This year opened for me with doses of both cynicism and optimism. I kept trying to plug along despite the disappointments of 2023.
Well, the first half of 2024 really punched me in the gut with both writer burnout and my depression taking root and clutching on. It’s been hard to come back from.
I started a Substack account to ring in the New Year, but haven’t done much with it.
The exhaustion of social media and being so connected with the world still lingers. I hardly want to look at Instagram, Twitter, and only open TikToks a few select people send to me. Otherwise, I have little motivation to post or even try to create new content for any of those existing accounts. Hearing about numerous offshoots of these sites starting and the politics leading up to it all is overwhelming. Bickering rich people and divisive politics keeping so many distracted from the societal system collectively crushing the middle class while the rich laugh their way to the bank. It never changes, and continually parades on before our eyes.
I purposely avoid scrolling through my phone, unless it’s through the numerous gardening or Dungeons & Dragons groups I am in on Facebook (you know, like the old and boring millennial I am who still has an account there). Very little political content gets through on my Facebook, which is honestly a relief.
In this exhaustion, I got thinking: The line between author and “content creator” often gets blurred. We, as authors, write books and market them. How much of marketing needs to be “content creation” as we know it? I am personally tired of so many things competing for my attention that I don’t even want to add to the ocean of content and information and opinions drowning us day in and out.
I just want to write and publish books. These days, it feels so much more complicated.
That social media exhaustion led to writer burnout. While juggling true crime content on both Medium and Newsbreak while trying to write books and this blog, my flurry of writing came to a standstill when Newsbreak essentially cut off reads from non-U.S. writers. That little extra money I was getting from there really helped me out and had given me hope that I could, indeed, write full-time soon. That’s always been my goal, after all.
I didn’t want to let that bring me down, though, so I focused on Medium, who announced they were trying to eliminate AI generated content and wanted to encourage more long-form content for their paid writers.
Yet, I still felt drained, and have for months now. Even rereading my 2024 goals post from January, cynicism crept into my words. Now, I am less cynical and more tired.
It feels like my author platform needs a full upheaval and re-evaluation. To get my brain back into work mode, I’ve been been listening to the Creative Penn podcast. I’ve followed Joanna Penn and her self-publishing journey for yearsg. So, I returned to someone who inspired me to begin self-publishing to begin with.
Her podcast, and her guests on it, were a reassuring reminder that authors should only choose one or two social media platforms to frequently post on. I am not a video gal, so I definitely won’t be posting silly dances or epic rants anytime soon. But Instagram has always done decently well for me, as has Twitter. It became so hard to gain any traction or engagement on Facebook that I deleted my author page there.
I keep debating on whether Substack will be a worthy venture, or if I should simplify things further and focus on my website and newsletter list. If I centralize the latter, what do I do with Substack? I think my website, blog, and newsletter, accompanied by two social media platforms, could be manageable on the author platform side, while scaling back how often I post on Medium. I don’t want to get rid of Medium - I legitimately love what I do there. I love writing about current true crime cases and criminal psychology and topics in that realm as they relate to the “Beyond Dark” universe.
But I do need to carry on with that universe. And trying to stretch myself in so many directions has led to this chronic burnout I haven’t been able to shake.
Learning our limitations as artists and writers is important. Burning ourselves out is counterproductive and terrible for our mental health. If we are in a negative state, it becomes harder to create with authenticity and the voice our readers have come to enjoy. We can’t be everywhere at once, even online. And it isn’t fair to expect that of ourselves. We are not content creators. We are writers. At the heart of that is the love of words, pages, stories, characters, and this immersive experience we weave with our imaginations.
Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with being a content creator. It’s opened up a whole new world for so many people, and that’s beautiful. But sometimes, as writers, I think we tend to take on that title, too, and extend ourselves beyond our limits.
It’s okay to come back to just being a writer without the expectation of being all over the internet. I, for one, want to get back to writing my books and blissfully ignore the social media side until I need to market things. So, I think I will be doing that. Less social media presence, for now. Scale back on Medium to a few times a week. Focus on “Beyond Dark” and “Martha Holmes Mysteries.”
In this time, I’ll be looking at my author platform, and the business side of it, in a deep re-evaluation. Re-reading some of Joanna Penn’s extremely insightful books for authors and creating a viable plan instead of simply floating around lost. To love our craft is to sew that love into our stories. Disheartened cynicism poisons that.
So, there it is. Back to basics. Build back better. I’ll return to some socials soon when I am closer to finishing “Beyond Dark 2: Gravedigger.” Take care of yourselves, and each other. Much love! Thank you all for coming on this long journey with me. It is far from over.
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