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Blog Briefs: On Burnout, with Ian Irvine

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

Author Ian Irvine is a gentleman. A fearless and gracious gentleman, never one to turn down a lady’s invitation to bellydance. (Not *my* invitation, I must add). Ian answers, What strategies do you recommend to writers & artists for creative exhaustion?

I haven’t suffered from creative exhaustion or burnout, though I do find my huge epic fantasy series physically and mentally draining. For this reason, at the end of each series I always write something completely different – a series of Eco-thrillers, for instance, or YA novels, or kid’s books. This wipes the slate and refreshes the mind, and I can return to the next big series with excitement rather than dread, having learned new skills on the way. I can also recommend afternoon naps, vigorous exercise, reading way outside the genre you write in, and zombieing out for a while (if I can use so vulgar a term). 

Ian has written 27 novels, 13 of them in the past 6 years; he sometimes finishes a book in the morning and starts the next one after lunch.