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I Am So Lost Right Now

srebak

Troubadour
I'll warn you right now, there may be stuff from previous threads in here, but i really don't have the patience to hunt down each and everyone on this forum.

Anyway, here's the deal: i've started work on so many writing projects and i just can't seem finish any of them. This is made even more frustrating by the fact that i have nothing but time on my hands. It's been months since i've written anything, what's wrong with me?

Part of me thinks that it might be too much television, but even when i turn off the TV, my muse still leaves me hanging. I can't even visualize the stories properly anymore, now it feels like everything i don't want in my story, my mind wants to force in, it's driving me to the brink i tell you!!!
 

Svrtnsse

Staff
Article Team
Maybe your projects are too big? I don't know, but I sort of get the impression with your mind wanting to force things in.

Have you tried a really short and focused story? Something that you define clearly what it's going to be about and then limit to a very low word count? The purpose wouldn't be to write a great story, but to finish something. That way you don't have to focus on making it super awesome, but on sticking with the program and not deviating from the plan.
Pick something silly that you don't really care about and view it as a learning experience rather than as a writing project. Try something silly that's not your style and just get it done.

Example: Little girl climbs a tree, finds a bird's nest and in the nest there's a tiny dragon. The dragon breathes a tiny flame on her and she falls out of the tree and runs home crying. Then her mom scolds her for getting her dress dirty. The end. - 500 words.
 

T.Allen.Smith

Staff
Moderator
...my muse still leaves me hanging.
This is your problem, relying on inspiration to write. If you want to be a writer you have to sit down and write, even when you don't want to...no, especially when you don't want to.

Inspiration may come in flashes but it never sustains long enough to finish any work of length. Instead of inspiration, learn to rely on discipline. When you sit and work regularly, you will find the inspiration you think you need isn't truly necessary. The muse exists, but she rarely comes to those who aren't already working. Make her respect your discipline and work ethic and she'll be a more willing partner.

Keep a commitment to yourself. Rely on discipline. Rely on yourself alone and stop telling yourself it's exterior forces (like inspiration) that's keeping you from your goals. It's you & your choices, nothing more, nothing less.
 

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
Inspiration may come in flashes but it never sustains long enough to finish any work of length. Instead of inspiration, learn to rely on discipline. When you sit and work regularly, you will find the inspiration you think you need isn't truly necessary. The muse exists, but she rarely comes to those who aren't already working. Make her respect your discipline and work ethic and she'll be a more willing partner.

Case in point:

I am currently rewriting an older piece of mine. It be s struggle each time to open the relevant files and start scanning the texts. But once I do, the hours melt away. Last time, a 'real quick edit pass' lasted four hours and some.
 

Penpilot

Staff
Article Team
As T.A.S. mentioned, you can't depend on your muse.

Here's a little something I wrote on a different forum about 7 years ago when I came to the realization that I couldn't depend on the muse. I think I posted this on Mythic Scribes before but I can't seem to find the thread. But any way, here's what I think about the muse.

The muse is a big fat lazy witch that wants to do nothing but eat bon-bons and watch Oprah all day long. That right I said it.

After finishing my first novel and doing rewrites to it, I found that I achieved so much more if I didn’t wait around for her, my muse, to get up off the crumb riddled couch. Sometimes you just have to write whether you’re feeling it or not. You put on the greased stained, wife-beater, tank top, grab that witch by the hair, drag her to the computer, and pound her into submission with each key stroke. (Please this is not condoning violence against women)

This isn’t to say that the muse and inspiration don’t have a place, but I’ve come to the realization that those things alone will only take you so far before you hit a wall, and you’re left with two choices in my opinion: start something else that you’re “inspired” about or roll up the sleeves and go to work.

As I’m going through the rewrites to my novel, I find myself remembering things said by my collage writing teacher. He told the class that one of the purposes of writing for the course was to empty ourselves. I wasn’t sure what he meant back then, but I think I have an idea now. You see, as you write, the more you write, you purge yourself of all the pent up ideas, all the preconceptions and expectations that get built up over time about what you want to write and how you want to write it. This allows you to just write and let the words come instead of forcing them to be this or that instead of what they should be. In some ways, I think this means that you’re purging yourself of the dependence on the muse to get you to write, or to make your writing “good”.

The more writing I do in the “uninspired” state the more I realize that the “uninspired” writing can be equal if not better than the “inspired” writing. I find that things that I wrote while “uninspired,” which I thought were complete trash, turn out, when looking at them from an objective eye, to be rather good. I’ve also found that the reverse is true too. Things I wrote while inspired, which I thought were brilliant, turn out to be trash. This brings me to the thought/theory that I have, maybe, this is one of the things that separates a “successful” writer from a “struggling” one. The “struggler” can only write when they are inspired and passionate, while the “successful” one can write no matter the mental state. They can just do it. Just a thought.

TL;DNR?

F*ck the muse. Just pick one of the many projects you have on the go, and just stick with that. Put down one word then another, without worrying if what you're writing is any good. That's how you get out of a funk, you write. Write the story until it's finished enough and then move on.

Don't let the weight of the infinite possibilities in front of you stop your progress. Shrug it off and just focus on the next word, not the words that came before nor the words beyond the next one.

Write and fall down. Write and fall down again. That's how you get better.
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
Good advice so far. I'll share a little story of my own because I've been writing novels and short stories for going on 10 years, trying different things. The most success I've had as a writer thus far has been because I didn't worry about waiting for inspiration. I decided, "You know what, I'm just going to write every day." I've been doing so since I quit relying on mainlining from a muse. Now I'm not some roaring success or anything, but I don't get writer's block, I don't have bad days (I have mediocre ones for sure), I don't beat myself up. I just exist as a writer. It's a lonesome existence at times and has little instant gratification. Therefore it becomes a constant need to impress oneself. The key, for me anyway, was to just try and get things moving. Forward momentum is your friend. Once you finish a first draft and then another and then another and see your projects completing, becoming edited, existing out in the world and not on your laptop taunting you, it becomes like a drug.

I've seen several projects that looked like piles of failure turn into something quite remarkable. It's because I worked on them until they were as perfect as I could get them. Not comparing myself to other writers has certainly helped. I'm not GRRM, I'm not J.K. Rowling, I'm Philip Overby and that's who I'm going to be. I have to carve out my own place in the writing world and hope there are people that like what I'm doing. That's all any of us can hope.

Completion. Again and again, writers who have work out there say "Finish what you start." It's a plague upon beginning writers and veterans alike to not finish projects. But after you complete another and another and another, your muse will be left in the dust because she can't keep up with you.

That's when the real fun begins.
 
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Helen

Inkling
Sure you got to write. Else you won't get anywhere.

But you also got to figure out how stories work. Else you'll easily write garbage, and that'll crush your motivation.

You also want to figure out your market. Selling your stories is a big motivator.
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
A few things - and I'll shoot for a longer list even if some don't apply to you:

- Focus on the next step, and see it clearly, instead of focusing on the entire project. Focus on the scene, the paragraph, the sentence. Shuffle the rest aside.

- Change your goal from finishing to starting, at least while you're in this struggling phase. Make a point of starting. Start ten times a day if that's what it takes. You can't make progress if you don't start, and any amount of progress adds up over time. Start, start, start. Keep it up, and over time, you'll get through a little more on average each time.

- "Planning" should not be an ambiguous step. Planning should be as active as writing. You've got to go in with a goal, a technique, and figure out what you're doing. And yes, "creative downtime" can be a technique, if you have developed it into something you can rely on, or else build it into your day so that it doesn't infringe on your writing time ("I think about my stories while I do the dishes..."). But don't let "planning" be a time-wasting trap. It's part of the work.

- There are different definitions of the word "muse." The one that I learned growing up - and which I have found helpful - is that a muse is the person you're writing for. The single person you have in mind, besides yourself, to represent your audience, be it a spouse, a friend, a mortal enemy. I mention this because it helps with focusing and finding your writing voice. Sure, your voice should grow with experience writing and reading. But the throughline of your voice comes from you, your life experiences, the way you conceive and talk about things. Figure out who you're talking to, but don't be afraid to be yourself. It takes the pressure off.

- There are different types of editing, and most of them should be shuffled off as a later, separate step. Don't try to restrain yourself. Don't try to reshape yourself. Don't try to overthink yourself. Rewrite a bad sentence or if you change your mind, or if something leaps out at you as you reread, sure. But for the most part, just let it out. Let the editing Hell come later.

- Everyone is dissing inspiration, and for good reason. But the problem is specifically relying on "inspiration" because you can't control it. But inspiration is great when it's there. And you can influence your inspiration. Give yourself a lot to be excited about in your work. Why are you writing? What makes you think you can do it? Go back through your work, find anything about your work that you love, however small or infrequent, and build on them. There are reasons you think you can do this. Find those reasons and plaster them all over the page. And it's okay, early on, if they are the moments that struck you as "inspiration." That inspiration didn't come out of nowhere. It came out of you. It came out of your excitement. So foster it. Use it as your springboard for the bulk of the time when it isn't there.
 

T.Allen.Smith

Staff
Moderator
Everyone is dissing inspiration, and for good reason. But the problem is specifically relying on "inspiration" because you can't control it. But inspiration is great when it's there. And you can influence your inspiration. Give yourself a lot to be excited about in your work. Why are you writing? What makes you think you can do it? Go back through your work, find anything about your work that you love, however small or infrequent, and build on them. There are reasons you think you can do this. Find those reasons and plaster them all over the page. And it's okay, early on, if they are the moments that struck you as "inspiration." That inspiration didn't come out of nowhere. It came out of you. It came out of your excitement. So foster it. Use it as your springboard for the bulk of the time when it isn't there.
Devor makes a good point. It's certainly worth noting where and when in the process inspiration occurred. I agree, but with a caveat.

Inspiration feels great. It's a fantastic creative fuel. It can drive you as an artist. However, it can also be blinding.

When I go back and read things written weeks, months, or even years ago, it's easy to remember those spots where I felt inspired. Often they're no better, and sometimes worse, than sections where I was simply working at the writing.

This is also true where I've had people read stories for me. It isn't unusual for them to scribble comments like "this is really good" over parts I penned with plain old work and discipline where the inspired bits receive comments like "I don't get it" or "this seems overdone".

That alone has taught me that work is superior to inspiration over the long haul. I now view inspiration as a luxury. It can make me enjoy the process more and revel in the muse's attentions, but I don't need her. Further, I can write just as well without her. That is a liberating revelation. It grants me all control of my pursuit.
 

Jabrosky

Banned
For me the problem isn't really finding inspiration. If anything I probably have an excess of ideas. It's figuring out how to turn those ideas into functional stories that continues to stump me. What tends to happen is that, once I get a chapter or two into a project, I stumble into a plot hole or otherwise realize that I've written myself into a corner. One message I've taken home from such experiences is that some form of planning would work better for me than so-called "pantsing". But even then, plans can still have holes that you may miss.
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
When I go back and read things written weeks, months, or even years ago, it's easy to remember those spots where I felt inspired. Often they're no better, and sometimes worse, than sections where I was simply working at the writing.

I can definitely say that isn't true for everybody. I've had people literally isolate the thought I felt was "inspired" and go "Wow!"

I think that "inspiration" - and I use the word in quotes because I think it's misunderstood - is just another way by which the brain works. It's a different way of making connections that you can be good at or bad at just like anything else.

However, I also want to be pretty clear, because reading your post I feel like you're hearing something much stronger than what I said. In the quote you highlighted, my wording wasn't very strong at all:

And it's okay, early on, if they are the moments that struck you as "inspiration." ....
Admittedly, I didn't include those qualifiers out of concern for the quality of the inspiration, but because it's not the same source of motivation you should be doing the bulk of your writing with. Still, it's a far cry from suggesting that "inspiration" is going to be, well, truly "inspired."

Finally, it was only one point out of several, and I don't want a discussion of inspiration to distract from the perceived importance of the other points.
 

T.Allen.Smith

Staff
Moderator
For me the problem isn't really finding inspiration. If anything I probably have an excess of ideas. It's figuring out how to turn those ideas into functional stories that continues to stump me. What tends to happen is that, once I get a chapter or two into a project, I stumble into a plot hole or otherwise realize that I've written myself into a corner. One message I've taken home from such experiences is that some form of planning would work better for me than so-called "pantsing". But even then, plans can still have holes that you may miss.
I don't know. Pantsing can be as effective as outlining. It just depends on what works for you.

Ideas for stories, in my opinion, are small pieces of inspiration. An idea may inspire, but it is only a kernel of the overall tale.

I think most of us have a plethora of ideas. Some may inspire us at the start. Some may change and morph in inspiring directions as we write. More often than not though, that inspiration will peter out somewhere along the way. That's where we have to be dedicated to work.

So, as Devor said before, we each have to define what inspiration means. I don't really consider an idea, in and of itself, inspiration.
 
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T.Allen.Smith

Staff
Moderator
I can definitely say that isn't true for everybody. I've had people literally isolate the thought I felt was "inspired" and go "Wow!"
I accept that. I speak from my own experience alone.
However, I also want to be pretty clear, because reading your post I feel like you're hearing something much stronger than what I said.
I was only commenting on your mention of discovering what inspired you or how to achieve inspiration, that it's worth consideration. The remainder of my post was merely a commentary on my personal experience.
 
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Mindfire

Istar
If your projects are big ones, you might be, ironically, restricting your creative freedom. The reason I say this is that for some people, myself included, taking on a big writing project tends to generate lots and lots of notes that help you keep track of worldbuilding and continuity. This is a good thing. The problem is that pretty soon, you find yourself obsessively checking all your notes before you write anything to make sure you haven't contradicted your established lore, writing more notes, or categorizing the the ones you've already written. This means you spend more time fact-checking and making notes than actually writing. That can kill your creative momentum very quickly and creative momentum is everything. Speaking from experience on this. If this sounds anything like you, my advice is to ignore your notes and just start writing. You can do a continuity check afterwards. This way you can stay flexible and keep that all-important momentum. I also second T. Allen's advice about discipline. (I should also start following it...) Schedule a time-slot to write every single day and stick to it, come dragons or white walkers. That's what I'm about to do.
 
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Mindfire

Istar
I accept that. I speak from my own experience alone.

I was only commenting on your mention of discovering what inspired you or how to achieve inspiration, that it's worth consideration. The remainder of my post was merely a commentary on my personal experience.
Typically my "inspired" sections tend to sound like melodramatic dreck once the glow wears off. :D
 

A. E. Lowan

Forum Mom
Leadership
If your projects are big ones, you might be, ironically, restricting your creative freedom. The reason I say this is that for some people, myself included, taking on a big writing project tends to generate lots and lots of notes that help you keep track of worldbuilding and continuity. This is a good thing. The problem is that pretty soon, you find yourself obsessively checking all your notes before you write anything to make sure you haven't contradicted your established lore, writing more notes, or categorizing the the ones you've already written. This means you spend more time fact-checking and making notes than actually writing. That can kill your creative momentum very quickly and creative momentum is everything. Speaking from experience on this. If this sounds anything like you, my advice is to ignore your notes and just start writing. You can do a continuity check afterwards. This way you can stay flexible and keep that all-important momentum. I'm also second T. Allen's advice about discipline. (I should also start following it...) Schedule a time-slot to write every single day and stick to it, come dragons or white walkers. That's what I'm about to do.

As a writer who works on very big projects, I agree, this can slow you down. What we (my writing partner and I) do to get around it is keep very organized notes (I use OneNote, and I can't say enough good things about this program), so that the slowdown is minimized, but most importantly we accept that in the course of writing things change. Nothing in the planning, even as thoroughly planned as our world is, is written in stone - not until publication, and then it becomes canon. So we will change things as I write, and only fact check backwards as needed.
 

Mindfire

Istar
As a writer who works on very big projects, I agree, this can slow you down. What we (my writing partner and I) do to get around it is keep very organized notes (I use OneNote, and I can't say enough good things about this program), so that the slowdown is minimized, but most importantly we accept that in the course of writing things change. Nothing in the planning, even as thoroughly planned as our world is, is written in stone - not until publication, and then it becomes canon. So we will change things as I write, and only fact check backwards as needed.

I typically keep all my notes on Google Drive. I tried Scrivener, but didn't stick to it (mostly because I was too lazy to learn all the features and too cheap to buy a license for the software) and found yWriter to be a bit of an eyesore. I'll give OneNote a try.
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
My feeling is that if people have trouble finishing anything by pantsing, then they should try outlining. If outlining is too restrictive, try pantsing. I've mentioned this before, but try writing something you don't care about as much. Write it until it's complete and then pick it apart. See what you did that you like. I find that if you put all your effort into a passion project, you may be too busy focusing on making it perfect instead of putting all the working pieces together.

I also don't necessarily think every writer on Earth needs to be a novelist either. Some people are better suited to shorter works, but they try to force being a novelist of an epic series because they feel that's what they're supposed to do.
 
C

Chessie

Guest
I'll warn you right now, there may be stuff from previous threads in here, but i really don't have the patience to hunt down each and everyone on this forum.

Anyway, here's the deal: i've started work on so many writing projects and i just can't seem finish any of them. This is made even more frustrating by the fact that i have nothing but time on my hands. It's been months since i've written anything, what's wrong with me?

Part of me thinks that it might be too much television, but even when i turn off the TV, my muse still leaves me hanging. I can't even visualize the stories properly anymore, now it feels like everything i don't want in my story, my mind wants to force in, it's driving me to the brink i tell you!!!
Hi Srebak, totally feel you. It is frustrating when ideas come and go but you have nothing to show for it. But you care deep enough that you're posting about it on here. I am going through something similar, where none of the ideas I've had stick and I get bored with them. So I've been writing short stories instead because it gives me a sense of completion. That's one thing you could try. My other suggestion is to just spend this time reading and cultivating that love you have for good stories. That might even inspire a good idea in you. :)
 
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