirements or industry rules you’ll have to abide by. But when someone says “you need at least one hundred beta readers”, or “your book needs to have a year long pre order”, or "you need this high end product", these are just what worked for them.
This moves right to the next tip.
3. Don't treat all writing (or other) advice as strict rules.
When I started to take writing seriously, I looked up as many writing advice blogs and craft books as I could to improve my writing. Many of the advice was great, as it explained why it works with examples and helped me spot it in my writing and the stories I consumed. It was flexible and broadened my views. I learned and grew as I implemented and thought about them in my works, slowly refining my writing.
However, there are some out there presenting their subjective tastes and opinions about writing or other creative outlets as hard rules to follow. Someone might tell you that “great protagonists need to be X”, or “your plot needs X in order to hook readers” or “all successful writers do X”, where X is a personal preference, not even a universal guideline. I also took these tips to heart. Unlike the first type of advice, this boxed me into perfectionism, believing that my story was bad because it broke a so-called rule. It also led me to a miserable and endless cycle of editing for mainly outside approval.
I learned the hard way that there’s very little writing rules, mostly suggestions that can help a story. There are usually exceptions, but the key is to learn why the advice exists. And truly, some writing advice is subjective taste that can be ignored. Other times, the advice simply doesn’t apply to you because it’s for Horror, and you’re writing Cozy Romance. Remember, your writing won’t be liked by everyone. Never blindly follow advice, consider the source and subject manner.
Talking about following others, we have tip four.
4. Find people that are supportive of your storytelling (or creative) style.
No matter what, your writing (or creative) style will not appeal to everyone. For example, my writing voice is more of a lyrical, descriptive, stream of consciousness prose, taking cues from baseball broadcasters like Vin Scully. Some people dislike that style and favor a more direct prose. However, one might get the impression through writing groups and even reviews of other books that a certain style of writing is inherently superior to another. That’s just prose style, not even getting to tropes (which are tools), characters, etc. When you’re getting feedback from toxic sources (as in they devolve into personal attacks and/or they give no positive feedback), it’s easy for your voice to be drowned out and conclude that our natural voice and style is “bad”. Then you spend your time changing everything and being frustrated when it doesn’t work or you hate it. Or both.
The first writing groups I joined were a bad match for me, mainly due to clashing storytelling and writing styles. Instead of cultivating and improving what was already there, it leaned into redirecting me to other styles that were “better” than mine. They tried to change the story to fit their personal tastes and values and I felt my tastes and values were worth less.
Once I found groups that were more open to my style, I grew in leaps and bounds as a writer. They supported my ideas, and had ways to enhance what I had, and I grew confident in what I did have, instead of fueling jealousy and frustration that I couldn’t write what others wanted out of me.
We have our own creative style. Embrace it and focus on finding people that will enhance and improve it. When you get to creating, don’t forget tip five.
5. Celebrate the smaller milestones.
I refused to celebrate smaller goals because I felt I was either running behind or celebrating was pointless for a tiny move on the meter. Then I wasn't celebrating anything and wiped myself out.
Especially in the hustle culture that the USA and many western countries are entwined in as of 2023, there’s pressure that we have to keep going and if we stop, we won’t be able to get back on the horse. Now we’re seeing many fall hard, taking extended breaks or quitting entirely, or winding up in worse physical or mental states than that.
The rewards don’t have to be big. It can be as small as a slice of cake from your favorite store, or an extra episode of TV at the end of the day. Bigger and pricier ones include a spa day, a weekend getaway, or a new video game. It’s that extra push to get you to keep going and a break away from constant work. And talking about energy, I have a bonus tip!
Bonus! Keep track of your energy levels.
No matter what, you’re not going to be 100% all the time. You’re going to have days where you’re exhausted and tired, and that’s okay. One thing I’ve been doing as of late is checking my energy levels and seeing what raises and lowers them.
Make a list of things you can do when your energy is higher or lower, so you can determine your to-do’s based on how you’re feeling. Instead of pushing ourselves past the limit of the day, you are at least getting something done with an easier and/or smaller task.
And if your energy levels are really low or stay lower for an extended period? That’s a sign you should take a break before you hit burnout.
If you like this list, I made a printable with all the tips that’s free to all newsletter subscribers!
Note: This is an expanded version of an Instagram post published on February 22nd, 2023.