How do you keep writing when the motivation fades?

[Waliyi]

Hi everyone, I’m new here, and also new to writing but not new to creating stories. I’ve been building this one in my mind for several years, and only a few months ago did I finally begin to put it into words.
It’s an epic African fantasy that blends spiritual philosophy, scholarly mysticism, and ancient power systems. The prose style is lyrical, atmospheric, and deeply rooted in sensory realism.
So far, I’ve developed a comprehensive worldbuilding framework and detailed character profiles, along with the social and cultural dynamics of the world. But after finishing the first draft of Book 1, I got stuck. I have a prologue I’m proud of but transitioning into Chapter 1 has been unexpectedly difficult.
I can feel the spark, I can see the story alive in my head. But when I sit down (if I even sit) to write, the energy just drains away.
I wanted to ask: How do you keep writing when that happens? What habits, rituals, or mindsets help you keep showing up to the page, especially when motivation fades?
Do you wait for inspiration, or push through regardless? Do you revisit what you’ve written, or move forward no matter what?
Any advice or perspective would really help.
Thanks.

 

[Penpilot]

I usually boil thing down to this. The start of a story is simply someone with a problem, and a compelling reason to solve said problem. The story is them struggling to overcome the obstacle or many obstacles standing in the way of them solving said problem.

A lot of times when we're stuck, it's because we haven't figured out the basic elements to the statement above.

For me, I never wait for inspiration. Doing that is like waiting for your lottery ticket to hit. Mulling over what you have and what you want your story to be can be helpful, but beyond a certain point, you have to crap or get off the pot. A lot of times, just getting yourself moving, even if it's in the wrong direction, is the spark that's needed to keep going.

Writing is like planting a seed, and when the seed sprouts out a plant, that plant produces more seeds. Plant those new seeds and you get even more. If you never plant that first steed, that one seed is all you'll ever have.

my2cents

 

[ThinkerX]

You make writing a habit. You write at least a few lines every day, even if you don't feel like writing, even if you think it is horrible.

 

[pmmg]

Make a habit and promise yourself small things. The promise I make to myself is one sentence a day. Does not even have to be a keeper.

If in editing, just edit one sentence a day. More if you like, but never less. The promise of for only one.

 

[Diana Silver]

Another golden tip you'll hear often: don't sit down to write something good. Don't sit down and tell yourself the scene on the page has to reflect the awesomeness of the scene in your head. Sit down to write the most crappy paragraph you'll ever write. Scribble anything. Just go.

Do you wait for inspiration, or push through regardless?

Never wait for inspiration. Inspiration is triggered by you putting in the mental work and engaging with your story, whether its by reading what you wrote, getting a few new lines on paper or plotting out an upcoming segment. I know scores of people who are waiting for inspiration to write that great book they have in their minds, and they've all been waiting for as long as I've known them. None of them are writers. Writers are the ones who push through regardless.

Do you revisit what you’ve written, or move forward no matter what?

Both can be useful. Both become necessary at some point. But I would say: when in doubt, move forward. Often writing further into the story gives us a better perspective on what came before, so you'll be in a better position to revisit stuff after you've written a ways forward in the story.

 

[Karlin]

Inspiration is an interesting topic. It definitely comes to me, often when actually writing, sometimes during other activities. Writing in a coffee shop can do it. I can't really explain it. At times it seems like it's not under my control, some idea just appears in my head.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Inspiration and motivation are great. I love that. But if you are serious that one day you want to make writing a career, you have to look at it as not just a job, but your job, your small press, your literary career. And that means treating your writing time just like you would any job. Seriously, like it matters, and it does.



It can be a word-by-word process. I know it is for me. And it holds true for every writer. See these? They were written one word at a time. Fast, slow, inspired or a slog, it's all one word at a time.

 

[Gurkhal]

Waiting for motivation is like waiting for the sky to fall down. You'll be waiting for rather long time in that case.

Better to soldier on and write something when you can. You may write crap but crap can be polished and edited into something else. A blank page can never become anything but a blank page.

I say this from hard experience.

 

[AlexS]

Hi everyone, I’m new here, and also new to writing but not new to creating stories. I’ve been building this one in my mind for several years, and only a few months ago did I finally begin to put it into words.
It’s an epic African fantasy that blends spiritual philosophy, scholarly mysticism, and ancient power systems. The prose style is lyrical, atmospheric, and deeply rooted in sensory realism.
So far, I’ve developed a comprehensive worldbuilding framework and detailed character profiles, along with the social and cultural dynamics of the world. But after finishing the first draft of Book 1, I got stuck. I have a prologue I’m proud of but transitioning into Chapter 1 has been unexpectedly difficult.
I can feel the spark, I can see the story alive in my head. But when I sit down (if I even sit) to write, the energy just drains away.
I wanted to ask: How do you keep writing when that happens? What habits, rituals, or mindsets help you keep showing up to the page, especially when motivation fades?
Do you wait for inspiration, or push through regardless? Do you revisit what you’ve written, or move forward no matter what?
Any advice or perspective would really help.
Thanks.

Just imagine that on Halloween kids are coming to your house to trick-or-treat dressed as heroes of your story. That'll give you the motivation to write. Worked for me, at least.

 

[Prince of Spires]

I wanted to ask: How do you keep writing when that happens? What habits, rituals, or mindsets help you keep showing up to the page, especially when motivation fades?
Do you wait for inspiration, or push through regardless? Do you revisit what you’ve written, or move forward no matter what?

I'm with the others that waiting for inspiration is pointless. Writing a novel takes something like 200 hours, editing takes something like that amount of time again. 400 hours is a very long time to be inspired.

Instead, I just show up, sit down and write. Or edit in this case.

Here it's important to realize that every writer is different, and that we all have our own process. What works for me might not work for you. Personally I write in a linear fashion for instance. I always write forward, and when I realize I missed something, then I just make a note that I need to include that thing, and I continue forward as if I had included that thing. At one point I even changed the race (as in Dwarf to Human) of my protagonist halfway through the story.

Now I realize my brain is weird in that it lets me get away with this. For me a note saying "change dwarf to human before this point in the story" is enough to let me proceed. For many others this probably will not work.

But after finishing the first draft of Book 1, I got stuck. I have a prologue I’m proud of but transitioning into Chapter 1 has been unexpectedly difficult.

It depends on what you're stuck with. You don't really need to transition from the prologue into chapter 1. The whole idea of a prologue is that it's detached from the rest of the story. Best explanation of a prologue I had is from Malik (IIRC) who wrote something like the prologue is the world introducing itself as a character.

After the prologue, you can just write "chapter 1" and start typing away. If it's any different, then you don't have a prologue, you just have mislabelled chapter 1...

As for how to edit, my main advice is to split it into different parts. You (probably) don't want to fix the whole thing in a single pass. First focus on the high level stuff, and only after that's done, dig into the line-level details. So first read through your draft and take notes on the story. What needs to change? Where don't characters make sense? Are you missing any chapters? Where is the pacing wrong? After you read through the thing, go back and fix those notes.

When that's fixed, go back and polish the sentence level stuff. And after that, get someone to read it.

 

[SamazonE]

I think either you plan the whole thing, or nothing at all. This may change due to the needs of your story. If you like to write ideas down, do you do it linearly? Chronologically? Sporadically? If you have an idea, jot it down on a pad, then let it expand from there, maybe turning into a story.

Or, try to write an almanac. See these things differently that happen in your fantasy story, then record them. Many of my stories have become compendiums.

 

[Incanus]

I have a bunch of quotes about first drafting from writers printed out and stuck on my wall where I work. The one from Maya Angelou seems appropriate here:

When I'm writing, I write. And then it's as if the muse is convinced that I'm serious, and says, "Okay, Okay, I'll come."

When it comes to writing, the inspiration thing is often backwards. Like the quote above, I often find more inspiration after I've already been working a bit. There's another great quote from William Butler Yeats:

Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.

My motivation has been coming and going lately. I doubt it is perfectly consistent for anyone. It is difficult, but not impossible. Good luck!

 

[Malik]

I have a bunch of quotes about first drafting from writers printed out and stuck on my wall where I work. The one from Maya Angelou seems appropriate here:

When I'm writing, I write. And then it's as if the muse is convinced that I'm serious, and says, "Okay, Okay, I'll come."

When it comes to writing, the inspiration thing is often backwards. Like the quote above, I often find more inspiration after I've already been working a bit. There's another great quote from William Butler Yeats:

Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.

My motivation has been coming and going lately. I doubt it is perfectly consistent for anyone. It is difficult, but not impossible. Good luck!

One of my favorite First Draft quotes is, "I need to remind myself that the first draft is just me shoveling sand into a pile so I can make it into a sandcastle later."

 

[A. E. Lowan]

One of my favorite First Draft quotes is, "I need to remind myself that the first draft is just me shoveling sand into a pile so I can make it into a sandcastle later."

That's one of my favorite bits of writing advice, too.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I don't make a pile of sand, I go to the beach.

Health and time issues aside, writing can be a struggle, but it's hitting that Zen Zone where there is no time, no confusion, no questions, and everything is easy that's Hard as Hell. It's those times when you look back at your last few paragraphs or pages and think, "Shit, that's beautiful." Of course I hit that zone last night then realized I really needed to go to bed. Zen Zones can last minutes or hours, and might take an hour or a day to get to, but they are out there waiting for me, and the more consistently I write the easier it is to reach them.

Except & Accept. I have no idea how to hit those Zen Zones except by struggling through the rest. Accept that struggling is part of the process.

Easier said than done.

 

[Malik]

 

[Mad Swede]

I learnt to write at any time and in any place no matter what was going on around me when I was a Swedish Army officer. I had to, orders must go out on time and reports must go back on time. There was no option. I just took that discipline with me when I started writing fiction.

I've been criticised here before for saying/writing this, but in my view if you are even half way serious about being an author then you have to learn that writing discipline. The reason is simple. If you're lucky enough to land a publishing contract (or if you've promised your readers that your next self-published book will be out on a certain date) then you have deadlines to meet and at that point you have to write no matter how you're feeling.

What the army taught me is that writing even when I'm tired, hungry or otherwise distracted or stressed is mostly about practice. I had to grit my teeth, get my head down and get going. And that is my advice. Always write when you sit down to write. What you write is less important than actually writing. If you're stuck and can't think of anything to write connected to your current story then write something else. But make sure you write. That way you develop the discipline and the routine.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

I learnt to write at any time and in any place no matter what was going on around me when I was a Swedish Army officer. I had to, orders must go out on time and reports must go back on time. There was no option. I just took that discipline with me when I started writing fiction.

I've been criticised here before for saying/writing this, but in my view if you are even half way serious about being an author then you have to learn that writing discipline. The reason is simple. If you're lucky enough to land a publishing contract (or if you've promised your readers that your next self-published book will be out on a certain date) then you have deadlines to meet and at that point you have to write no matter how you're feeling.

What the army taught me is that writing even when I'm tired, hungry or otherwise distracted or stressed is mostly about practice. I had to grit my teeth, get my head down and get going. And that is my advice. Always write when you sit down to write. What you write is less important than actually writing. If you're stuck and can't think of anything to write connected to your current story then write something else. But make sure you write. That way you develop the discipline and the routine.

I happen to agree. It stops being a fun bit of self-expression at the mercy of the Muse and becomes everything. It becomes a job... more than a job, really. It is a calling. You can play around with coffee and writing programs and just the right music - all of which I do, too, but that's the difference between trappings and process - all you want, but until butt gets between chair and keyboard and stays there, regularly, while words spill on the page one by one by one, it's fun, but not likely to get anyone anywhere.

I do this because I can't not. And I love every second of it... eventually.

 

[Malik]

until butt gets between chair and keyboard and stays there, regularly, while words spill on the page one by one by one,

My biggest secret to getting the writing done was to ensure my writing desk had the most comfortable chair in the house.

 

[ThinkerX]

My biggest secret to getting the writing done was to ensure my writing desk had the most comfortable chair in the house.

For a long time, my 'writing chair' was a dirt-cheap plastic patio chair that might still be in the $5 range - new. I wrote most of my books in that chair.