Burnout
So the thing about our long absence is that it was awesome. We were so sad to not be blogging, or not have the brain space for blogging, but we got SO MUCH DONE. This is the first time in our lives & careers that we aren't just writing for us. We have producers, collaborators, companies asking for our work. And that is so great. So. Great. But it means that rather than following our weird brains wherever they lead, we're often asked to meet a brief or fit our style to someone else's project.
That's all been a fantastic creative challenge for us. We've worked on things we never thought we would, and we've found ways to make them our own. It's kind of similar to working on School Spirits, to be honest. Picking up someone's idea and fitting our style into that world. Meeting these briefs has pushed us to think in new ways, to explore what kinds of stories we can tell in which medium, to meet deadlines that would have rushed past us before.
But oh man. The burnout. The burnout is real.
I remember when we started writing we'd hear writers talk about that, and I'd laugh. Not us. Never us. we write like steam engines and you better get out of our way or get onboard.
But moving project to project has left us a little... depleted? We got out of one of our meetings this spring where we'd been given a basically blank slate for a project and stared at each other. Then we stared at each other for about 3 more days. New idea? What new idea? Where were we supposed to find it?
Then CT spent a day researching plumbing schools, sure that we would never write another word again.
Then we got it together and tossed ideas back and forth until we came up against a perfect one. And we have loved working on that idea. Once we got back on the horse, the words flowed and the characters did interesting things and the scary stuff happened when it was supposed to.
We've learned to respect our burnout. The more pressure we put on ourselves when that happens, the worse it gets and the less we get done. Instead, we give ourselves a break. We go for a hike to get out of the house. We see a movie to refill the art. And by the time we've done all that, one of us has turned to the other and said "What about this idea?!" and we're off to the races.
Burnout happens, and has happened to us a lot this spring. But the more we write, the more we want to write, and the better our pages.
Bonus! We've watched, rewatched, and reinacted this music video many, many times in the last month. Is it the cure for burnout? Hard to tell but you should see it anyways.
That's all been a fantastic creative challenge for us. We've worked on things we never thought we would, and we've found ways to make them our own. It's kind of similar to working on School Spirits, to be honest. Picking up someone's idea and fitting our style into that world. Meeting these briefs has pushed us to think in new ways, to explore what kinds of stories we can tell in which medium, to meet deadlines that would have rushed past us before.
But oh man. The burnout. The burnout is real.
I remember when we started writing we'd hear writers talk about that, and I'd laugh. Not us. Never us. we write like steam engines and you better get out of our way or get onboard.
But moving project to project has left us a little... depleted? We got out of one of our meetings this spring where we'd been given a basically blank slate for a project and stared at each other. Then we stared at each other for about 3 more days. New idea? What new idea? Where were we supposed to find it?
Then CT spent a day researching plumbing schools, sure that we would never write another word again.
Then we got it together and tossed ideas back and forth until we came up against a perfect one. And we have loved working on that idea. Once we got back on the horse, the words flowed and the characters did interesting things and the scary stuff happened when it was supposed to.
We've learned to respect our burnout. The more pressure we put on ourselves when that happens, the worse it gets and the less we get done. Instead, we give ourselves a break. We go for a hike to get out of the house. We see a movie to refill the art. And by the time we've done all that, one of us has turned to the other and said "What about this idea?!" and we're off to the races.
Burnout happens, and has happened to us a lot this spring. But the more we write, the more we want to write, and the better our pages.
Bonus! We've watched, rewatched, and reinacted this music video many, many times in the last month. Is it the cure for burnout? Hard to tell but you should see it anyways.
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