This is supposed to be a turnback post, where I look at the past and consider how I’ve grown. Instead I wanted to talk about Pacing and how to use it in order to avoid burnout. This is a growth for me. I used to write until I was burned out. As a result I was the king of fits and starts. Now (by which I mean since the past summer) I have been slow and steady and able to work almost daily and do a fairly good job of being productive –even when I forget about certain deadlines and need to pull myself off one project to scramble to finish another. The long and short of it is this: Writing consistently means taking care of your mental health. When you exhaust yourself constantly it doesn’t make you able to work longer (in spite of what everyone says about the brain being a muscle). Rest and reload is part of the process. If you aren’t allowing your tank to refill then you are running on empty… and whatever other cliche’s you can think of.