Lost That Lovin’ Feeling? (Part Uno)
And that's the voice that's the lead in Rock of Ages?
Anyway, let's talk burnout. It hits everyone. Some of us you more than others. I'll focus on writing, but my advice here today could be adapted for other areas of burnout.
Unless you're Beyonce. Or Bieber.
(Then we just don't care.)
First, how do you know you have Writer's Burnout? Can you answer “yes” to any of the following?
1. While working your public school day job, you begin assigning yourself detention.
2. You begin to think Seattle would be a perky place to live.
3. The only reason you go to Barnes and Noble is to get a frappachino and to look at that fancy stationery nobody can actually afford to buy.
4. Every time someone announces a book contract on Twitter, you light a candle and pray for their wayward soul.
5. The only thing you want your laptop for is to check celebrity gossip sites and get updates on fantasy football. And you don't even play fantasy football.
6. You teach a writing class at a conference, and as you look into the audience, you think, “There are just enough of us here to form a pretty impressive circus.”
7. You begin researching ways to get paid. For sleeping.
8. You get another cat.
9. People ask you about your next book, and you have to excuse yourself to binge on the bag of Oreos stuffed in your shirt hidden in your purse.
10. You watch repeated episodes of Murder She Wrote and wonder how Jessica Fletcher could do it all–write her novels, solve weekly crimes, and have a wild and torrid affair with Howard Cunningham.
Does this sound like any of you?
Join me for part TWO and THREE where I offer some tips on recapturing the magic, reigniting your pilot light, and restoring that loving feeling.
I'll also give tips on writer's burnout…