– One of the biggest fears writers face is burnout, or “writer’s block”. However, there’s always a way to look at the positives in a situation. Please take the following to heart: Not actively creating is okay, as long as you continue to your goals in another way.
Do not ever beat yourself up over not having the momentum to keep creating actively, 24/7. You need days where you relax and research and find inspiration. It’s not laziness. It’s an important part of the creative process. There’s a fabulous visual by emcheeseman on Twitter that was made for artists and explains this really well.
The Three Stages Of The Creativity Cycle
There are three stages to the creativity cycle; Action, The Middle, and Recovery.
The Middle Ground
If you’re coming down from the action stage, you’re not quite burnt out, but you’re also not as full of creative energy as you might have been last week. Your creations aren’t popping out as quickly and you’re finding that you take more breaks, do less in one sitting, and would rather take it slow and figure out some world building for upcoming scenes or write some experimental blurbs, rather than keep writing at full speed.
Or, if you’re coming out of the recovery stage, you’re not at 100% yet, but you have the motivation to do something, such as the activities I used as examples above.
During The Action Stage
You’re actively creating. You’re, how one would say, on a roll. Your visions and ideas are coming to life and you’re using all of your energy to create, rather than research or recharge. You should be using the momentum you’ve built up in the middle ground to write, and write a lot.
The Recovery Stage
You have had enough of writing for hours and hours at a time and you need some rest. Your brain is tired and you’re finding it more difficult to get excited about your project. It’s time to let yourself breathe. Give yourself time to do absolutely nothing, distance yourself from your project, and take in some material to help you get inspired again.
You need to input content into your head. Read, watch tv shows, watch movies, go out in the world, try new things, have new experiences, visit new places, etc. This is super important to this stage. If you don’t consume other work or things that will help you generate ideas once you have the energy again, you will not bounce back to the high energy production phase you hope to be on again.
So What?
Just remember that creativity, no matter what art form you practice, is a cycle that you can’t stop in one place. Nobody can always be in a place where they can happily create every single day without faltering. You’re human, you’re an artist, and you need to accept that there are multiple ways you can work toward your goal, even when you’re “burnt out”. It’s all part of the process.
Happy writing!
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