How long do your inspiration "droughts" last?

[Netardapope]

Being writers, it goes without saying that we often fall into depressive and unmotivated periods of time where our prose sucks. And while these spurts tend to come out of nowhere, they tend to last for a set pattern for me. Usually, when I have a bad writing session, it means that the rest of the week is probably going to be bad for writing as well. It's not a science and there are always exceptions, but the trend is there.

Sometimes it goes away, other times it edges close toward taking over much of the month. So my question is, have any of you noticed that you have an average in the amount of time that you spend uninspired? If so, I'd like to hear how long it tends to last for you, and what tends to trigger it!

(my reason for posting this is because I've been forcing myself to write for the past week or so, and sometimes it feels like it's lasting longer than I'd like.)

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[spectre]

I posted my prologue to my portfolio last year, wrote three chapter one's a abandoned them all and have begun a real chapter one tonight. Actually I've been brainstorming nigh on two years for this story.

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

This is a good question. For me, it could have...a looooooot of answers.

I'm not sure if I'm ever "uninspired" completely, or maybe I just don't always write based on whether I'm inspired or not. I can always find something to write about. Often it's something stupid or useless. But I do find it. And I do write it. And I find joy in it, and often i get more inspiration. Just writing anything can create inspiration sometimes.

I do experience low-energy periods after periods of intense activity. When I've put down 11,000 words in a week, I have to take a few days off at least. I can write 2,000 words on a great day, but I can't sustain that over a week or more. I have to wait for my energy and stamina to refill.

Do I go through periods when my WIP's don't work for me, when they just won't come...absolutely. Ive been blocked on my favorite project for nearly two years. It's a huge project, ambitious, complex, and I have high standards for it, so I can see why it's not coming to me.

This is a tricky question because I don't have a definition for "inspiration." Sometimes I write when I'm loving it and feeling great about it; sometimes I know I'm throwing down garbage but I keep going anyway. You say "we go through depressive and unmotivated periods where our prose sucks." Yeah...but I don't pay those periods much mind, really. I might be less productive, but I write. I find that how I feel about my writing has very little to do with its actual quality. So I write regardless.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I'll echo Dragon a bit... not sure how you're defining inspiration. Lack of time and energy is more deleterious to my writing attempts than a lack of inspiration/motivation.

 

[Penpilot]

For me, the best way to keep the juices flowing is to keep writing.

Usually, when I find myself in a bit of a slog, it's because I've hit a snag and am unsure of how to proceed plotwise. I push through with the best solution I got and things get easier. Because once I'm on the other side, and chugging along, way better solutions to what I was stuck on come to me.

And if they don't, I have no qualms about tossing things out and trying a new direction. I threw out half a novel once because it stunk.

Another way to think about this is if I can't find the solution, then I'll find all the non-solutions. Once I find all of them, then the only thing left will be the solution. Not exactly efficient, but it's better than doing nothing at all.

I think a lot of writers put too much pressure on themselves to make things perfect. I know I did. I didn't begin to make progress on things until I figured out how to let it go and allow myself to suck, allowed myself to finish something and have it be hugely flawed.

Because, you can't fix nothing, but once you have something to work with, no matter how flawed it may be, it's always better than nothing.

 

[skip.knox]

I alternate between inspiration and desperation constantly.

 

[WooHooMan]

As strange as this may sound: years ago, I rejected the notion of "inspiration" and taught myself to force myself to write rather writing when I feel up to it. And now I basically have an on-and-off switch when it comes to writing mode. Granted, I still get writer's block but usually this leads me to write several pages and then delete them rather than not writing at all.

 

[Netardapope]

This is a good question. For me, it could have...a looooooot of answers.

I'm not sure if I'm ever "uninspired" completely, or maybe I just don't always write based on whether I'm inspired or not. I can always find something to write about. Often it's something stupid or useless. But I do find it. And I do write it. And I find joy in it, and often i get more inspiration. Just writing anything can create inspiration sometimes.

I do experience low-energy periods after periods of intense activity. When I've put down 11,000 words in a week, I have to take a few days off at least. I can write 2,000 words on a great day, but I can't sustain that over a week or more. I have to wait for my energy and stamina to refill.

Do I go through periods when my WIP's don't work for me, when they just won't come...absolutely. Ive been blocked on my favorite project for nearly two years. It's a huge project, ambitious, complex, and I have high standards for it, so I can see why it's not coming to me.

This is a tricky question because I don't have a definition for "inspiration." Sometimes I write when I'm loving it and feeling great about it; sometimes I know I'm throwing down garbage but I keep going anyway. You say "we go through depressive and unmotivated periods where our prose sucks." Yeah...but I don't pay those periods much mind, really. I might be less productive, but I write. I find that how I feel about my writing has very little to do with its actual quality. So I write regardless.

Of course, there's always the normal sessions.

What I mean with the post is sessions without inspiration, I mean those that you utterly hate your story in. But yeah, I see what you mean. they can get really unpredictable at times, and those are the worst. Because you can never be sure if when it's gonna return.

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[Netardapope]

I'll echo Dragon a bit... not sure how you're defining inspiration. Lack of time and energy is more deleterious to my writing attempts than a lack of inspiration/motivation.

When I mean inspiration, I mean the muse. And when I mean lack of inspiration, I don't mean the "regular" writing sessions where your writing feels ok. I mean the sessions were you truly hate your manuscript.


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[Netardapope]

For me, the best way to keep the juices flowing is to keep writing.

Usually, when I find myself in a bit of a slog, it's because I've hit a snag and am unsure of how to proceed plotwise. I push through with the best solution I got and things get easier. Because once I'm on the other side, and chugging along, way better solutions to what I was stuck on come to me.

And if they don't, I have no qualms about tossing things out and trying a new direction. I threw out half a novel once because it stunk.

Another way to think about this is if I can't find the solution, then I'll find all the non-solutions. Once I find all of them, then the only thing left will be the solution. Not exactly efficient, but it's better than doing nothing at all.

I think a lot of writers put too much pressure on themselves to make things perfect. I know I did. I didn't begin to make progress on things until I figured out how to let it go and allow myself to suck, allowed myself to finish something and have it be hugely flawed.

Because, you can't fix nothing, but once you have something to work with, no matter how flawed it may be, it's always better than nothing.

I agree on the point of continously writing. I fnd that keeping a consistent writing pattern lends me to more inspiration. The worst days are those that I end up writing less than my goal of 2000 words a day, and after just one of those, my whole week is ruined

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[DragonOfTheAerie]

When I really hate my writing, things take a downward spiral quick. I get depressed and panic.

I don't write through the awful parts. I leave it be and come back later. It's like a muscle you've overstretched and strained or injured. Pushing through won't help the injury, it will only hurt it more, you have to let it heal.

 

[Netardapope]

When I really hate my writing, things take a downward spiral quick. I get depressed and panic.

I don't write through the awful parts. I leave it be and come back later. It's like a muscle you've overstretched and strained or injured. Pushing through won't help the injury, it will only hurt it more, you have to let it heal.

We have an opposite philosophy then. I literally start writing the worst prose I can on purpose, just to power through the bad parts. A scorched earth policy if you will [emoji4] The only exceptions are really important scenes.

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[DragonOfTheAerie]

We have an opposite philosophy then. I literally start writing the worst prose I can on purpose, just to power through the bad parts. A scorched earth policy if you will [emoji4] The only exceptions are really important scenes.

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I've done that!! Not on my WIP though. You can see a terrible thing I wrote in Showcase...I posted it not too long ago...

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I will get stuck when plot points confound me, but I never hate the manuscript when working on it... in the past that took time in the drawer and a fresh read, LOL. I've finally reached a point where I don't hate my ms even after that, although I certainly find piles of flaws and improvements waiting to happen.

When I mean inspiration, I mean the muse. And when I mean lack of inspiration, I don't mean the "regular" writing sessions where your writing feels ok. I mean the sessions were you truly hate your manuscript.


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[Chessie]

“I write when I’m inspired, and I see to it that I’m inspired at nine o’clock every morning.”

--I'm not sure who said this (some say Faulkner, idk) but this is how I approach writing.

 

[Heliotrope]

I write when I'm inspired. And I see to it that I'm inspired every time my daughter decides to take a nap.

- Helio

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

I write when I'm inspired. And I see to it that I'm inspired every time my daughter decides to take a nap.

- Helio

Heehee!

Seriously, though, usually i write regardless, but there is a time for taking breaks.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

For me there's only really one period when I can't write. That's usually after I've just published something. All that endless concentration on editing, covers, format, publishing etc just really burns me out, and often after I've finished I can't even look at a keyboard for a time. That time may be a matter of hours or weeks. There's no real consistency to it. The one thing I do know is that I have to get writing completely out of my headspace for a time - so I'll end up watching DVDs or playing games or anything else.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Heehee!

Seriously, though, usually i write regardless, but there is a time for taking breaks.

Yes, when editing your previous ms or prepping the next...

But obviously this is not the same for everyone. Some folks are binge writers who live more in break than out.

Breaks absolutely kill my mojo, it's like years ago when I rode in RAGBRAI (bike ride across Iowa) if I got off the bike for too long to drink beer or listen to a band or whatever, that first few miles back in the saddle was slow and painful.

 

[Chessie]

Yes, when editing your previous ms or prepping the next...

But obviously this is not the same for everyone. Some folks are binge writers who live more in break than out.

Breaks absolutely kill my mojo, it's like years ago when I rode in RAGBRAI (bike ride across Iowa) if I got off the bike for too long to drink beer or listen to a band or whatever, that first few miles back in the saddle was slow and painful.

I'm the same way. Taking a day off here or there keeps me refreshed but writing is a daily for me. Even if it's 1k or a few hundred words on my busiest days. If I go longer than a couple days without writing, the day of return is really hard for me.