An Author's Adventure

My Musings: Creative Burnout?

     Let's talk about creative burnout—or even really burnout in general. In my experience, it's not the same thing as situations where you're your own worst critic and you tear apart your work looking for ways to improve.

     It might be a little similar though. Maybe it comes from the habit of criticizing yourself so much that you wonder whether all your effort is worthwhile. You start to think all your work isn't good enough and that it'll just end up being a waste, and that destroys your inspiration to create in the first place. Even if there's no audience to your creativity, maybe sometimes you forget that you have actual talent. Maybe it comes from comparing yourself to others? I'm not sure.

     But when that happens, it's hard to get excited about any goals or ideas you had for art and stories, and you don't feel like you're making progress anymore. How can this feeling be escaped? Forcing yourself to keep going doesn't seem like it would work—without motivation, it would just feel like a chore. But maybe that's the only thing you can do until you find a spark of inspiration again.

     Things like this are kind of a vicious cycle. It's probably much easier to get inspired if you write or draw regularly, and it's probably way harder if you don't. Does that mean that we do this kind of thing to ourselves? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe it's about personal morale. It's hard to feel burned out if you're happy with what you're doing.

     What are your opinions on this topic? Share your thoughts in the comments!

     This has been another chapter in An Author's Adventure. Stay tuned for next time!