Can I still read fiction in creative burnout recovery?

[C.L Castle]

My first thread to you all is asking for advice. Hah. I hope it's in the right place; I wasn't sure where to put it.

For context I'm a ghostwriter. We are usually expected to produce a book very quickly, like a month and a half. But there is some time for me that passes between projects. Usually a month is for editing and revising, and then the prep for the next project takes around another month.

Recently a friend of mine suggested I may have creative burnout.

Years ago, pre-ghostwriting profession, I could write a 90k book on a dream alone. I was a total pantser. Never planned my stories, I waited for them to come to me.

Then along came another friend who critiqued my stuff so harshly I started second guessing everything. That turned me into a planner, and ghostwriting exaggerated the planning side because now the ideas weren't mine at all.

With those early books of mine, the ideas took a long time to germinate and come to fruition. Months. Years. And I took long spells off between writing them. But they flowed like a river.

Now I'm having to stick to someone else's outline, and a deadline. For some of the outlines, that doesn't matter. Some of the story scenes I can "see" clearly in my mindseye.

But for most of it, I suddenly now have to write 3000 word chapters that are planning alone. Including what topics need to be discussed in dialogue. The story doesn't live, it's constructed, and there's little spontaneity.

My friend suggested I rest as much as I can now over the festive season and (welp) but my own projects aside for now.

There's one problem, though. I'm not quite sure what she means with rest, and neither is she.

Because while I can put my writing aside, grudgingly, READING fiction is like crack to me. I read A TON. You wouldn't think it, if you see how I struggle for ideas, but it's true.

Reading and writing is what I've been doing for 99% of the last two years.

For the past two days I haven't read much, following her advice to do something completely different to what I usually do. And I feel a kind of depression now. I have other hobbies: coloring, yoga, cycling, puzzles. None of them provide the kind of happy boost reading stories does.

And I've been getting tension headaches. It's like me trying to release my brain to just zone out without thinking is stressing it out even more, maybe like a marathon runner who finally came to a standstill and can barely move a muscle.

Finally, we come to the question I want to ask.


TLR:

Can I still read fiction while in "recovery" for creative burnout? Like... I don't know, four hours a day or so, since I'm on vacay? (Please don't take away my books!)

 

[X Equestris]

Can I still read fiction while in "recovery" for creative burnout? Like... I don't know, four hours a day or so, since I'm on vacay? (Please don't take away my books!)

I feel like this comes down to the individual. For me, books and other media have always been a way to recharge creatively, but it could be the exact opposite for you. If your brain links it with writing, it may only worsen the burnout.

Maybe try going back to books and see if you feel better?

 

[C.L Castle]

I wondered if audiobooks would be different but still satisfying?

Or maybe I should try reading a genre completely different to the ones I write?

Usually I have to make a conscious effort to take in what I read. Unless it's a particularly challenging classic like Pride and Prejudice, my brain just kind of sinks back into a reclining chair when I read.

Though, I suppose it's still visual word processing, similar to writing. I just truly feel the worst case of FOMO. Like the days are dreary without it. And I still have four - six weeks left of "recovery", depending on when my next project comes through!

 

[CatrionaGrace]

Can I still read fiction while in "recovery" for creative burnout? Like... I don't know, four hours a day or so, since I'm on vacay? (Please don't take away my books!)

I will loan you books if anyone tries to take yours away.

Shortly after Mr. Noah and I got off the Ark, I entered college in a major that required anywhere from three to five lab courses a semester and a pile of term papers. I also worked half to full time. After five semesters of non-stop working, studying, and writing, I had an easy semester combined with a two month seasonal lay off from my job. I read fiction like I'd been starving: not just a few books, but dozens, one right after the other. Recovery vacation? Oh, heck, yeah.

Tactile activities are also restorative whenever I'm burned out on writing. With access to audiobooks, I can enjoy stories while turning out acres of embroidery, crochet, weaving, quilts, cookies, bread, and other things that don't require my complete attention.

 

[Sandor]

For me socializing helps a ton: I live in Chicago, so there's a lot of locations for me to hang out and spend time with people I know, or meet new people via introduction. I also have online friends that I spend time with once a week: my movie club, my college friends.

In terms of hobbies that help me out, video games and movies are great. They're visual rather than pure text. so you can let the "word" side of your brain rest a bit. I really love just digging into silly stuff rather than really "in depth" works of art. I burnout a bit this summer and ended up playing the first quarter of Silksong, as I'm bad at video games and got stuck. I started watching some Vincent Price stuff I haven't seen before, as well as watching a lot of comfort favorites like "Masque of the Red Death" and "Clerks". I've been looking through my Steam library and playing a few other things as well: I've been thinking of playing 80 Days again, though that game is mostly words and story. I love old time radio as well, and there's a ton of sources to watch that for free, legally as well given their copyright lapsed before copyright became auto-renewed in the United States. If you want info on that, please DM me.

Sometimes it's good to just do something totally different: I've been getting into wrestling because a lot of my friends are into it, and there's a bunch of different promotions to follow now, as well as old VHS rips of older promotions you can find online. I've wanted to try doing visual art, maybe get crafty and learn sewing so I can fix my clothes without paying someone else. That's cool too.

I find some of the best ways to beat burnout is to get invested in other people's projects. My friend is making card game and I've been helping him with that, sending him ideas and playtesting the game when we both have free time. I've been encouraging one of my friends with his writing as well: he's working on a non-fiction book about various occult subjects. He's definitely burnt out: the book keeps growing in size and his whole life is pretty much witchcraft, stage magic, and the occasional video game. Regardless, I'm here to support him.

Overall it helps to expand the breadth of your life in general as a writer. I once got advice from Jim Butcher through my dad, as they're Facebook friends. He said: as a writer you need to do three things - write, read, and live. I think writers tend to get stuck on the first one, maybe the first two, and forget the third. Meet new people, go to places you've never been before, try a new drink, etc.

I've been changing my meds and my diet and that's been tough on my writing, so I'm in a similar place though I'm still getting things done. Overall it's best to recover and watch yourself so you don't burnout and have your mental health stuffer. I find some of my best writing comes to me when I'm avoiding burnout and trying not to write.

Edit: Oh, and in terms of books and read - light reading helps, reading outside your genre helps, trying different non-fiction books. It's very personal though. I suggest feeling it out and seeing what works for you.

 

[Catrin Lewis]

It almost sounds like your recreational reading is just that, re-creational. Not sure why you'd have to give it up in order to rest from your ghostwriting duties. Maybe avoid reading in the same genre, so you're not thinking about what you would do if you were writing that kind of story?

But avoiding something that actually brings you joy for the sake of "rest" sounds counterproductive and maddening, kind of like what happened to the POV character in "The Yellow Wallpaper."

 

[C.L Castle]

In the end, I took a couple of days off reading and my mood just tanked. I suppose it really is a dopamine booster for me and more beneficial than destructive. I'm reading during my writing break.

Maybe she meant I should give it up so my brain can relax its language centers, but I think there's sufficient rest now because I read 1-2 hours a day, and the rest of it I'm filling up with exercise, jigsaw puzzles, and artwork, which is visual rather than letters.

"Getting out and doing stuff" isn't quite so easy for me. I live on a farm out in the middle of nowhere, pretty isolated. It's the festive season though and family is coming over. I'll have plenty of cooking and baking to keep me busy if nothing else.

 

[Homer Potvin]

How old are you @C.L Castle ... ballpark? I only ask because I experience a near-crippling burnout every ten years. Nearly on the dot with years ending in 4 or 5. And none of them tend to have anything to do with particular activities, jobs, or hobbies, though they tend to manifest specifically. You sound as if you're high achieving as well with all the writing. In my experience, the brain functions and races without hindrance until it runs out of achievements and kind of collapse. Not saying that's what you're going through, but it wouldn't surprise me. Another thing could be that turning something you love to do recreationally into work is a great way to stop loving it.

 

[C.L Castle]

How old are you @C.L Castle ... ballpark? I only ask because I experience a near-crippling burnout every ten years. Nearly on the dot with years ending in 4 or 5. And none of them tend to have anything to do with particular activities, jobs, or hobbies, though they tend to manifest specifically. You sound as if you're high achieving as well with all the writing. In my experience, the brain functions and races without hindrance until it runs out of achievements and kind of collapse. Not saying that's what you're going through, but it wouldn't surprise me. Another thing could be that turning something you love to do recreationally into work is a great way to stop loving it.

Hi! I'll be 33 in April. I am pretty perfectionistic with the writing, especially for work. We need to keep a standard.

But I'm trying to be a little more loosey-goosey with my own. That means not following the cookie-cutter type genre tropes which I write for work, a.k.a conflict conflict conflict!, to the letter.

That's nice and all. But I'd like more worldbuilding for instance, similar to the old-ish books I read.

I have a fun quirk. I don't read anything written post 2010 unless it's a long series from an author who started prior. After that year, it gets quite hard to find something good and satisfying (for me), unless you follow specific authors like Ursula K Le Guin, C.J Cherryh, and so on. The language isn't as rich; the stories aren't as diverse etc.

What I write for work also isn't my genre. We get a TON of romance projects. I lean more toward the cosy mystery ones, not because I particularly like it, but I hate it less than the romance. (But I will write romance if the bills depend on it.)

My favorites are fantasy and sci-fi. That's why I'm trying so hard to keep working on my own projects, even if it's short form work. I'm very much trying to separate work writing from pleasure writing.

I've taken a break now, but I do wonder if I really was in burnout as my friend suggested. She based the idea off my spontaneity or lack thereof when it comes to stories, though everything I've read online suggests you have to sigh in relief when you stop during a burnout. You must be scared to approach the computer and the motivation well must be cork-dry.

When my friend suggested I take a break from writing, I wanted to strangle her. I cried "Nooooo!"

Because I just finished my final work project of the year, now I have a good gap to work on my own book, and she wants me to rest.

 

[Catrin Lewis]

Hi! I'll be 33 in April. I am pretty perfectionistic with the writing, especially for work. We need to keep a standard.

But I'm trying to be a little more loosey-goosey with my own. That means not following the cookie-cutter type genre tropes which I write for work, a.k.a conflict conflict conflict!, to the letter.

That's nice and all. But I'd like more worldbuilding for instance, similar to the old-ish books I read.

I have a fun quirk. I don't read anything written post 2010 unless it's a long series from an author who started prior. After that year, it gets quite hard to find something good and satisfying (for me), unless you follow specific authors like Ursula K Le Guin, C.J Cherryh, and so on. The language isn't as rich; the stories aren't as diverse etc.

What I write for work also isn't my genre. We get a TON of romance projects. I lean more toward the cosy mystery ones, not because I particularly like it, but I hate it less than the romance. (But I will write romance if the bills depend on it.)

My favorites are fantasy and sci-fi. That's why I'm trying so hard to keep working on my own projects, even if it's short form work. I'm very much trying to separate work writing from pleasure writing.

I've taken a break now, but I do wonder if I really was in burnout as my friend suggested. She based the idea off my spontaneity or lack thereof when it comes to stories, though everything I've read online suggests you have to sigh in relief when you stop during a burnout. You must be scared to approach the computer and the motivation well must be cork-dry.

When my friend suggested I take a break from writing, I wanted to strangle her. I cried "Nooooo!"

Because I just finished my final work project of the year, now I have a good gap to work on my own book, and she wants me to rest.

It's wonderful to have a good friend who's looking out for you. But in the end, your self-knowledge and your course of action are your own.

I know what you mean about writing post-2010. Of course all of us here hope our work is an exception to that, but oh, well.

 

[Naomasa298]

I think my writing is stuck somewhere between 1950 and 1970. And I wasn't even around then.

 

[Catrin Lewis]

I think my writing is stuck somewhere between 1950 and 1970. And I wasn't even around then.

My inspirations are Jane Austen, Dorothy L. Sayers, Dame Mary Stewart, and Ellis Peters. Don't know if that kills my sales. Could be my lack of marketing.

 

[C.L Castle]

My inspirations are Jane Austen, Dorothy L. Sayers, Dame Mary Stewart, and Ellis Peters. Don't know if that kills my sales. Could be my lack of marketing.

If I wrote sentences like miss Austen, my editors would go whack. Because our market wouldn't have the patience to read them. It's sad to me. Everything needs to be short and chippy, otherwise no longer than 14 words or something.

 

[C.L Castle]

I think my writing is stuck somewhere between 1950 and 1970. And I wasn't even around then.

I won't complain about that.