Help I think I'm suffering from burnout!!!!!

[SzethTheHonorblade]

So I love to read and have always wanted to write a book. The problem is that I can't work up the motivation anymore. I don't want to take a break, because I'm worried that I will never get started again, so do any of you have any solutions, for my predicament?

[Duxredux he/him]

I have not finished a book, so I'm not qualified to give you advice. Here's the 2 episodes of Writing Excuses that have the "writer's block" tag. Writer’s Block | Writing Excuses

Just be careful that if you start searching the internet for solutions for writer's block that you don't go down the internet rabbit hole for hours, burning away your writing time. Finding something to motivate you, maybe take a 15-30 minute breather, maybe take a lunch break, but be intentional in how you take your break. That's pretty much the advice that I have from writing college papers that I don't really want to write, even though I want the degree.

[Coolmint]

I sympathize.  When you find yourself in this situation, take baby steps.

Write five minutes at a time, even if it is repeating 'I can't think of anything to write.'

Read something that sets you on fire (not literally, of course!)

Having suffered from Writer's Burnout multiple time, I can say that sometimes you really DO need to take a break.  
 

(From an old-timer who must have written several novels worth of words by now).

[Returned]

My suggestion is just to write, while not framing that writing as a massive task. Much like @Coolmint said, even brief writing sessions are fine. I'll also recommend not getting too fixated on writing a book as opposed to just writing-- even a short book is a huge undertaking and is something most people need to chip away at over a long period of time. You might find that a lot of smaller pieces you've written have elements that might fit together in various ways to make most of a book anyways! And you'll certainly find yourself a better writer.

I like writing short, focused prose for proper writing sessions (those meant to generate new content that others might someday read an edited version of). A short story, a scene, even an outline. Something with a natural scale for progress you can measure in some way. It really adds up. Even 30 minutes of writing per day amounts to around 15 hours per month, and that's a lot of time! I don't recommend allocating that time to editing until you have a finished piece, though that may be a personal issue (I tend to hate what I write for the first couple of drafts, and tend to lose motivation while editing instead of writing new things which might be what I need). Unless I'm especially inspired I usually start to have trouble after just a few continuous pages of new stuff and so I don't write more than that in one sitting.

If writing new stuff is causing burnout there are exercises I like which are still helpful as writing practice. Take a scene from a movie or TV show you like and write it out as prose, making special note of what sounds/images/moods/etc. you feel are most important to express in writing and how you translate those into words. Or re-write a scene (including one you've already written) to give it or the characters in it a different tone: suspenseful, weary, hopeful, or anything else. Or write sentences describing a single thing in different ways and think about how those expressions differ (like a glass being half empty, half full, or twice as large as it needs to be. They're all valid descriptions of the same thing but express different ideas through different connotations).

Look for patterns in your writing and try to develop your skills in directions you like. For example, I have a tendency to write sentences that are too long. So I might write something out with an eye towards keeping it more clipped or avoiding more complex sentence structures. I think that the reality of most activities is that they involve aspects you won't like so much, even if you enjoy the activity overall. Unless you want to write only for recreation, you'll have to write sometimes even if you don't feel like it. As long as you don't start to hate doing it, that's OK.

[Frustration he/him]

7 hours ago, SzethTheHonorblade said:

So I love to read and have always wanted to write a book. The problem is that I can't work up the motivation anymore. I don't want to take a break, because I'm worried that I will never get started again, so do any of you have any solutions, for my predicament?

I had that predicament. How close are you to done?

[SzethTheHonorblade]

19 hours ago, Frustration said:

I had that predicament. How close are you to done?

I am done with my first outline, but this is not my first time trying to write a book. I have encountered the same problem in previous attempts, that I abandoned. This time I decided to plan out my book this time rather than discovery write, and it has helped some. when your doubts about your writing skills and lack of motivation pile up it can be a lot to deal with. 

[Frustration he/him]

5 minutes ago, SzethTheHonorblade said:

I am done with my first outline, but this is not my first time trying to write a book. I have encountered the same problem in previous attempts, that I abandoned. This time I decided to plan out my book this time rather than discovery write, and it has helped some. when your doubts about your writing skills and lack of motivation pile up it can be a lot to deal with. 

Well if this is a consistent problem I have two possible solutions.

The first is to take a scheduled break, say two weeks or so. The schedule is important because otherwise you risk breaking the habit.

The second is to just push through it.

[SzethTheHonorblade]

7 minutes ago, Frustration said:

Well if this is a consistent problem I have two possible solutions.

The first is to take a scheduled break, say two weeks or so. The schedule is important because otherwise you risk breaking the habit.

The second is to just push through it.

I try the second, nothing better than good old fashion willpower, and if that doesn't work I will take a break.

Thank yall!! it means a lot!