Burn Out?

[deanfromaustralia]

I'm interested to know if writers' suffer from burn out - particularly after finishing a project. I define burn out as being creatively spent and unable to create anything rather than simply be stuck on a partucular point in a story. I prefer to differentiate burn out from writers' block because I believe them to be seperate ideas so I'd be interested in getting some discussion from the community.

[Zain]

Well, I suppose you can get burn out in every job.
Personal experience, well, I from time to time experience a certain kind of... void after finishing a book or a chapter but I wouldn't call it anything but exhaustion. Finishing something can also improve one's mood, or even make someone happy. I'd say it's like with every other work, too.

[Richard Falken]

My problem is that I have lots of ideas, but no funding or time to carry them all out. Of course, if I could publish a book every two months, I would run out of creative ideas at some point.

I think that the publishing mafia is more likely to burn the author's resistance down than actual lack of ideas, but, on the other hand, it is surely a very personal matter.

[Enigma]

Yep all the time. Mine can last for a few months or a couple of years. But when I'm back in the "Zone" people know it.

[vortexkd]

Well I've never experienced a phase where I couldn't think of any ideas. Though after I finish a piece (especially if I'm satisfied with it) the ideas that come afterwards tend to be inane spin offs of the story. I like putting the same characters in odd disconnected situations.
So to answer the question, no I've never felt 'burnt out' after writing a piece, just that I can't seriously work on any of the ideas I get at that point.
On the other hand, there's a definite 'zone' time. At best I've written some 30,000 words in two days. That's when I can think of nothing except the story and everyone around me thinks I've gone mad because I (apparently) continuously talk to myself. That kind of focus and inspiration comes on average once in a couple of years.

[henrymartin]

Finishing a piece generally improves my mood, so no issues there. But I do get tired at times. My last big project, a trilogy, took about six years from start to finish; the first draft, however, took much, much less time. It's all the fine-tuning that tends to wear me out.

[colleenmclain]

I guess I have never called it burn-out. I call it "the well has gone low and i need time to fill it back up." One can't pour creativity 24/7 without getting tired. I've been on a roll with my latest project for three months, none stop. I know where it's going, the plot and words are there but I need a break to keep it from becoming stale. I spend the break time reading, writing short stories, hub pages, outlining future projests or helping friends tweek their projects. Breaks last as long as they last. I know when my characters start calling me my break is over. It's a process. No guilt, no doubt, just a break to recharge. You have permission to rest.

[jsinard42]

Can't say I've ever experienced this. I hit writer's block on occasion but otherwise my head is filled to the brim with characters and quirky plots that I can't wait to put down on paper. It never feels like a job to me.

[npandit]

I think this happens to everyone from time to time; and sometimes you just need a little R&R before you can get the ball rolling again!

[bartleby51]

Usually when I've worked really hard on a project, once I'm done I don't want to look at my own stuff for a while. Since I watch movies while I'm writing, I tend to recharge the batteries with a trip to the library for something totally outside the genre I've been working in. Just put a novel through a beta reading process and started sending out queries; since it is magical realism, I hit the library for some tasty noir mysteries and crime fiction. Eventually I will bend my reading toward the subjects and time frame in which I want to set my next work, and start hitting the non-fiction shelves for research reading.

[riyanj]

I wouldn't call mine burn out. I call it fear. I finished my first book and jumped right into the second. For the first one I had loads of support. For the second, for some reason, I've found only resentment from those same supporters. Now I can't even start to write book three because I'm terrified. I don't know why people turned against me, but the did. And it's crippling me.

[Carla Hurst-Chandler]

Since my writing tends to align with the Winter season...I rarely encounter block or burn-out. By the time Fall is over I am ready to get back to it.

[kaylahar6]

That happens to me sometimes too.

[Annie79]

Yes, I am worried about burn out. After you write a book...and it is published....and the hoopla comes (or doesn't) - it is like you've just had a baby. Sometimes you are so high on life that you roll into the next project without missing a beat or you are just so exhausted that you can't churn out the next one as you thought you would. I am exhausted. And sometimes book publishing can be traumatic in some way for sensitive souls.. That can bring on a rut too. "Oh, I really hated that experience...." "That critic really cut me down..." Writing takes courage...damn straight you can burn out for awhile.

[jhollan2]

I go through cycles, as I'm sure everyone does. Sometimes, I'm writing every day, multiple projects, pages and pages, and everything is beautiful and nothing hurts. Other times, I can go months or even years without writing anything. It's usually not writer's block, in the sense that I still have ideas. I still know what I want my story to be and I still can find the words to say it, I just suddenly find myself with no desire to write anymore. I just lose the drive, suddenly and without warning. I try to keep up with my journalling so I'm getting something down, but at times...I just can't be bothered.