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We live in a world that has been cursed with thorns and thistles. We get food out of the earth through toil and sweat. Writing is a job just like any other; and that curse applies, which means that writing success will require work. Hard work. Sweat and tears kind of work. And, as with farming, you won’t see results right away. After a day of plowing a field full of dirt, all you have is a field full of dirt. 

Being an author means working at writing, editing, publishing, and marketing. But many authors burn out before they achieve success. What causes burnout? Why does it kill so many careers? 

How can you avoid or recover from burnout in your writing? 

Nika Maples helps authors prevent and recover from burnout. She’s a stroke survivor, a former Texas Teacher of the Year, a writing coach, host of The Keep Writing Podcast, and author of five books that encourage readers to hope against all hope.

What is burnout?

Thomas Umstattd, Jr: Burnout is a common word in our vernacular, yet many people have different ideas about burnout. How would you define burnout?

Nika Maples: Burnout is when a person doesn’t want to do something any longer. That’s the simplest answer. When people have no energy, interest, or motivation to keep going, they’re usually experiencing burnout.

Authors often experience a different post-publishing reality than they had imagined.

They may have thought it would look a certain way; but after the book is published, it’s different than they thought it would be. It looks like the daily work of planting, plowing, and cultivating the field. Many authors aren’t expecting that, so they give up, give out, and stop.

What causes an author to give up on marketing?

Thomas: What causes somebody to give up and say, “I don’t want to do this marketing anymore”?

Nika: People stop marketing because they feel like they’re forced to be someone they’re not. They don’t feel comfortable in book marketing, and no one wants to act like someone they’re not.

Marketing feels miserable because they misunderstand it.

If marketing is miserable, who wants to do it? When you think selling is sleazy, you avoid it. People think marketing is miserable and selling is sleazy because they assume readers think the author is trying to get something from the sale, such as a new reader, a follower, or money from the transaction.

When people are facing burnout, I encourage them to reset their minds.

From miserable to ministry

We must move away from thinking that marketing is miserable and instead consider it ministry.

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We must stop believing that selling is sleazy and begin to think of selling as service.

Nika Maples

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It’s much easier to engage in book marketing with enthusiasm and energy when you’re trying to deliver a solution to your reader instead of trying to get something from your reader.

Thomas: You must believe in your book. If you believe that selling someone a book is actually them doing a favor for you, then you’ll never be good at marketing. You’ll always feel bad about it because you feel like you’re always calling in favors.

However, if your book is amazing, you’re doing readers a favor by telling them how your book can change their lives. It’s only $20.00, so why wouldn’t you want to buy this book?

If you don’t believe in your book like that, you need to keep working on your book. Keep editing and improving your craft. Perhaps you need to set that book aside and write a different book just to improve your writing.  

When you believe in your book, you can’t wait to tell people about it. 

Nika: When you believe your book is a solution for people that will help them, then selling is not sleazy. Selling is serving.

If you saw somebody in pain, you would stop at nothing to help them. That’s how you must feel about your book.

Thomas: The quality of the writing matters, especially for fiction.

You must believe your novel is better than anything else people could be reading.

How would you advise a writer who realizes their manuscript won’t be ready when they had hoped?

What would you say to a writer who’s just received a critique on their first manuscript and realized it’s not ready to publish this year, even though they had hoped it would be? How would you advise that person regarding burnout?

Nika: We’ve got to ditch the idea that feedback or constructive criticism from an editor means we did something wrong.

Receiving feedback and corrections means you’re doing something right. You gave your writing to someone who could help ensure your book is professionally presented. But when you get feedback from beta readers saying the message is unclear, be grateful. They’re helping you create the best solution for your readers.

Thomas: Michael Jordan is the best basketball player currently alive. At the peak of his career, he had a coach giving him feedback on what he could do better.

His goal was to keep improving, and there’s no limit to how good you can be.

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Don’t view feedback as condemnation.

Thomas Umstattd, Jr.

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It can be discouraging, however, if you had planned to have your book available by Christmas so you could give it to all your friends.

If your characters aren’t well-developed, or you have some retroactive continuity problems, you’ll need to rewrite. That can be discouraging; but remember, being an author is a job. It’s real work. Your first novel takes a long time to write.

In nonfiction, there are some shortcuts. If you’re doing a lot of speaking or blogging, you can start publishing sooner because you’ve already practiced the craft.

But the only way to write a great novel is to get good at writing fiction.

Do the work and respect the craft. Don’t assume you’ll be a master right away. You can’t become a master electrician in two years. What makes you think you can become a master writer in two years?

What habits keep authors from burning out over the years?

Thomas: If this is a years-long journey, what habits keep authors from burning out?

Nika: I always ask authors, “What’s the hurry?”

When I wrote my first book, I was in a hurry. I wanted to publish as soon as possible and see results.

Now, I would rather slow down and do things right. I’ve let go of a hurried pace in my writing career.

Four Steps for Recovery after Burnout: MARK

M: Measure in the Right Direction

Writers and authors often look forward and can only see how far they have left to go. Instead of looking forward, look backward to see how far you’ve come.

Five years ago, I didn’t have a traditionally published book. Five years is not a long time. Looking back at how far you’ve come is more uplifting than worrying about how far you have to go.

Begin by reflecting on where you were two years ago. Where were you five years ago?

Look for the right evidence. I’ve been doing this for over 20 years, and I can look at those two decades and wonder if I’ve made much progress. On the other hand, it probably means I’ve developed faithfulness, perseverance, and tenacity.

A: Ask Better Questions 

Most of the time, we become discouraged when we ask ourselves a negative question. Negative questions require a negative answer. For example, if you ask yourself, “What am I doing wrong?” Your brain will offer many criticisms.

On the other hand, if you ask, “How can I communicate in a clear and compelling way?” your brain will offer favorable and pleasant options that are helpful.

You don’t need an answer that tells you what you’re doing wrong. You need an answer that will help you communicate in a clear and compelling way.

Every day I ask myself, “How can I find a beautiful solution for the problem I’m facing?”

Thomas: What you’re asking is important, especially since most of our teachers told us, “There is no such thing as a stupid question.”

But some questions are stupid because they have statements embedded. For example, if I ask you, “When will you stop embezzling taxes from the government?” you cannot answer without accepting the premise that you’ve been cheating on your taxes. So, if you’re innocent, you must reject it as a stupid question.

We often ask ourselves questions embedded with accusations of fa