Feeling uninspired after working all day as copywriter

I did a lot of creative writing up through college, then I went into PR/advertising. For the past 9 years I've been working as a copywriter and have had little desire to do creative writing outside of work. Has anyone else here ran into this problem? Just curious how you get the creative juices flowing outside of the office.

Cheers,
Jeremy

 

Ask me in ten years! But I do know I'll never be able to write unless I'm also reading. Do you still read a lot? I'm not talking about newspapers.

 

I know how you feel. I've always been told that I'm a good writer and now I work as a journalist but have this irrepressible desire to write creatively. I've been setting aside some time to do it every day but find that the stuff I'm churning out is simply not good enough. I can't seem to find credible characters and I lose the thread of my story lines.
I've decided to stop putting myself under pressure and stop expecting to produce sterling work so soon and instead have just decided to write and to keep writing.
The advice to continue reading and to read work by those who are original and testing the boundries of their creative talent is definitely good advice.

 

Hi Kidder and Sharon:

Thanks for the great replies. I do read a lot, although -- granted -- not as much as I should. I recently started back to college to get a degree in Spanish. While that's taking up much of my reading time, I'm hoping the jolt to my brain will inspire some creativity. And there's a goal for all this: I'm hoping to switch careers in the next couple of years so I'm not writing for work 40+ hours a week and thus will have more creative juice left for my own pursuits...such as writing The Next Great American Novel.

Best of luck to you both!
Jeremy

 

Good luck with your college course. I can speak French and been considering learning Spanish for ages now - am actually looking for a teacher at the moment.
What sort of a career change are you planning?

 

Thanks, Sharon. Right now I'm leaning toward teaching, with the ultimate goal of teaching at the university level. But I may end up working as a translator in the corporate and/or social services sectors. But regardless, part of my reason for doing this is to have an excuse to live in another country for an extended period of time, as that's the only way I'll achieve true fluency.

 

I have a BA in Advertising/Journalism and was a copywriter for a few years. I love to write and have since I was a child, but this kind of writing felt meaningless and left me empty. I left it for teaching and now work with emotionally disturbed children...

Don't know how this has really come about....

Life's twists!

 

Hi Louisa:

That's exactly how I feel about the advertising and PR copywriting I do. I'm good at it, but it's completely unfulfilling. Your post nudges me even further in the direction of teaching.

Do you feel your creative writing has new life now that you don't write for work?

Cheers,
Jeremy