The struggles of writing with an all-consuming, stressful day job

For those who aren't aware, I do not make my living as an author. I wish I could, but I don't sell nearly as many books as I need to in order to feed myself or keep a roof over my head. Instead, I have a day job that provides me with financial stability. I'm certainly not unique in that respect. Plenty of authors work a day job as their primary means of income.

I've been able to juggle writing and a day job for many years. All of the books I've written so far have been while I was working a full-time job. However, that has changed in the past year. I released my last book, Soulless, in November. I haven't written anything since. At the beginning of the year, I had fully intended to start drafting the next book in the After Z-Day series, but it's now August, and I haven't written a single word. Last fall, my day job ramped up in intensity to the point where I often work evenings and weekend. Even when I do have time when I'm not working, I'm so mentally exhausted that I can't think about telling a story.

What am I to do? To start with, I recognize I'm in a phase of life where writing is difficult for me. Instead of churning out words for the sake of releasing another book, I'm waiting until I can focus on writing a good book. I owe that to my readers. Although I'm not writing a first draft, I do think about the story for my next book every now and then. I have a brief outline, and I add to it or revise it when I can. I hope that when I finally have the time and mental energy to write again, thinking about the story in advance will make drafting easier. Finally, I'm still reading as much as I used to. Reading is easier than writing for me because I don't need to be in the proper state of mind to read. If anything, reading helps me de-stress from my day job. I've read some really good books this year, and I'm learning from the authors I read so that I can be a better author when I start writing again.

I don't know when my day job will let up enough to allow me to write, but I hope it's soon. I'm looking forward to writing the next installment of the After Z-Day series and sharing it with all of you.