Hi all, I’ve recently finished a few chapbooks, one of which I’ve just self-published in print for someplace where my friend has connections. I thought I was going to keep writing new things, but now that I’ve achieved a major writing goal, nothing is coming. It feels like trying to start a car that just won’t start. I’ve been getting published for a year, and in that time, I’ve had over 70 poems published (plus more to submit) and several short stories written. Have any of you been at this point before? It seems that I need to take a break, but I love writing and am hard pressed to find another hobby I love that much. What have you all done? Thanks!
It's never safe to assume Literature is content. Completing essential tasks might not distract it from coming back - but may at least offer ready excuses. "I can't write that down, I'm finding the dead mice." "I'll start the next story when I've finished newspapering the windows." "You want me to remember what faces look like, don't you?" "I'll only live long enough to take on Proust if I go for these walks." "It was them or You."
I'm probably the worst person to give advice on this because I've been working far beyond burnout for years now, but I'll try to help anyway since I've been in this same predicament countless times. I'm fortunate to have a FT writing job at an agency. Plus two, sometimes three side gigs freelancing for other agencies. So I spend 50-70 hours a week writing, writing and writing. It's great, but my plate is beyond full. I haven't had a vacation in five years. I barely take any days off. So on one hand I'm a workaholic. I'm fully locked into a routine that I can't disconnect from. On the other hand my other writing suffers for it. I have two books out and am about 3/4 through the draft of my next one, but it's been a slog. It's taken far longer than it should because I simply don't have the time to dedicate to it that I'd like. Even when I do sit down to write, which are always in sprints, I find myself stuck, unable to get words on the page. Instead of just writing something moving forward I spend more time revising chapters that are already done. That's a long way of saying, if you can take a break, do it. Walk away from it for a few days, hell, even a few weeks if you can. Your passion for it will still be there. It sounds like you just need to recharge a bit. Go for walks, read some new books, watch a new show, meditate, go to the gym more, etc., etc. Try to not think about writing for a short while and come back to it refocused. I've heard that's a good thing to do
