Web Writing Burnout Reflections

April 22, 2008

My need for a “sabbatical” resulted from something I’m going to term “web content writing burnout.” I’ve seen it happen a lot before, and remember reading a lengthy post on a message board when I first started writing online. At the time it seemed like a foreign problem that I’d never encounter. I was so thrilled to be making money from writing. I didn’t think it could ever happen to me, but 2008 has been a gigantic ball of stress and deadlines.

I think web writing burnout is common for a few different reasons, some that are fixable and some that are just the nature of the beast. The main reason, and feel free to disagree with me, is that web content can get a bit boring. It’s not the creative fiction or the insightful magazine column that some people wish they could be writing. It’s a means to an end instead of an end itself.

At first, it is the perfect opportunity to make some easy money. But after a while, easy becomes mind-numbingly boring. The ease of the articles makes it tempting to pack ten or twenty in per day and once you’ve set that pace for yourself, it can be hard to set more realistic deadlines. What results is writing that is under par, and even more frustration. It’s a nice recipe for disaster.

The solution? For me it was in changing my mindset and my perspective on where my web writing sat within the greater scheme of things. I’ve always been a writer but (this may be true for most of you) writing online was something that wasn’t a goal. In fact, when I made the decision to work from home two and a half years ago, the thought of combining my love of writing and the Internet hadn’t even crossed my mind. After I learned about web content, I was really excited to put my skills to good use. Then when I found Tiffany Dow and was introduced to the world of Internet Marketing, things got even more exciting.

As thrilled as I’ve been to make money online, it’s a far cry from the writing I dreamed of doing once upon a time. Maybe you relate? If you get stuck in thinking “I was supposed to write a novel” or “I was supposed to see my name in print” you can get discouraged pretty fast. What I resolved was to abandon the “or” thinking - instead of thinking web content OR writing dreams, it became web content AND writing dreams. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.

Web writing is a vehicle to use to reach a goal. My personal goal, and what I value most, is freedom. Web writing allows a great deal of freedom, along with a great opportunity to build up virtual real estate that will continue to earn while I move onto other writing projects. Web writing is a tool to achieve my goal of freedom.

It can also be used a tool for many other things: extra income (who doesn’t need that?), funding while you write the Great American Novel, or a way to get some clips under your belt to move on to published writing. Although the skills you learn as a web writer don’t transfer over completely, working as a web writer is better than working doing something non-writing related.

Ironically, this advice is exactly what I’ve been giving other people and wasn’t listening to myself. I lost my way somehow in the deadlines and keyword research and forgot what I’d been advising all along: Use web writing to fuel your other projects. Whether those projects are internet marketing related or involve other forms of freelance writing, web writing is a way to get there.  Once I re-discovered this for myself, my burnout fizzled out and I was ready to go back to work.

What about you? Have you experienced web content writing burnout?

Posted in Web Writing Basics