Introduction

One of the reasons you haven’t heard from me in a while, the main reason, is burnout. I spent seven months this year believing I was going to be laid off, and it tanked my writing production, motivation, joy.

But today I don’t want to talk about burnout. I want to talk about how to avoid it. It comes from a discussion I had in my fantasy server about the importance of “play” for writers.

What is “play?”

Play is anything you do around writing that’s not just straight up writing your draft or doing the nitty gritty unfun things. We’ll talk more specifics in a minute. For now, I want you to think of it as the fun stuff you do to get yourself motivated to do the hard drafting, editing, and revisions.

The moodboards. The daydreaming. The conversations you have in your head. Play.

Why is it important for writers to play?

Writers are creatives. We’re free spirits. We’re lost souls. We’re children at heart. Like every adult, we need to play, but we need to do it more, because we live in other worlds half of our day.

What happens when you only focus on the nitty gritty details of a project, the publishing schedules, the deadlines, the queries and rejections, is that you start to see writing as a commodity, not the miraculous act of creation that it is.

You get tired. You get burnt out. And you stop…writing…

How can you play - the C.J. methods

Let’s talk about how I play, and some tips I picked up from friends! Maybe one of these will inspire you.

• Moodboards: I’m visual af, so it’s important for me to see my worlds. I start every project with a Pinterest and go nuts pinning everything. Then, when I’m feeling fancy, I go to Unsplash for free creative commons stock photos and I make myself a moodboard, what we back in the Twitter days used to call “aesthetics.” Here’s the one I made for Necro WIP. See it on Bluesky at DVpit on October 8!

• Music: Play with playlists! I don’t write to music but I get in the mood and vibes of my world by listening before I write. Necro’s playlist is full of goth rock and industrial weirdness. Think NIN, In This Moment, and Linkin Park.

• Daydreaming: This is one of my most important methods. Long before a book is written on my computer, it’s a conversation in my head. It’s a scene I daydream with myself before falling asleep, or while I’m in a boring meeting. I get to know these characters before they ever have spreadsheets.

• Worldbuilding: Get out the Campfire (or document or notebook) and start planning the world! Linguistics, food, clothing, political system. It’s work, but it’s the fun part. I just go nuts researching and playing around with ideas that may not make it.

• Prewriting: This doesn’t work for me, but my friends swear by it. Some of them will just start writing scenes in their new characters’ voices until they nail it down, then they’ll actually start the book. Seems like magic.

What methods of play do you enjoy? Leave a comment!

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But wait! There’s more!

C.J.’s Corner

Welcome to the new feature of every newsletter! Get to know me and what I’m up to. Read it all or skip to your favorite section.

I’m writing:

Ho boy, get ready.

• Necro WIP is done for now but things are in the works for it. More on that later, not ready to talk about it yet.

• I’m working on a short story about a girl whose grandfather keeps hearts in jars. It’s not what you think.

• The official TOC for Enter Here: An Anthology of Portals is up! I’m so blown away by the response this project has gotten. Everything, however, is taking twice as long as M. and I expected, so please bear with us. We’re working behind the scenes, editing and drawing and formatting!

• I guess it’s time to write a new novel. Enter: Priest of Teeth, a dark fantasy (adult) about a lowly priest who wants to claim a higher position—but it might get him killed trying.

• This newsletter! I’ve been so incredibly burnt out for months that I haven’t had anything to say. From now on, I can promise you at least monthly updates.

I’m reading:

At least two things, because I have no chill.

I’m watching:

It’s October so that means 31 days of horror movies! I’m on track this year. Here’s what I’ve watched so far.

I’m listening:

While everyone else is listening to T. Swift’s Tales of a Showgirl, I’m still not ready to give up Ricochet by Rise Against. It was a punk rock summer for me and I’m still riding the high.

Last concert: Papa Roach / Rise Against / Underoath

I’m playing:

Video games have gone by the wayside recently, but I guess I’m “playing” Finch, this self-care app that gameifies doing your basic daily activities, like brushing your teeth and doing work tasks. And then you get to buy clothes for your birb. Yes, I need a token economy, hush.

I’m doing:

So much! It’s Halloween season officially which means I’m in my witchy wonderland. Up until now, I’ve been going to concerts and crocheting a lot. I’m working on an afghan shrug! Isn’t it pretty?

I’ve also made some Woobles. If you’re not familiar, oh boy. Here’s HarleyWooble!

If you like my words, don’t forget to subscribe!