Pace Yourself!
I PUBLISHED MY first book in December 2019. It was a short story anthology, about 55,000 words in length (250 pages). That first book took me 18 months to complete, and when it was done, I just kept writing without taking a break.
Once the Covid lockdown kept the whole world indoors starting in March of this year, I wrote even more. Before I knew it, I had almost completed two new books simultaneously in just eight months: a short story anthology for young readers, and an anthology for adults. I was reading and writing more than I ever had in my entire life.
I don’t have an agent or a publisher — I release my books independently. The low stress and creative freedom of that arrangement are a good fit for me, even if I don’t really make any money doing it.
Although I have thoroughly enjoyed the writing process this year and I am proud of how much I have written, I really hit the wall this month and became extremely burnt out and frazzled. Not just burnt out from the writing process itself, but from each of the big and tiny decisions that need to be made with the finalization of any book.
I have learned that I have no desire to publish more than one book each year, because one book a year is enough for any sane writer to tolerate! Even the most laid-back writers will feel the heaviness of so many decisions that must be made when a book is being completed. Sometimes less is more.
So, I have decided to pat myself on the back and congratulate myself on a job well done this year, and spend the rest of the summer surfing and burying my toes in the warm sand.
If you are feeling burnt out while writing a new book, stop for a minute and ask yourself if you are still having fun. If the answer is NO, then sit back and find out what needs tweaking so that you can continue to enjoy yourself. After all, none of us are doing this because we make the big bucks, right?
© J.S. Lender 2020
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