Post-NaNoWriMo Burn Out Is Real
Here’s How I’m Dealing with It
It’s been five days since the end of NaNoWriMo, the worldwide challenge to write 50,000 words in 30 days. NaNoWriMo has it’s benefits and set backs, just like any challenge.
While it improves the writing routine and creates community, it also leaves you feeling completely burnt out.
It’s a gamble in determining if the challenge is worth it- you might get to 50, 60 or even 100k in November, but not pick up that project back up for months or years.
When I decided to become a serious writer, I knew that would entail daily writing- at least of 500 or 750 words a day. Even if I wasn’t publishing to my own blog, Medium or another online source.
What I didn’t plan on was having NaNoWriMo completely kick me this year.
For the past four days, I haven’t wanted to touch my laptop and I know that my routine is off.
While I didn’t have writer’s block until the end of the challenge, I have it now.
So, how have I been dealing with burn out?
I’ve been reading a lot more than writing
Stephen King famously said that “if you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.” Stephen King is one of my idols, even if we don’t write in similar veins. So if it’s good enough for him, it’s gold to me.
I’ve been active in a few of the Facebook groups lately. I’ve enjoyed reading the work of my fellow writers and supporting their work.
It’s common that while reading other’s work that you will find ideas that will cause a creative spark.
I’m not advocating for stealing their post, just advocating that it might be a good topic to put your own spin on. Keep a list of when this happens.
Reading is also a great way to just study how a writer puts their pieces together and is a learning process.
I’ve also been reading outside Medium. I’m currently reading Two Awesome Hours by Josh Davis PH.D, poetry by Stacie Waite and The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (I’ve always wanted to read this series during the Christmas month).
Reading will inspire, inform, entertain and teach you if you let it. By focusing on reading, I’m giving my brain time to catch up without forcing it into overdrive.
Free-writes have been a godsend
In her bestselling book Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg stresses the practice of timed writing. In the process, you set a timer and take a prompt either from your notebook, a recent observation or a writing prompt.
For the next 10–15 minutes (or longer) you write to that prompt, but you don’t have to stay with that prompt. You cut out the editor and fight the urge to stop what you’re writing to correct. You keep your hands moving. When you find something good, you write into that idea.
It’s through that raw energy presented in writing practice that often times you’ll get the best ideas. Plus, the same energy will allow you to write about it from a unique, unedited standpoint. It makes a huge difference when it comes time to decide what to write about.
Also helpful is that you are not confined to that day’s writing as fuel. When you begin to write like this regularly, it serves as a record for weeks and months to come.
Keep Journaling
Right now, I’m keeping two journals. The first one is a gratitude journal where I challenge myself to write down at least three things I’m grateful for on my Road to 1K.
The second one is a bullet journal where I keep a list of 10 items per day of what was on my mind that day and a quote for the day.
Both of those can also serve as fuel. For example, every second day, I write a list of post/story topics I’d like to cover within the next month or so. I include the source that I would like to attach it to.
I don’t stick to an editorial calendar, even though I have heard the praises about it. I know myself to be the one who will create a calendar I think is good and then on the day I’m supposed to write about x, I end up writing about something that just popped into my head five minutes ago.
Maybe in 2020, I’ll whip myself into shape enough to use an actual calendar, but for right now, my makeshift one seems to be doing just fine. It’s loose enough to allow for flexibility but has enough ideas I can pull from if I get stuck.
Personal journal entries also provide us with a source for present and future stories. Use these to write about life lessons or to form a story or poem that you think will speak to others.
Give Yourself Grace and Lighten Your Load
I’ve learned that in the week that follows NaNoWriMo, it’s best to take it easy. Keep going with your writing practice, but don’t expect yourself to over deliver.
If I’m honest, for the past two days, my poem for the day has been a poem that I found from my college days. It’s unedited simply because it’s a piece of work that I still stand by (college was a poetry writing peak for me). I’ve been focused on writing 1.5 stories.
Keep the 500 word routine (or however many words/pieces you aim for a day), but don’t over pressure.
Remember that you just went though a war of words. Your brain needs the time to rejuvenate if you’re going to keep writing strong for the rest of the year and into the new decade.
In short, I’m taking the first week or two to just relax and recoup. I’m still holding myself accountable to my schedule but I’m not expecting the most amazing stuff ever.
It comes down to writer’s self-care for me at this point. Keep going, keep working on it but don’t be too discouraged if the first draft or the first few pieces are not amazing.
