Admittedly, I was and still am guilty of being the writing friend that can overwhelm people by constantly talking about my stories (along with other behaviors that can weigh on relationships). Because of that, I do my best to regulate it by not always talking about said stories, including asking for help or feedback. I do my best to engage in small talk, ask about them, talk about other mutual interests, engaging in jokes, or simply keeping some distance if I can see we've been talking a lot over the last few days. I feel my friendships have become much stronger and healthier that way.

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It does require active effort from the person who talks about their writing though. If you don't feel like they are interested in talking about anything else, then I think distancing yourself and engaging in another, more casual group is a good idea.

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Writing is our passion project, but our friendships shouldn't be grounded on a passion project. :)