The Importance of Passion Projects :)

So, its no secret that burnout is an issue among the artistic community, but particularly among literary artists. Burnout, coupled with or even in the form of writer’s block, can be a crippling combination to a writer. Sometimes, it just seems that no matter how many deadlines scream at you, or how many ideas float through your head, or how much time you spend staring at that blinking cursor, the words just won’t come. 

It is for this dilemma that I recommend the solution of passion projects. Now, at first, it may seem counterproductive and even wholly unrealistic to consider pursuing the very artform that is frustrating you as a solution, but hear me out. It can be an absolutely liberating experience to write simply to write. 

I mean no deadlines, no prompts, no assignments, no clear story goal in mind, no planning. Just writing for the joy of the action, for the telling of the story, even if you don’t know what the story is. It doesn’t even have to be a certain structure of writing; passion projects, in the way that I refer to them, often come off as short stories or flash fictions, but they can be anything from poetry to play scripts. Write what you want because, for once, that is the goal. 

I, personally, have accomplished a couple notable passion projects in recent days. If you know me well, you’ve likely heard about my recent experience with the brick wall that is writer’s block. In typical fashion, directly in the prime of deadlines and assignments is when the brick wall chose to manifest. I spent an entire weekend in a cold stop, having just completely run out of words literally mid-sentence while working on my play script. And it didn’t even stop there. I took a break from writing the play script and trying to work of assignments for Practicum; nothing. Tried writing a poem for someone; not a line. Tried my hand at an article for my freelancing job; I could scarcely summon a topic to pitch my editor. 

But later that weekend, when the sun was set and my anxiety had burned out for the night, I looked at the page and found hope blinking back at me in that cursor. From there, it was simply a matter of not waking my roommate as I typed with renewed vigor. I’m still not back fully: my playscript, my practicum assignments, and my freelancing article are all only partially completed. But I now have two short stories of thousands of words that I am more proud of than anything. 

And that means that I have hope again. 

So, I implore you, consider the passion project the next time deadlines weigh you down or assignments ice you out. You may just find a voluntary short story/poem/play script to be nothing short of lifesaving. 

Sincerely, someone who’s finding a tentatively renewed passion. 

Author: Hunter Nix

God may have put me on this earth, but Alan Rickman can certainly take me off it if I tarnish his name any further. View all posts by Hunter Nix