Creative Burnout: How Not Writing Helps Spark New Fiction Ideas
How many times do you sit down to write, and a blank page stares back at you on your screen?
Just blinding white.
The blinking cursor tapping away at your self-worth.
It’s miserable when you want to write, you know you should write, you finally have time to write, but your brain is mush.
You can’t get two words to follow each other properly, let alone form a sentence. Fiction ideas float around in some inaccessible nebula of your mind.
This is what creative burnout feels like for writers.
Some like to call it Writer’s Block, but this is more of a state of being.
You love writing, you know you do. But right now, your passion for storytelling is hidden under cobwebs growing over the old hatch where you fetch those fiction ideas out of.
And this was supposed to be your year. Your month. Your week.
But isolation has ruined a ton of creativity and motivation.
As we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel here, it’s easy to think that you should have written more. You should have been able to finish a book. You should have churned out a ton of short stories.
You should have, you should have, you should have.
That’s the constant phrase you keep telling yourself.
Stop it.
Creative burnout is real, and it’s not something you should be ashamed of.
In fact, you might be perpetuating it if you’re trying to force words out of yourself when you have absolutely nothing left in the tank.
But, I hear you. Or rather that little voice inside your head (because I have that voice too.) The one that says…
You’re never going to finish that book.
You’re never going to make it as a writer.
You’re never going to break through this creative burnout fog.
Those are all lies.
Step One to Overcoming Creative Burnout: Stop Writing.
Yeah, you read that right.
If you’re running on fumes, wondering if new fiction ideas are ever going to form again, walk away from that blinding blank screen.
You have to get out of that headspace.
You need to find a way to stop thinking about how you aren’t writing.
Creative burnout also just wastes so much paper
So just walk away.
It’s kind of like lying in bed when you can’t sleep. The more you get anxious about not falling asleep, the harder it is to actually fall asleep.
I know exactly how crippling that kind of anxiety can be.
The last article I posted was in November. Ugg, I hate it when I break a good writing streak.
And then it’s embarrassing for me to come back after a lot of time has passed.
Then weeks go by.
Then months.
Now it’s April!
But I shouldn’t feel ashamed or kick myself. I needed time to walk away from writing and the feeling of needing to keep a schedule that only I was holding myself accountable for.
I’m a copywriter full-time, and it’s exhausting sometimes coming home from work to write some more. (Or for the last year logging off from work to stare at the same screen in the same chair to work on my own stuff.)
During that downtime, I tried to stop worrying about my writing. I knew it would come back. I allowed my brain to wander.
I went on a little RV trip (we called it the quarantine tube) to Arches National Park and Mesa Verde National Park.
My imagination went wild. I wasn’t trying to figure out some piece to write or worried about forcing new fiction ideas. They just came because I allowed my mind to wander.
And now I have an entirely new fantasy series I’m working on right now.
This would’ve never happened staring hopelessly at a screen.
But, you don’t have to go to a National Park to allow your imagination to have some free time.
3 Things That Help You Form New Fiction Ideas During Creative Burnout
Now when I say, “don’t write” or “walk away from the computer when the words aren’t coming,” I don’t mean you should only write when you’re inspired.
Dumb.
You won’t get shit done if you only write when you’re inspired.
Writing is work, even if we love it and are thrilled about the fiction idea we have.
Walk away for a day, a week, whatever, (maybe not 5 months like my stupid self), but have a plan to come back. Allow yourself the time to switch things up, but think ahead.
Never walk away forever. Never give up.
Here are some really simple things you can do right now to let your writing brain have a break.
1. Simply walk into new fiction ideas
Yeah, I hear you.
Roll your eyes, go ahead.
I know–you’ve read that walking is great millions of times.
But have you done it?
And if you do walk, what does that look like? Are you a ball of stress worried about the time you’re wasting walking instead of writing?
...I do that sometimes.
Don’t think about writing. Be in the moment.
Look at the way the clouds move.
Watch the shadow of a tree.
Listen to the sound of birds fluttering nearby.
Take the time to drink it all up. This is a little moment on a planet spinning at ungodly speeds around a star that you happen to be walking in the light of for a brief moment. Live in that space.
And let your mind wander.
The American Psychological Association did some pretty incredible experiments on walking and found that, across the board, walking stimulated your creative side. Inside, outside, on a treadmill, didn’t matter; the subjects’ creative thinking scores were higher after a walk.
Sure, you might not exactly have a sylvan glen to frolic in near your home, but walking is great anyway.
My entire new fantasy idea came on hikes. I saw ravens flying around Arches, saw the sun setting exploring a red canyon near Delicate Arch, and sat thinking about what we have lost at Mesa Verde.
My wife caught the literal moment I started coming up with my new fiction idea…pretty cool
Was I actively thinking about the pages of a book this would inspire? Nope. But that idea was forming back there nonetheless.
2. Creative Burnout Loves a Good Podcast
What makes podcasts work so well is you don’t have to sit and be entirely focused on the podcast to enjoy it.
Driving, mowing the lawn, playing a relaxing video game that doesn’t require me to have the audio on for it, that’s when I dive into a podcast.
They are so much more than just entertaining. They can allow your fiction ideas to grow in the background.
I’ve talked about this before, but Lore is a great podcast to turn to. It dives into folklore, and especially for speculative fiction writers, it can generate some amazing ideas.
Storytelling podcasts don’t have to be strictly fiction in the traditional sense. Actual play podcasts for D&D or other tabletop games can also be a huge boost to your imagination.
Usually, those games come with a ton of worldbuilding that can spark your imagination for your own fictional world too.
True crime mystery podcasts are pretty much filling up the most popular charts right now. Dive in.
Yeah...sometimes it can be depressing. But they can also ignite your imagination and fuel a new story idea.
3. Rewatch The Lord of the Rings
Oddly specific, I know.
But if you’ve read literally anything else on this site, you know Lord of the Rings always has a chance to be front and center.
It hits different right now.
Coming out of all this time away from friends and family and feeling normal, the message within Lord of the Rings rings truer than ever.
Oh man, at the end of The Two Towers, when Sam gives his speech about how there’s some good in this world even after all the bad that’s happened and it’s worth fighting for–Ooofa.
If Sam cries, I cry. Plain and simple.
There’s a simple hope to Lord of the Rings, and it’s so desperately needed.
And that’s, I think, the key to being inspired to write. That there’s hope.
Most stories involve it somehow. I think that’s what keeps readers turning pages. There’s a hope that the characters will make it, that they will change for the better, that things will start going their way.
Even in the dark stories, there’s a tiny gimmer most of the time. It’s the hope that we can be more. More than we are now. More than we’ve ever been before.
It’s the hope that the good guys make it one way or another, and sacrifice really means something in the end.
Beating Creative Burnout Ultimately Means You Choosing Your Writing
In the end, all the walks in the world and all the Hobbits in the Shire can’t force you to write.
Beating burnout means allowing hope to grow–hope that you are going to make it.
You will finish this book.
You will make writing your thing.
You will share your story with those who need it.
That’s what choosing your writing means.
You refill your tanks and then make an active choice to sit back down and write.
That’s hard. And every time you manage to do it, you should be proud of yourself.
Without you and your choice, your stories will never be told.
And they are worth fighting for.
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