Writing is hard for a living. It means never doing it for fun or for myself anymore. After spending an eight-hour work day using up all my creativity for a job that will pay the bills, there’s nothing left in the tank for me. And by the time the weekend comes around, I just need to rest and recharge.
Are there any other creative writers out there who use their skills for a corporate job? How do you fight against that burnout and find ways to infuse more fun writing for yourself into your life?
Keeping up this blog gives me a little bit of an outlet. But I find myself itching for a more creative outlet, and yet having little to no energy for it. I think emotionally I’m ready to jump back into a long-term creative project. But mentally, I haven’t been able to find the energy for it.
Maybe it’s like my exercise practice. When I first jumped back into a workout routine, those first few weeks were rough. It took all my mental energy to push myself to keep going to my taekwondo classes, especially on the days when I felt too tired. Now, no matter how much work has drained me, I can’t imagine missing any days. I’ve learned with this practice it’s all about discipline.
Perhaps that’s all I need to do for my writing. I need to find discipline again. I’m thinking of starting slow and small. Rather than try to commit to a full-length novel right now, I could start with some writing sprints. Or short story and poetry prompts. Just something small to get the juices flowing and get me back into a writing routine.
If anyone has suggestions or writing prompts to get me started, I’ll gladly welcome them in the comments here!