Blogging has been kind of hard lately.
Mind, I’m not complaining. Blogging is fun, and I have no one to blame for TMTF but myself and my typewriter monkeys. (I mostly blame my monkeys.) I don’t ever want to gripe, and I’m certainly not looking for sympathy. I just want to admit, for the sake of honesty, that it’s been harder lately for me to get excited about TMTF and this whole blogging thing.
This worries me.
I love writing. It’s sort of an addiction, really. Now that I’ve almost-but-not-really given up on writing fiction, blogging is pretty much all I’ve got. I want TMTF to be something I get to do, not something I have to do.
That said, I’m going to hand over the discussion to my dear readers and go drink some coffee.
How do you stay passionate about your hobbies and creative projects? How do you deal with burnout? Send us a message or let us know in the comments!
Typewriter Monkey Task Force 
Burnout happens. I think it comes down to doing different things. Sometimes I get so tired of seeing words on a page. That means it’s time to go outside and play or do something that doesn’t involve staring at a screen of any kind–a nap in the sun, a watercolor paint project, sewing, a long walk that includes watching birds and staring at squirrels.
Enjoy your coffee, guilt-free!
I hope this burnout is very temporary; taking a break to do other things sounds like a good plan to me!
I haven’t burned out many times, but I think that may have a lot to do with my inability to really focus on writing for more than a month at a time, before taking an unplanned break for one reason or another. Sometimes the reason IS that I’ve burned out, but usually it’s something else. When I do feel like I’ve burned out, though, I sometimes change gears completely and write about something else. I have so many characters and plots in mind, I always know I can play around with another one for a while. Obviously that doesn’t work for everyone, but maybe something along those lines could work. And sometimes the only cure for burn-out is to not do the thing you’re burned out on at all. I’ve heard that turning to other types of creative pursuits for a while can help. I’m not so great in most other creative ways, so I can’t really speak to that though.
I’ve heard switching gears and finding other creative outlets is a good way to deal with burnout. I suppose I could always pick up knitting… 🙂
A noble pursuit! Maybe you’ll find some inspiration here: http://geekguyknitting.com/
Despite family members of mine being knitters, I have been unable to pick it up. I blame my left-handedness.