It’s been about two weeks since Nanowrimo wrapped up. Maybe some of you tried it. Maybe some of you won. I didn’t take part for a variety of reasons, one of which is that it turns out I don’t yet know how to tell a story that long. The other main reason, and the one I want to talk about today, is burnout.
See, for my resolution this year, I decided to write twenty thousand words towards a novel by the end of April. That’s only about 150 words a day. Completely doable. But I still managed to burn out.
I know writing at that pace seems way too slow to cause burnout, but in my defense, I’d just finished my undergrad degree while working sixty hours a week, topped off a two month home stay program with my mentally wonky friend whom I’d been helping start a cloud computing service (the company never made it, if you were wondering), and my boy had just started walking. I think burnout was justified under the circumstances. So now that I feel justified, let’s get on with it.
After a good solid period of writing regularly, one of two things can happen. Either you feel like you’ve just accomplished a mighty feat, and feel you deserve a break, or you feel worn out by the effort and start skipping days and writing less on the days you do.
For the first set, good for you. You deserve a pat on the back and a day off. After that, get back to work. That’s the only prize you get.
For the rest of you, including myself, you’re going to need some motivation and maybe a few new habits.
First off, good job on making it this far. You’re beating the spread. But you have to remember, this game is a marathon, not a sprint. Maybe it’s a relay race. At any rate, you’ve got to build up your endurance. If you never run, then try to do a 5k, you might make it, but you’ll hurt like hell for weeks afterwards. That approach works for some writers, but I have no idea how they do it, and I don’t recommend it. It’s better to start slow and build up. You don’t have to be like Nathan Lowell and write like an ultra-marathoner. Focus on consistency, even if it’s only putting out a handful of words.
In my experience, there are a couple of reasons you might short-circuit that endurance building.
1. You bit off more than you could chew.
Maybe you got all excited and decided to tackle that epic six cycle fantasy story. You got about twenty thousand words in and just got stuck, and now it’s been a month since you even looked at the manuscript. Look, it happens. Maybe start with something smaller. Build your confidence with a nice one-off urban fantasy. Then move on to a bigger story, and then a bigger one, until you know you have the chops to do that long cycle.
2. You lost interest.
New project. Your mind is teeming with ideas, characters, and plot lines. This will be your magnum opus. Then a few weeks go by and you find yourself working on another project. You’re going to get back to the first one, sure, but now you’re making better progress with the new story. Maybe you like the high that comes with new projects. Get over it. That high is awesome, but it’s not sustainable, and its pursuit is the enemy of finished works. Remember, it’s a marathon, and maybe a marriage. Cheat at your own risk.
If you are cheating, as yourself whether the project is in fact finishable. Take a hard look at where you’re going. If you keep losing interest, it could be because you’re writing something that is genuinely boring. If so, step it up a notch. Add some explosions or a love triangle or something. Challenge yourself to write bigger. If you’re bored, your readers will be too. Then nobody will want to read the thing. If you can’t find a way to fix it, even after looking at it from as many angles as possible, go ahead and set it aside. Put it out of your mind and work on something else. The time away may show you fixes you hadn’t seen before. Even if it doesn’t, don’t worry, you’ll have more ideas.
Of course, if you’re a pro, you don’t have the luxury of giving up. You also don’t likely need my help. In that case, suck it up and meet your deadline. Good luck to the rest of you, and if you have any more ideas, let me know.
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- Daily Writing, The Beginning (scribotarian.com)