Getting in the mood to write

[Addison]

The first thing I do before I write is get the dull fluff out of my mind. I do this by doing something physical, which is usually making a list of chores needing done then doing them. Then, if I still feel fluff-headed I'll go for a hike or bake or...something active. If I can't think of anything else to do and my body says "Write", then I sit down. But I won't start off writing if I still feel fluff. I'll do an exercise to burn off the fluff.

If I do start off writing I work myself into the narrator shoes. I'll revise what I wrote before, which helps, and then continue. (Little tip, do not end your writing with a complete sentence. Or even a complete scene, but mostly sentence. The mind HATES incomplete sentences and will work all night while you sleep to come up with a great way to finish it and more.)

 

[The Dark One]

I have no problem these days (been doing it for 20 years so slip straight into the muse every time).

In tougher earlier times, I used to go for a run. The plodding meditative grind and the sweet endorphins at the end would always combine to fill my head with stuff that was just bursting to get out.

 

[wordwalker]

I also like to free write. Ask questions in "what" or "who" format, all scribbles in my notebook.

This is a handy tool. One I like even more is asking "why" for each character there and then following that with "or maybe that Why made him use a different What/Who..."

 

[Devora]

I finally managed to finish my story last night (i live in Eastern USA). I had to force myself but i managed to finish it around 3 in the morning.

 

[Masronyx]

Or get the opportunity to whip out the notebook and scribble something for later. Usually notes or ideas.
Your job sounds a lot like mine...

Trouble getting inspired?

My advice is to get yourself a badly paid, mind-numbing and utterly soul-crushing job.

I guarantee the words will gusher forth on those rare opportunities you have the time or energy to switch on the laptop.

 

[Addison]

Just came across an incredible useful and funny writing book.

The Amazing Story Generator.

A hard cover book with a spiral spine and there's three sets of cards (top, middle, bottom) and they each have insane stuff. Let's see one of the ideas sparked was, "A 4000 year old vampire, poisons a persons food, and challenges them to a duel."
There was another one but the mean librarian told me to get out of the aisle before I could write it down.

But tomorrow I'm going back for it. If it's still there. If not, I'm buying it.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

This ALWAYS bears linking...

Pretentious Title: How I Went From Writing 2,000 Words a Day to 10,000 Words a Day

Rachel Aaron is a lovely girl, and wrote a boot on Amazon to this effect the helps me a lot. She also maintains a blog.

 

[Philip Overby]

I read Rachel Aaron's book about writing 10,000 words a day. It was a very good read I thought. Maybe it won't help you write 10,000 words a day, but it could help boost your productivity in any case.

 

[TheokinsJ]

I find myself feeling this way often, I want to write but I don't feel like writing and the time I go to sit down and start it, I feel as if I am emotionally drained and I can't 'get back in the zone' as I call it. I usually find the best way to correct this is to 'inspire' yourself to write. Depending on what inspires you to write, go and research something or read your favourite book or watch a video that inspires you. I usually go onto Brandon Sanderson's website and watch some of his lectures which get me back in the zone. I think a certain amount of not wanting to write is also doubt in the novel itself, for example; I am currently writing a nordic-style fantasy and I watched an episode of 'Game of Thrones', I sat down at my computer afterwards and was like "How can the stuff I write, ever compare to this!?", so I stopped writing. I think there are days when we don't feel like it, but I can guarantee you, once you write something on the page, it get's easier.

 

[Draco99]

If your wanting an idea or a bit of inspiration, drive or walk (walking is better) to a desolate location, where you can sit down, looking out into the distance, write down what sparks your interest and draw from that.

If your stuck on a part in your story and don't know what to write next, if your novel/story will be fantasy search up fantasy pictures depending on the scene your up to and draw ideas from that.

These ideas are very basic but they help me!

 

[Scribble]

I do two things to avoid this.

1) I do a lot of idea gardening
2) I outline my story in general, and scenes in detail before I sit down to write prose


In my gardening process, what I often do is simply scribble (hence my handle).

The goal is to input ideas into the brain, and then output story ideas/plots/character sketches. Some sources of ideas:

- I watch movies, or documentaries on nature, science, history, religion, philosophy.
- I cruise through images and poetry on DeviantArt
- I listen to many podcasts on a wide array of topics, as well as short SFF fiction.
- I go down to the bookstore and noodle around, reading bits of books.
- I watch people on the street
- Listen to music and with a pencil sketch, make thought diagrams, write paragraphs, adding layers to ideas.


All this stuff goes into the stewing pot, and I scribble down notes as I go.

I needed richer details on city life, I took inspirations from ancient Byzantium, Rome, Alexandria.
I needed characters, I took inspiration from famed people of antiquity
I needed conflicts, I took inspiration from political or religious conflicts of the past.

Seeds of ideas are taken from fact or fiction, grown in the garden, and then things start growing. The eventual idea hardly ever resembles the seed, but it's like this for me: I've got to get that little grit of sand inside the oyster of my brain. It gets rolled around and hopefully turns into a pearl.

What I must produce in my "gardening" time is the scene plan. I take my last scene, look at my story plan, and outline what happens in the next scene(s). When I am satisfied with it, I write it.

As I said, I never sit down to write prose without knowing what I am going to write. The rest of my time is spent worrying about what that prose is going to be. I try to keep the pressure going so that when I sit down to type, I am bursting. I outline my scenes.

If I don't know what to write, I need to garden, then scene plan. If I sat in front of a blank screen with no plan I would end up doing all kinds of internet browsing stuff instead... and then feel atrocious afterwards. I know, because this is what I did for the longest time until I figured out how to get my brain to produce words.

Ironically, I knew all along what I needed to do. In 20 years as a software developer, I never just up and start "writing code". I make an overall design, then sub-design the components, and then start building those components. The creative part comes in the little bits. I might sweat through an algorithm, but I know what it is supposed to do. I apply the same discipline to writing fiction. If I did it without a plan, I'd create some kind of Lovecraftian monstrosity of a software! When I do it with fiction, it results in the awful dreck I've written in the past.

Does it work? I still write dreck, but the new dreck is much better than the old dreck. Progress is all important, I'll fix it in editing.