Please help me fix my burn-out

[Shinizak]

I’ve been burnt out for a while, but I want to get back to designing games, coming up with worlds, and designing characters. It’s like I’ve forgotten how to be creative. Do y’all have any tips for getting over this hump?

[Notafish]

For me, it's having deadlines unrelated to my hobbies. I find my creativity peaks during tax season.

I also think just setting aside time to write creatively, even if it isn't the project that you are aiming for completing, is good for jogging the creative juices. Joining a Gateless writing circle where we do writing exercises at the group sessions has been helpful for me in getting thoughts on the page.

[Keltest]

Find somebody else's project and give it a review. "I can do it better" is frequently a good motivator for me even if it's not something the other creator ever sees or hears about. And if you know them, maybe they get some helpful feedback

[Easy e]

Start typing and get beyond the blank page.

It will be utter crap, but it is still better than a blank page.

Basically, just do it. After a bit of friction to start, it will all fall back into place and you will have lots of fun!

[Mastikator]

We once ran a one-shot where everyone got to decide what kind of player character for each other. Maybe you could do something like that, be a player instead of a GM for a while and ask the people at your table to make a character for you. They should make something appropriate for the table and that you can play, but should be something you haven't played (at least not recently if you've played everything).

In other words, take a break, don't create, just play.

[Thrawn4]

First of all, don't panic. It happens to most people at some point, and it is usually just an opportunity to try something else for a while.

How about trying something similar but different? Preferably something that does not need a lot of time.
Maybe that one silly idea that does not fit into your your big ideas, but that you might turn into a silly one-shot.

[Beelzebub1111]

Try running a game in an established setting, in a different system. Sometimes you need a new framework to get your creative juices flowing. Whether it's the Traveller setting, Rifts, Warhammer 40k, Conan, Cyberpunk 2020, or Call of Cthulhu, it helps to take a vacation somewhere you didn't create all the ins and outs of and the heavy lifting was done for you by dozens of authors already.

And when I say "run a different system" it can be anything, but I don't mean a one-shot thing. I mean at least an adventure that lasts 4 sessions, maybe more. I have been in a terrible rut before with some games where I feel like I exausted every avenue and creature family in the book for conflict, and I am just "out" of ideas. Running a module for something else can clear my head and let me enjoy something and maybe give me ideas or conflicts that I hadn't thought of before.

[Jay R]

Watch some fantasy movies. Read some fantasy books.

And don't worry about it. If that's not what interests you right now, no problem. Do something else.

[Amnestic]

When I'm struggling with writing, personally, the worst thing I can do is try to consume other media or take a break. All that does is combine mental guilt (from not writing) with a distracting thing I still enjoy (consuming media). It doesn't help overcome burn-out or inspiration gaps, it prolongs them.

What has worked for me is the same as Easy e's suggestion: Just write. Set yourself a word count or similar goal and push through it. For me, it's 500 words minimum a day, every day. Some days I'll come out the other side of the word count hating what I've written and think it's crap, but that's fine, because I'll fix it later when I edit at the end of the work. Some days I'll be a genius and throw down 2000 words of pure gold (or what I think is pure gold, anyway).

Swings and roundabouts, but what matters is not losing the pace, and not letting myself put it to one side, because every time I do, I never start it again, and my hard drive is littered with half-started failed projects that I couldn't stick to because I lost interest when I didn't force myself to keep on with it.

That's not to say other's suggestions of taking a break are wrong, just that they haven't historically worked for me, though they might for you.

[Ionathus]

Yeah, my advice is similar: do something creative but totally different. If you usually make statblocks, try writing a short story. If you usually do prose stuff, try your hand at making minis/terrain. Something that keeps the creative juices flowing, but gets you away from all of your current projects and the guilt/boredom/baggage that you've been slowly attaching to them. You'll find a new idea to follow and maybe it'll pique your interest in a way that nothing else has recently.

[Biggus]

I find sometimes getting out of the house and going for a walk helps, especially in the countryside. I just look around me and let my mind wander and often my imagination starts populating the landscape with monsters and magic.

[LibraryOgre]

Read a lot, and not just genre stuff. Not to knock genre writing, but you can get some great stuff if you pick up some books on biology, or grab a fun history book, or read a romance novel.

That I am a librarian in no way influences this.

[RazorChain]

For me, doing something boring or something I don't have to use my head. Doing chores works wonders because I find them mind numbingly boring and so my mind starts churning. Same when I take a long walk, my mind kicks in and I starting thinking.

[WilliamJoel333]

Start running your ideas past Skynet!

No, seriously, the best use I've found for GPT-4 to date is unsticking myself creatively. I'll throw a quick idea to the AI chatbot and it will throw 10 ideas back at me. They often serve to get my creative juices flowing!

Also, for the same reasons, read books, watch movies, and watch YouTube videos about the topic you are interested in developing. I've gone way down the rabbit hole doing this and I find myself dreaming about my crazy ideas.

Good luck!