I was convinced that no one was reading my words. It was December 2021, and something had crept into my psyche. It seemed that no matter how hard I tried, or how much I wrote, or how many people I invited to discover something I’d written, that no one cared. They call it hitting a “wall.” And I hit it hard. I was cranky. Despondent. Deflated. And I felt like quitting. Completely.

You see, reading isn’t what it was a decade ago. With the rise of self-publishing, there are a TON of books out there. This is not a bad thing necessarily, except when quality suffers. And when so many people are writing and fewer people are reading, or reading beyond the free content on their phones.

Add to this scenario the fact that those who do the most reading generally do not pay to read books. Which does not bode well for publishers, who are then unable to take a chance on a new author, or one who is not guaranteed to sell 20 thousand books – fast!

Well, so, I hit a wall. And what did I do? I waved a white flag at some fellow authors, and what came out of it was a 22-minute podcast called The Writer’s Shed, by David W. Berner. I had never listened to his podcast before, and I’m quite glad to have discovered it. It’s really good.

Look, when we experience “burnout,” it means something in our lives is out of balance. And this means it’s time to reassess, take a good look, hit pause, readjust, perhaps swerve. Just don’t keep doing the same thing and hope for different results. Let’s all do more that brings us joy, and yes, I hope some of what brings you joy is reading.

Here’s the link. Writer’s Shed—Writer’s Burnout with Melanie Holmes

Peace, all.