Whata Burnout

As many of you know, I do not believe in writer's block.  As many writers would say, "Get a prompt."  


However, I do believe in being burned out.  Burn out occurs, for me, when I am overloaded with superfluous writing responsibilities--usually dull--that exhaust me long before I begin writing for publishing and creative purposes.


While I am in a burned out point right now--thanks to this being the end of my junior year at Ball State and thanks to having to run around between school, work, and other responsibilities--I want to offer a piece of advice to any other writer who may be reading this.


Poet Mitchell Douglas recently dropped by the English department of BSU and I was able to ask his advice for overcoming the feeling of being too burned out to write.  He offered this piece of advice:  "You need to write for yourself.  When you're all caught up with deadlines, publishing, and writing, and life, just remember to write for fun.  Not something for publication; for you."


Outside of taking off and disappearing for a short while, writing for fun seems to be a useful piece of information for both writers and anyone else who is trying to make a profession out of what they enjoy.  Go do something, or simply write a story for yourself.  Remember, you don't have to judge literature that no one else reads.  It's for you.  Don't worry about structure, plot, whatever.  Just let your mind spill onto the paper.