Fourteen days into 2019 and I’ve hit my first patch of writing burn out. The good news is I have figured out the cause of it. The bad news is… well that this happening!
So the reason for this burn out is my hourly paying freelance writing job. Now don’t get me wrong, I love the job! I love that I’m getting paid to write, the people I work with/for are pleasant, I’m constantly being told I’m doing a great job and getting assignments besides my usual content. Even though the topics I’m writing about aren’t my usual style of writing, I enjoy it because not only is it a way to challenge myself as a writer, but I’m also gaining knowledge on topics I previously knew nothing about! There isn’t anything I don’t like about this job… But admittedly, it does take a lot out of me. Unless it’s a special assignment or something that is priority, I am no longer being given article topics to write about. I am now coming up with my own article topics to write about. Once they are approved, then I can start researching them. But before I can even submit topics, I have to do research to see what topics will make for good articles… So it’s kind of a never ending cycle of research and writing. Once again, don’t get me wrong, I love that I can now choose my topics… But it’s exhausting. Some days are spent just purely on research and then the next day is writing and editing. And trust me, both of those can be very frustrating at times! Just earlier this morning I was working on an article and even though I had all my research in front of me, I spent about 10-20 minutes just blankly staring at my article because I had no clue where to take it.And that’s when it hit me that I’m burnt out already.
Even trying to think of a post for this blog was a struggle! My anxiety blog was actually easier to write for- I’ll link that new post down below in case anyone wants to read it- but for some reason with this one I felt stuck. So I figured maybe if I write about being burnt out on writing it would help me work through it… and all it’s really doing is making me feel guilty for this happening. I don’t get it- I’m finally a paid writer. I’m finally put all my skills, my education, and my passion into use and instead of feeling energized, I feel lackluster and really tired. I’m really hoping this feeling goes away soon because being a writer is one of the things that makes me happy. I love writing and sharing stories with others. I love coming up with ideas and doing something with them. Being a writer means so much to me… So why is this happening to me?
I guess I can’t just expect things to be amazing and energetic all the time. I know this is what I want to do. I know this is my passion… I just have to figure out a way to balance my job and my personal writing in a way that won’t burn me out.
Is anyone else experiencing writing burn out already? If so, what are you doing to overcome it? Or what have you done in the past to overcome it? I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic! I hope everyone has a great week!
mythoughtsonwritingandreading 