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Blog Briefs: On Burnout, with David McDonald

In which a bunch of authors & editors are invited to answer the question: How do you deal with creative exhaustion?

Author David McDonald humbles & inspires with this creative advice.

Surround yourself with creative people. One of the challenges of being a writer is that it can be very lonely. As supportive as your family and friends are, unless they are writers themselves it is hard for them to understand the challenges you face, whether it is dealing with the inevitable rejections, or writer’s block, or all the other struggles we go through. My loved ones are wonderful, and they will at least pretend to be interested when I talk about writing, but they do get that glazed look in their eyes after extended exposure to my rambling. But, it is much easier, on them and on me, to talk writing with people who are as passionate as I am about it, and love to discuss their craft. Whether it is my writer’s group, or a convention, I love going to places where I can be surrounded by other writers, and it is the best antidote to creative exhaustion I can imagine. After spending time in conversation with my writer friends, and hearing about their achievements and challenges, I feel reinvigorated, filled with a renewed passion to go and write.
– David McDonald is an author from Melbourne who will never pass up on an opportunity to talk about writing.