Burnout. It’s a consequence of producing books that authors don’t always consider. Today’s authors must juggle multiple roles, and often, multiple projects. What’s the best way to approach long-range planning to avoid becoming a casualty of burnout? Today I’m talking with YA author Gillian Bronte Adams.
DJS: You have several books out. What are your best tips for new (and experienced) authors about long-range planning?
GBA: Learn your writing habits and creative style. Are you driven by deadlines or does the pressure drain you and leave you struggling to write? How good are you at multi-tasking—juggling drafting, marketing, edits, etc.? Which parts of the writing process excite and energize you and which feel like pulling teeth? Do you consistently overwrite or underwrite your first drafts? Would you consider yourself a fast or slow writer?
The more you learn about your personal writing habits and can identify your strengths, weaknesses, and creative personality, the better equipped you’ll be to evaluate each opportunity that comes your way, whether it’s a book contract, deadline, speaking engagement, or event. Trying to take on everything all at once or making decisions based on what others authors are doing (without taking your personal creative process into account) is one of the fastest paths I know to burning out.
DJS: How can writers avoid burnout?
GBA: I struggled with severe burnout while writing the second book in my current series. It was so disorienting to me, because it was a part of a series I’d been dreaming about writing for years and desperately loved, so I know the pain of burning out and the struggle of wondering if your creativity will ever come back. I think it’s vitally important to build rest times into your writing schedule. Writing is a marathon not a sprint. It requires serious discipline, but it’s also fueled by space to think and gain inspiration.
“Writing is a marathon not a sprint.”
If you wait until you’re continually running on empty, you’ll often need significantly longer to refuel than if you intentionally pause to fill up along the way. Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is take a break.
One of the hardest things I’m still learning to evaluate is when my struggle with writing is just because writing is hard and I’m discouraged but can keep going—or when there’s something more severe (like burnout) setting in. That’s where learning to identify your personal writing habits and style helps so much, because you can get a feel for what’s a normal part of your process and what’s not and may be able to catch your own early warning signs of burnout.
I think it’s also important to be aware that burnout can be caused or exacerbated by elements in your life outside of writing. When that’s the case, simply stepping away from writing for a few days might not be enough. Being able to show yourself grace in that situation and, whenever possible, give space for your creativity to recover has to become a priority.
DJS: What are some of the challenges you faced as a multi-published author?
GBA: One of the biggest challenges I was unprepared for after signing my first series contract was how much multi-tasking would be required to draft the next book while editing the first book and promoting my debut launch. It was a crash course in learning to write and create on a deadline while shifting priorities as necessary, and I learned several lessons the hard way.
DJS: When writing gets hard, what do you do to encourage yourself or to recapture your enjoyment of writing?
GBA: Sometimes, I’ll read back over a favorite passage from a previous work, one that captures the heart of the project and helps me remember that we can get there eventually, even if it’s hard. I’ve also started making a list when I begin a new project with all of the things that excite me about the idea—specific scenes, moments between characters, elements of the world that ignite my imagination, etc. Reviewing that list when I’m discouraged reminds why I fell in love with the idea and can help me refocus on what’s really important.
DJS: If you could go back in time to the moment before you had your first book published, what advice would you give yourself?
GBA: Writing, marketing, and publishing require non-stop decision making. It can feel like each decision is the most important one, especially when you’re about to launch your debut. The decision fatigue can feel paralyzing and hinder you from making even simple choices. So learning to identify which decisions truly are important and deserve significant deliberation and which decisions are not going to be career altering and can be made “for now” is really helpful. I wish I’d known to approach it more like starting off on a journey as an author, as opposed to viewing becoming an author with that first book as my destination.
DJS: What great advice! Thank you for sharing your experiences and the wisdom you’ve gleaned along the way.
Do you have any upcoming projects you want to tell us about?
GBA: I am currently writing the final book in my YA epic fantasy series, The Fireborn Epic. It’s my ode to my favorite thick tomes like The Lord of the Rings and The Stormlight Archive along with the many years I spent running the horsemanship program at a summer camp, so it has warriors who bond with magical warhorses, cinematic action sequences, and soul striking character arcs. The first two books are out now. I’ve been blown away by the love for this series and can’t wait for readers to be able to dive into the epic conclusion.
Seas boil and jungles burn in Of Sea and Smoke, the tempestuous sequel to the award-winning Of Fire and Ash, where an outcast queen, royal rebel, captive priest, and their desperate band of warriors bonded with magical steeds battle a conquest-hungry empire and power-mad assassin. Six years ago, the wrong brother survived, and nothing will ever convince Rafi Tetrani otherwise, but he is done running from his past. Confronted with the evils of the emperor’s rule, he vows to fight, and the stolen shipload of magical warhorses offers just the edge he needs. But those steeds have been demanded in ransom by the emperor’s ruthless assassin, and if Rafi hopes to raise a band of riders, he must first outwit his brother’s murderer.
Gillian Bronte Adams writes epic fantasy novels, including the award-winning Of Fire and Ash and The Songkeeper Chronicles. She loves strong coffee, desert hikes, trying out new soup recipes on crisp fall nights, and searching for books that make her heart ache and soar in turn. When she’s not creating vibrant new worlds or dreaming up stories that ring with the echoes of eternity, she can be found off chasing sunsets with her horse, or her dog Took.
Donna Jo Stone is an award-winning multi-genre author. She writes contemporary young adult, historical fiction, and southern fiction. Many of her novels are about tough issues, but she always ends her stories on a note of hope. Finding the faith to carry on through hard battles in a common theme in Donna Jo’s books.
The first novel in Donna Jo’s young adult series, Promise Me Tomorrow, is scheduled for publication in 2025. Her short romance, A Wedding to Remember, released Feb 1st, her adult 1960s inspy romance, JOANN: Apron Strings Books 5, released May 15th, and her Small Town Christian Domestic Suspense with Romance, The Key Collector’s Promise, releases September 6th . Stay in touch and receive the latest news by signing up for Donna Jo’s newsletter at donnajostone.com.
