When novelists lose their love of writing...

Author burnout - an occupational hazard?

Some of you already know that I've struggled to find my writing mojo in 2020. All was well until February, when I suddenly found I couldn't summon up the desire to write. The coronavirus restrictions hadn't yet come into force, so that wasn't the reason. Instead I believe I was experiencing a minor case of burnout.

I'm quite a driven individual and over the last two decades I've pushed myself hard in various ways. They include extensive travel (always a joy), moving three hundred miles away, leaving my accountancy career, operating a dog walking business before becoming a full-time novelist, achieving other important goals, etc. It's all been great fun and I have no regrets. But inside me, things were changing.

I began to experience a strong urge to slow my life down. The thought of waking up to my alarm clock didn't appeal (did it ever?) I yearned to do more than just write. I wanted to spend time with friends, make new ones, exercise more, improve my Spanish, etc. The pressure authors experience to pump out books filled me with dread. I wanted to write for love, not because I was on a production schedule. To my horror, I realised I no longer wanted to write. Anything. At all. I'd published seven novels as well as a novella and a non-fiction book. Perhaps I'd taken my writing as far as it was meant to go?

This wasn't a case of writer's block. I didn't sit in front of a blank screen, desperate to conjure up words. Instead I avoided writing all together, despite having completed a good chunk of my eighth novel. I told myself my writing mojo would soon bounce back. It didn't.

Unsure how to proceed, I turned to my author friends for help. To my surprise, they'd either gone through, or were currently experiencing, the same dilemma. Here are some of their comments:

I'm having the same doubts as to whether to continue writing, whether its worth the backlash and all the intense hard work.

I too want to try to take my writing to the next level, but am plagued by doubts.

I had an email from an author friend saying exactly the same thing, and that he was on the verge of quitting.

Phew! At least I knew I wasn't alone in this. I was also lucky enough to have a wonderful accountability partner. We check in with each other about our writing goals each Sunday via Skype and midweek via email. During this difficult time he was a huge source of support and encouragement, even when weeks turned into months and I still hadn't written anything.

---

How is my writing going now?

I'm pleased to report that, while I'm by no means out of the writing doldrums, things have improved significantly. What's changed? Two things. First, I asked myself whether, given that I'd dreamed of being a novelist for decades, it was likely I'd lost my writing mojo forever. Was this just a blip instead? The answers came back: no, and probably. Second, my writing buddy suggested I write a few words on my novel and see where it took me. I agreed, and committed to doing 1,000 new words the following week. And I did. The next week I managed 5,000 and the one after that, 6000. It's a way off the 2,000+ words I used to write daily before my 'blip', but I'm not worried. I'm writing again, and so far I've added over 24,000 new words to my eighth novel. At times I've even felt flashes of my old drive and energy, which is wonderful.

My aim is to complete the novel and get it to my editor/beta readers by Christmas. I'll keep you posted! Thanks for reading.