How I'm Going to Write My Way Out of Burnout

Thank you for all of your suggestions as to what I could write about. I've compiled them all here in case any of them spark an idea for you if you're in a similar position.

“Can I write my way out of burn out?” I asked you all last week. And I received some incredible responses from you either in the comments or directly via email (and I will reply to you all soon). I even had a message from my mother and a text from my amazing close friend, who managed in a few words to make me dissolve into tears (in a nice way!) She knows me so well.

The short answer, I believe, is yes I can. As long as:

a) I don’t put too much pressure on myself.

b) I stop giving myself an awfully hard time by beating myself up and laying the guilt on thick.

c) I stop focusing on the ‘shoulds’ (which is advice I’ve often given myself to my mentees - it’s always a shock when your own advice comes back at you as you don’t always know you’re doing it). As

sustainablemum

says, “shoulds are external pressures which we cannot truly take ownership of and are exhausting to carry all the time”.

I’m sharing some of the suggestions in response to my last newsletter below in case you too are looking for inspiration after burn out.

1. Read something you love, journal about your purpose, and reflect on what makes you happy. Brilliant suggestion, definitely something I’ve neglected to journal about in a long time.

2. Read your previous articles first to get inspiration. Listen to your YouTube videos, and ideas will pop up from there. It can be a sentence that sparks an idea or a comment from a reader. Again, brilliant.

3. Maybe it might be helpful to switch genre and/or creative practice? Just get as curious as possible and (gentle reminder) give yourself grace! This is why I wanted to concentrate on making videos and then stopped due to overthinking! I’ll write ‘give yourself grace’ somewhere very prominent!

4. Write about other things outside of your writing like other hobbies and interests you have and things you like to do when the burnout does hit. Excellent.

5. Write about your experiences of writing growing up and write about the genres/novels/stories that you don't write anymore and why you no longer write those types of stories. Definitely one to think about.

6. People subscribe to you for you and your personality so I would say just write about whatever makes you happy. Your niche doesn't have to be just writing, it could be just you. (This suggestion by

   Redhead Pinup Reader
   was a real eye-opener. I always believed I had to stick to my niche yet, again!, my advice to others would be to write about whatever you want and screw the niche - your newsletter is like a ‘magazine of yourself’.)

7. It might help to remove all the 'shoulds' that you're thinking relative to your writing and just write about what interests you, the person, and park the 'writing agenda' for awhile? The ‘shoulds’ again. This is definitely something to explore in more detail. I might write down all the ‘shoulds’ I have. That’ll be interesting.

8. I'd love to learn more about you personally Helen, the Helen behind her writing desk, your other joys of life outside of writing, what makes you who you are in life. Brilliant.

9. I feel that you have boxed yourself in by your focus only being on writing. Who is the individual behind the writing? That's what I loved about what you shared previously. Your writing was much more holistic as I have been following it since medium. Remove the box, the labels whatever you call them and just write what comes to you. A poem ,short story, essay etc no restraints or restrictions just let it flow as naturally as it comes.

   Olatomi Afilaka
   thought she was being harsh with this comment but I LOVE it. I think it’s a great reminder that often, as we grow, we forget about writing for ourselves and think more about writing for our readership - forgetting that what’s attracted readers in the first place is because we do write for ourselves.

10. Can you let yourself be quiet for a moment and just wait....be very patient....and wait for what bubbles to the surface. Because *that* is what you need to be writing about...not what you think you should be writing about, or what anyone else tells you to write about. An excellent thinking and journaling idea to explore.

11. I remember when I first found you on youtube, it was YOU that made me watch and want to find out more - I loved the chilled vibes of your videos, your beautiful office and desk, your dogs and walks in the countryside!!! I think if you just re-focus on you instead of any output as such, and just share what you get up to that will be wonderful place to start! This by

    Emily Male
    is a popular theme. It’s something I’d love to do but I’m overthinking it and getting in my head thinking I have to be ‘perfect’ or to start at the beginning but not knowing where the beginning is! But something along these lines is going to be my theme for January. Again, I’d never considered that you watched or read for me and not necessarily for what I write about.

12. Helen, write about you. Your journey. When I first discovered you I found out you had made some videos on your hens and at that time I too was getting hens. This inspired me more to go for it as you also mentioned in one of your posts how you went on a course to learn about them. Also your dogs!

    Clare Louise Larkin
    inspired my first piece of non-writing writing. I only have a rough first few paragraphs in my writing journal (see photo at the beginning of this newsletter) but it’s a start.

13. How about - if you could write about anything on this substack other than writing - what 3 things would you write about? This is where I think, ugh, I don’t have anything else I can write about. But, obviously that’s my lack of confidence speaking. Again, another idea to journal about.

14. Tell us about Helen. Here are a few thoughts on things I've picked up from your Substack and your YouTube videos - that you used to keep hens and ducks, and who was your favourite and why; that you love baking. What the lighthouse on your desk means to you. Your Agatha Christie reading marathon - are some of them waaaay better than others, and which are leaving you cold. Your comfiest jumper. What the dogs last did to make you laugh out loud. I'd love to know you through your writing, not just know about your writing. LOVE this. And the Agatha Christie project is definitely something I’d like to explore more (maybe I have my first answer to suggestion 13, above!)

15. Could you write about WHY you write/want to write? I’m going to explore this, too.

16. Your writing space is so comforting and I always felt calmer and inspired whenever I watched one of your videos. Maybe write a bit about some of the items you have there, why you chose them and how they make you feel? Great idea.

17. Do you have other creative pursuits you turn to when not writing? What do you do to procrastinate? And maybe, what are your most healthy ways of "not writing"? I like how you suggest ‘healthy ways’ as I do tend to scroll a lot when burnt out. There must be more I do, though!

18. Perhaps write about your dog walks in the weather we are experiencing, go deep on the sensory elements and descriptions? An excellent suggestion and writing practice! I used to do this on INstagram years ago but have not done it recently.

19. What about how you are balancing burnout with Christmas holidays? I’m doing very little this year. It’s so easy to get sucked into thinking “I must do X” or “I must do Y”.

20. Think about a smell you like and put it in a scene. Excellent.

21. What’s your favourite comfort food, dessert, pastry, etc.? Write about the sensory experiences you have when preparing and eating them. So much to choose from! I will have a think.

22. Have you burned out before? How did you snap out of it? Good question!

23. What are your favourite places to go to relax and get some inspiration? Great question!

I love all of these suggestions. Thank you so much to everyone who commented and everyone who emailed. I am so grateful. It really helps knowing so many of you understand.

The first thing I’m going to do is stop thinking that I can’t write about X or Y here on Substack. I may get a little experimental for a while, to wipe away all of the rules I’d unknowingly placed upon myself and just go by whatever is in my head. I think some of the more vulnerable pieces will be going behind the paywall - and I mean vulnerable in terms of writing style and not just what I’m writing about.

But I feel excited and inspired for the first time in some time. It’s not huge at the moment but there is a glimmer and I’m delighted.