How to Overcome Writer's Burnout: Tips for Rekindling Your Creativity
- Natasha Langridge-Thorpe
- Feb 2, 2024
- 7 min read
Updated: Apr 14
I love coming up with new concepts, unique characters and developing brand-new worlds for my stories. However, it’s very different thinking of a story compared to actually writing it. It’s not that I stopped writing completely in 2023, but I was focused more on content creation in my career and less on creating original stories.
The problem wasn’t that I couldn’t think of ideas, but when I attempted to write them, I’d feel mentally exhausted. This is when I knew that what I was experiencing wasn’t writer's block – it was writer’s burnout.
Writer’s block versus writer’s burnout
Writer’s block is considered as an ‘inability’ to write fresh ideas, creative plot points and challenges. Writer’s block can slow down projects. Maybe you’re trying to figure out the wants and needs of your characters. How does that play into the character's journey or the plot points of the story? It can be tough to overcome writer’s block, but there are some tips that you can put into practice that should help.
Writer’s burnout focuses more on the writer feeling physically, mentally or emotionally exhausted. With writer’s burnout, you could begin to question your identity as a writer and how much energy you’re willing to put into writing.
Identifying the cause of the burnout
Burnout can happen for many reasons, but its overarching narrative refers to the writer feeling stressed and overwhelmed. This is also more likely to last for an extended length of time. In my case, a year.
It’s helpful to identify why you’re experiencing writer’s burnout before you take steps to overcome it. To identify the cause of the burnout, reflect on your life. Think about your responsibilities, priorities and things that you know negatively affect your mood. This could involve taking on too many responsibilities at once like a full-time job and looking after family members. You could be putting too much pressure on yourself to write a certain number of words or to publish a book by a certain date. Maybe you’re forcing yourself to write when you’re not feeling your best or on top of an illness. All of these things and more can contribute to a writer’s burnout.
Last year, I experienced grief for the first time when two family members passed away only weeks apart from one another. I was in the middle of directing a storyboard at the time and to no surprise, it wasn’t a storyboard that I was particularly proud of. During this time, I was also taking on a lot of extra projects because I was trying to distract myself from everything else that was happening around me. I was determined to do everything and I wasn't giving myself time to grieve...which only made me feel exhausted.
Exhaustion is the main culprit behind writer’s burnout. Even when I managed to write, I noticed that it wasn't to the best of my ability. Additionally, forcing yourself to take on work when you’re experiencing burnout can lead to making mistakes - ones that you wouldn’t usually make. I even felt myself getting to a point where the thought of writing was making me feel stressed and not excited like it used to.
By identifying what's causing your writer’s burnout, you can recognise areas in your life where you need to slow down and make more time for rest.
Overcoming writer’s burnout
It can be challenging to overcome writer’s burnout and I’m only just overcoming it myself! However, I’ve outlined some tips that have worked for me.
Don’t be afraid to take breaks
Don’t feel guilty for not writing every day. Attempting to write through burnout isn’t going to make it any easier for you to deal with. This could lead to increased exhaustion. That’s why it’s important to take breaks to prioritise your well-being. Taking time off allows you to relax and you can focus on taking part in activities that boost your mood.
If you’re in a position to do so, ask for more time on any writing deadlines and adjust them to align with your current situation. This could even involve taking breaks away from the screen, social media and email – anything that makes you feel overwhelmed.
You could use the Pomodoro technique to ensure that you’re taking regular breaks whenever you have to write. The Pomodoro technique is a time-management method which focuses on breaking the day into smaller, manageable chunks. Then you can add small breaks in between to help you relax and stay focused for a longer period.
This could involve 25 minutes of writing and then a 5-minute break. You can repeat this sequence a few times, then you could take 15 or 30 minutes of a longer break. You can manage your time by creating a list of all of the tasks that you need to complete that day. Then you can decide how long you want to spend on each task and set a timer.
Taking breaks will help your mind and body feel as relaxed as possible. If you have the means to do so, you could even go on holiday for a longer break away from writing. Then, when you’re ready, you can come back to your writing feeling much more refreshed and focused.
Create a vision board
There’s a story that you want to bring to life, but what if you could really see it? Without a clear vision of what your story looks like, it can be difficult to understand what actions you can take to work towards it. You can create visual references by using a vision board to inspire you.
A vision board is a collection of images or objects that you can use to represent your end goals. This could help you envisage the beginning, middle and end of a story. Maybe you want to apply for scriptwriting competitions or new writing opportunities. If so, you can find a group of images of what it would look like if you entered the competition or took on the opportunity. For example, if you won the scriptwriting contest then you could win a television script development opportunity. You could find images of what this development opportunity could look like – pictures of behind-the-scenes, cast and crew members – the possibilities are endless.
You can create a vision board using websites like Pinterest and there are plenty of vision board apps. You could even create a vision board using a corkboard and print out images that align with your goals.
Creating a vision board inspired me to give my blog a makeover and create this post because it visually reminded me of my intentions. It strengthened my commitment and motivated me to take action.
Practice saying ‘no’
This is a hard skill to learn if you’re someone who is used to saying ‘yes’ to people and opportunities. However, if you never say no to anything, then you'll end up engaging in things that don’t make you happy and this could be detrimental to your wellbeing. I struggled with saying ‘no’ because I felt guilty, but when I said ‘yes’ to things that I didn’t want to do, I felt resentful.
If you already have big projects that you’re working on, make sure that you don’t take on another one that will take up a lot of your time. This could lead to burnout since you’re taking on too many projects to the point of feeling overwhelmed. By saying ‘no’, you can reduce the chance of burnout and set healthy boundaries as a writer.
If you want to complete the project, but don’t feel like it would be beneficial for you to take it on right now, then you could negotiate your deadlines. Be honest with people about what you can comfortably deliver and give them a realistic timeline for when they’ll receive it. This can help you maintain control over your work and ensure that you have a healthy work-life balance.
Schedule your writing
Writing every single day can contribute to a writer’s burnout. If you find that these writing sessions are becoming exhausting, then you could develop a writing schedule. By creating a writing schedule, you can keep yourself on task while making sure that you don’t feel drained. You could write up to 15 minutes a day or for several hours a day. No matter what you pick, it’s important to pick a time that you know is going to work for you.
To ensure that you stick to your schedule, you could use a calendar and write down which task you’re going to do that day and how long for. By developing a schedule and sticking to it, you can begin to reduce the amount of energy that it takes to start writing. You could even use scheduling apps to keep track of projects and help you comfortably space out your work.
Starting your day with a writing schedule can put you in the right mindset and workflow. It can also help you better prioritise tasks because you’ll know what you’re doing at the start of your day, while you’re writing, and after it. Establishing a schedule also gives you control over your time and can help you reduce or even avoid writer’s burnout.
Reignite your creative spark
Writer’s burnout can be tough to overcome, but it’s possible. It’s also natural to feel overwhelmed when you’re going through a difficult time or you’re taking on too many projects at once. If you want to overcome burnout, then the first step involves identifying the cause of the burnout. After identifying the cause, you can take steps to help yourself reignite your creative spark and reduce stress. Overall, it’s important to take care of yourself not just to help your writing endeavours, but for your own wellbeing.
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