Writer’s Fatigue

So here you are my friend, you made it. You discovered Vocal.com by some means of word of mouth. Maybe a friend suggested it to you or maybe you just discovered it on your own quest to find a place where you could stretch your writing muscles and express yourself. That’s what it’s all about here for us, being writers and practicing what we love. But even in a safe and enjoyable space like Vocal.com one or maybe many, can find themselves suffering from a case of writer’s fatigue. As convincing as writer’s fatigue may be, I wanted to let you know why you shouldn’t let it get to you.

I was excited just like the countless others who found Vocal.com when I first arrived here. It was a family friend who put me on the path to finding Vocal and when I made it here and began sharing my stories with the world among countless other like-minded storytellers, I just knew I was at home. Of course there is a fine print that comes with every hot deal, even one such as Vocal. On this amazing site we tend to get hooked on the glory that comes with expressing our talents as writers.

Of course we get paid for our time here, as well as our literary contributions. We compete in challenges where we can potentially win cash prices, among other things. And who can forget that wonderful feeling that comes with finding out you’ve just been given a top story and you recieved that sexy little bonus that comes with it?

But very often than not, we all seem to get to that place where our writer’s flag isn’t flying as high as we would like. You know what I’m talking about. You participate in a lot of challenges and though you may not expect to win very many of them, you do have high hopes of at least being awarded runner up or maybe even an honorable mention, but it doesn’t happen and you feel a nonchalant bump of disappointment. There’s also that longing for a top story. Maybe you’ve never had a top story or maybe you have, but you haven’t had one in a good while and you’ve seriously been longing for another. And last but certainly not least, your general reads are not as up as you would like.

No matter what the situation may be, you as a member of Vocal have come down with a case of writer’s fatigue and your writings have gotten less frequent and you don’t put as much effort into crafting them. You also have now resorted to going on your Vocal friend groups on social media and telling your fellow Vocal friends and writers that you are either taking a break from Vocal or maybe even considering just leaving the Vocal community as a whole. You might be reading all this and thinking to yourself “Ok yeah! This does sum up how I feel, so what’s your point in reiterating it to me?” Well I’m reitering all this to you to tell you that you shouldn’t abandon your writing.

I know what it’s like to feel underwhelmed in your writing experience. You have that moment when you feel like nothing you’re doing is enough. You’re not getting the number of reads and even subs that you probably think you should have. You’re writing stories that you’re putting your all into and you’re either hoping they get top story status or at the least get a good number of reads. When these things didn’t happen like I wanted I got to a point where I was writing less and would take a couple days off, but no matter how disappointed I was I always ended up encountering something that sparked my writer juices and I jumped back behind the pen.

Don’t let writer’s fatigue stop you from stretching your Vocal wings. Every moment you have as a writer will not be a high flying moment and you will have plenty of not so high flying moments, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up on your writing. There are number of activities I think you should partake in to curve your writer’s fatigue.

Get out and see the world. The world around us plays a big role in inspiring us as writers. Get up, get out and go experience life in that world and you’ll find that life’s adventures will inspire your sense of subject matter when it comes to figuring out something to talk about.

Retrace your influences. My biggest inspirations as a writer are the mediums of storytelling that I’ve enjoyed my entire life. This includes: Film, music and literature. Often times when I’m watching my favorite movies, listening to my favorite music, or reading one of my favorite books I find myself re-invigorated to write stories after going.back and revisiting the stories that inspired me.

Support your fellow writers. It’s always important to support our fellow writers. Reciprocity is key in building a prosperous community here at Vocal, but I also find myself inspired to want to write more after reading the great stories of my fellow writers. It really makes me feel like I have a great sense of purpose and that I’m contributing to a great sense of purpose. Help your fellow writers because in helping them, you will help yourself.

For everyone who is experiencing writer’s fatigue for whatever reason, don’t give up. As a writer you are an artist and what you have is a gift. Don’t let those less than gift-feeling moments tear you away from your passion and don’t let it make you think your work doesn’t have a purpose that you shouldn’t continue to fulfill.