Stephen Metcalfe

 A new term has recently entered my lexicon. 

Creative burnout is a lack of interest in the work and activities that have always been meaningful to you.  You doubt your ability to create anymore, you feel you’re no longer “good enough”, that you’ve lost whatever talent you once had.  You find yourself in a place where you have no energy, imagination, or focus when it comes to work and so you start to become cynical and detached about the work itself – what’s the point, what does it matter, nobody really cares about what you do so why bother doing it.  Let’s put it another way.  Sitting down at the keyboard can be a physical challenge.

Sounds familiar.

So what do you do?

From what I’ve read you can start by taking a break.  Take some time off, not a lot but enough to give yourself a reset.  Hmmm.  I feel I’ve been in reset mode for a while now.  I’m a wound-up grandfather clock only the tick-tock has stopped.  What time is it anyway?  No, a break’s not going to work. I need time on.

Be kind to yourself.  Okay, but it’s hard to be kind to someone who’s constantly boring you to tears.

When you come back, find yourself something “new” to work on.  Great idea.  Another project to put on my ten-page to do list.  Really, what do you do when you have ideas but the ideas no longer flow?  (You sit at the keyboard and write nonsense like this.)

Read inspirational stories.  Meaning fiction .  Something someone else has made up.  Do not read the newspaper, and on pain of death pay no attention to the real world.  And yet, isn’t fiction – adult fiction -supposed to be a reflection of the real world?  Maybe that’s why trying to write it these days is soul sapping.  

Freewriting.  Freewriting is where you write words down without thinking about what they should be about.  You just write.  Which is what I’m doing right now.  Damn, but I’m good. 

I suppose one could always write poetry as well.  I’vd always had a talent for poetry. 

Damn, I’m good

Even though my brain is made of wood

Maybe I should

Take a walk through the neighborhood.

Incredible.  Give me a guitar and I’d be doing country music.

Spend time with people that are supportive and encouraging of your goals.  Hmmm.  Afraid I don’t have that list.  One of the things about sitting at a desk by yourself every day for years is you didn’t get to meet a lot of people.  If anything, better to find more people to play tennis with.

Okay, the list goes on and on mostly saying the same thing, most of it posted on writer’s blogs by writers looking to make a buck or two.  More power to them.  Here’s advice to myself.  Learn to enjoy the work again.  Allow yourself to enjoy it again.  No expectations.  You’re letting disappointment in the aftermath – readers, book sales, making a buck or two – get in the way of enjoying the process.

Enjoy the process.  That’s really all you can do.