I see so many authors go into a writing frenzy, and it seems they never come out of it until one day, they make a post saying they're quitting writing. Blame is often placed on the readers and their never-ending complaints or the lack of revenue generated from book sales. One thing I've paid special attention to, though, is the citing of the lack of inspiration as well.
Writer is burnout is real. If you don't take special care not to drain your creative mind, you're likely to fall victim to this devastating emotional and mental state.
So, what is writer burnout? Writer burnout is the state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by prolonged stress and overwork in the writing process. This means all those writers out there who are writing books back to back to back and never giving themselves a break... are at risk of becoming burned out. Writer burnout works much like burnout employees experience on a job. Without time off and vacation time, employees become overworked and find themselves less motivated or even unable to complete tasks. The same is true of writers. Without a break in creating, writers can eventually become burned out on writing and find themselves completely unable and unmotivated to produce material.
Now, I know what you're saying: Kween, that sounds like writer's block. There's a difference between writer's block and writer burnout. Writer's block is the temporary state of being unable to generate ideas or write effectively. It usually will pass with a break and some relaxation. Writer burnout is much more extreme. It's a chronic state of loss of creativity and motivation that requires strict and special attention to rest to recover. Writer burnout is more of the feeling that you hate writing and don't ever want to write anymore.
The single most important way you can avoid writer burnout is by taking breaks. I have a strict policy with myself that once I finish writing a book, I take two weeks away from writing. That means no editing or revising the book I just finished. No plotting, outlining, or working up character sketches for the next book. The absolute most I'll allow myself to do is print out sheets I'll need for the next book and put them to the side for when my two weeks are up and jot down notes and ideas for the next book--because you have to write it down when it hits you because it'll be gone again in a few seconds, and you'll never get it back. Now, believe me, this is so much easier said than done, especially when you're already excited about the next book. I'm always eager to jump right into the next book and get to work, but the truth of the matter is doing so will do more harm than good, and if you value your mental health and your creative energy, you'll set aside some kind of time to allow your creative battery to recharge. Writing involves pouring so much of our creativity onto the page. Just like your phone, you have to allow your creative battery to recharge.
Other ways you can help yourself avoid writer burnout include regularly practicing self-care by engaging in non-writing-related activities and setting realistic writing goals. Creating daily word count goals and breaking writing up into smaller chunks helps to prevent you from becoming overwhelmed. Taking the large task of writing a whole book and breaking it down into smaller, manageable tasks makes it less daunting, which in turn makes it much less stressful. For example, setting the goal of writing two or three chapters a week is much less stressful than the goal of writing an entire book in a month. While both are possible, one allows more time and more flexibility, while the other packs on the pressure pretty heavily.
Ultimately, if you find yourself experiencing or slipping toward burnout, a change in your writing work habits and mindset is the best answer to your problem. Overworking yourself--in any situation--is unhealthy and will only lead to disaster. Be kind to yourself and allow writing to be the escape it once was and should always be. We all want to pump out work, but your mental and creative health comes first.
The bottom line: You have to take a break! You can choose to do so by choice or by force!