Any artist, writer, or creative person of any medium knows how it feels to be out of ideas and inspiration. Whether you're writing poetry or lyrics, producing beats, or designing web pages, it's impossible to stay on top of your game 100% of the time. Creativity and inspiration come and go randomly – sometimes I'll find myself on a super creative and motivated streak for a week or so, only to crash and burn for an entire month afterward.
Creative burnout sucks. It makes you feel like the thing you've loved doing for so long isn't worth it anymore, or maybe it just isn't for you. None of that is true, of course, but those feelings of dread can be hard to shake.
But the good news is that burnout is absolutely survivable – it happens to everyone. Creative people, athletes, politicians, and basically anyone else who challenges their minds or bodies on the daily feels less-than-motivated (to put it lightly) from time to time.
I go to school for journalism, write weekly articles, and create social media posts for a nonprofit, so I am constantly trying to come up with new and interesting ideas. I can't even tell you how many times I've felt burnt out and defeated. But while burnout is terrible to go through time and time again, it has also allowed me to develop some coping mechanisms and tactics to help speed up the period of burnout, so I can jump back into a creative spiral even quicker. Here are my best tips for getting over creative burnout:
1. Find your ideas elsewhere.
Like most people, I rely on only my mind and maybe a few news websites/social media accounts to scroll through when trying to find a new hot topic to write about. It's the same idea for many people – painters probably have the same few favorite artists that inspire them, and musicians have a few select favorite artists that they aspire to be like. But there's only so much creative energy that can come from one place, so try branching out to find inspiration elsewhere. Maybe flip through a magazine you normally wouldn't pick up, or play a video game you normally wouldn't – your mind will thank you for it.
2. Use templates or prompts.
For many mediums, but for artists or writers especially, there are literally thousands upon thousands of collections of prompts or templates to jumpstart the creative process. They exist for the exact situation of creative burnout – when you can't think of a concept to write about or draw, templates do the work for you: they come up with just the base of the idea, so you can jump off of it and create something entirely your own. For example, when I'm having trouble thinking about what to write, I just visit a few writing prompt websites, like poetry prompts on Tumblr, and go off of that. While the finished product might not be exactly what you had in mind, at least you're still creating.
3. Do a 30-day challenge.
This one is super helpful for those whose burnout makes them dread even getting started on a new project – burnout can create dry spells like no other, and it's easy to slip into melancholy and just abandon creating altogether. If this sounds like you, I would suggest trying a 30-day drawing/writing/whatever else challenge to make sure you're still stimulating your mind on the daily. Some challenges exist based on what month it is, like "Inktober," which challenges artists to draw something new with ink every day. Or, you can simply create your own challenge: the guidelines are up to you – just make sure you're engaging every day.
4. Try out a completely new or different style.
No matter what you do, whether it's playing the guitar, animating, writing, or designing clothing, it's likely that you have a familiar style that you work off of every time you create something. While this is great for improving upon your own skills and cultivating your own unique sense of artistry, it can also allow you to rely on the same old styles and techniques – which can get old quickly. So try challenging yourself to create in a style that is much more difficult or that you normally wouldn't – if you draw anime or manga, try realism. If you create hip-hop or EDM beats, try writing a song in a rock/metal style. If you typically write freeform poetry, try writing just sonnets or haikus. Whatever your preferred medium is, stepping out of the box into unfamiliar territory is always stimulating and a good idea for the creative process.
No matter what kind of creative mind you are, there is one thing we all have in common: we all get burnt out from time to time. Don't think that when you lose inspiration or drive out-of-the-blue that this is the end of your creative career, and don't be ashamed – we all go through it. The most important thing to remember is this: just as we all experience it, so we all will get through it, too. We don't expect ourselves to be operating at 100% every single day, and the same goes for burnout.
So, if you find yourself in a mental rut one day, try out these tips, and most importantly, just don't stop creating.
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