Redfrogcrab
Troubadour
Hey yall, I'm currently going through a bit of writer's block and wanna know how yall get through it
please, tell me
please, tell me
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How to regain the motivation to write
- Thread starter Redfrogcrab
- Start date
pmmg
Myth Weaver
see the rules below 
Write something everyday, and move ahead till you get to the end. No fixing, no research, no overthinking. Just write it ugly if you must and keep moving forward. For myself (though I am in edit mode currently), I just promise to write one sentence a day, and go from there.
Write something everyday, and move ahead till you get to the end. No fixing, no research, no overthinking. Just write it ugly if you must and keep moving forward. For myself (though I am in edit mode currently), I just promise to write one sentence a day, and go from there.
pmmg
Myth Weaver
Well... What I typed describes the method.
The motivation, that comes from you. You have to decide what you want, and go for it. For me, motivation sprang up again cause I wanted something complete, and everything else was just feeling like a waste of time. I believed in my story, but I had gotten side tracked from many directions. One day, I just said...enough of that. I'm gonna finish it, and it was decided.
And it was about then my PC blew up, and i had to get it forensically recovered...but...I did get most of it back. That was two books ago.
I think its important to know the difference between deciding and wanting. Wanting does not make it happen.
The motivation, that comes from you. You have to decide what you want, and go for it. For me, motivation sprang up again cause I wanted something complete, and everything else was just feeling like a waste of time. I believed in my story, but I had gotten side tracked from many directions. One day, I just said...enough of that. I'm gonna finish it, and it was decided.
And it was about then my PC blew up, and i had to get it forensically recovered...but...I did get most of it back. That was two books ago.
I think its important to know the difference between deciding and wanting. Wanting does not make it happen.
BearBear
Archmage
You have to be having fun. I also have this thing where if I post on reddit or other forums a lot then I use up all my fun writing quota. So stopping the social media got me back in. Social media is like fast food. It's good, it's easy, but it's not healthy for you.
It depends on what the problem is. But most of the time it's commitment and motivation issues. I hate to just parrot what other people have said. But the biggest motivator is progress. Feelings follow effort, so forcing yourself to get through words is the big first step. Building up the writing habit, the process that gets you through creating words, should be the first goal.
Everything else you might do is just a whim until you to put it into your writing. Years of dreaming, worldbuilding and planning may eventually pay off in the end. But nothing beats that feeling of making something real and tangible for yourself.
Everything else you might do is just a whim until you to put it into your writing. Years of dreaming, worldbuilding and planning may eventually pay off in the end. But nothing beats that feeling of making something real and tangible for yourself.
Finchbearer
Istar
I’ve been in many creative ruts and I’m not talking about just writing, with design, with art, whatever it is. Sometimes it’s a case of stepping back and taking a break, other times it may be useful to re-inspire. Go to see a movie, read a book, go to an art exhibition, travel…sometimes creativity hits at unexpected moments.
Remove yourself from the tangled thoughts that put you into that block in the first place, and as others have suggested, just write your inner most ideas down onto the page, doesn’t matter if it’s incomprehensible or bad grammar or pure garbage, as long as you’ve written some of your thoughts down.
Remove yourself from the tangled thoughts that put you into that block in the first place, and as others have suggested, just write your inner most ideas down onto the page, doesn’t matter if it’s incomprehensible or bad grammar or pure garbage, as long as you’ve written some of your thoughts down.
pmmg
Myth Weaver
Along these lines, I find just driving a for a long while helps with cutting out the noise and thinking on what you want to be focused on.
What is "a bit of writer's block" for you? A phrase like that can cover a wide variety of experiences.
I don't disagree with the Just Write advice (how could I, given my sig?), but it's not necessarily a cure-all. It's entirely possible to write every day yet be blocked on a plot point, or blocked at this chapter even though you can write more on other chapters, or be blocked on an entire story yet can write others.
All those are different from each other, and are different still from being blocked such that you cannot write a single sentence about anything. The pedantic among us--surely not me!--will point out that simply writing a post saying you have writer's block is actually writing so therefore you aren't blocked.
In short, to quote the Planetary AC: insufficient data for meaningful answer.
I don't disagree with the Just Write advice (how could I, given my sig?), but it's not necessarily a cure-all. It's entirely possible to write every day yet be blocked on a plot point, or blocked at this chapter even though you can write more on other chapters, or be blocked on an entire story yet can write others.
All those are different from each other, and are different still from being blocked such that you cannot write a single sentence about anything. The pedantic among us--surely not me!--will point out that simply writing a post saying you have writer's block is actually writing so therefore you aren't blocked.
In short, to quote the Planetary AC: insufficient data for meaningful answer.
Prince of Spires
Auror
I personally believe that Writer's Block doesn't exist, just like pianist block or painter's block doesn't exist (possibly with the exeption of mental trauma which makes you incapable of sitting down to write, but I guess that's not the case here).
There are plenty of reasons why people have trouble writing. But none of them are a magical Writer's Block, which is outside your control and can't be done anything about. The reasons are also not universal, and each reason requiers a different solution.
If you're 60% trough a story and you're in a muddy middle, then just write could be the best advice.
If you're somewhere in your story and you don't know how to continue, then sitting down to simply work that out, could be the best option.
If you're somewhere in your story and your brain keeps telling you something is wrong and refuses to continue writing, then go over what you did, figure out what's wrong with the story and fix that before continuing
If you don't actually like writing, but you like the idea of having written, then find a different hobby (nothing wrong with that), or find a way to motivate you (you get X after you've written 10k words or something like that).
If you're lacking inspiration, read works you enjoy and see if they inspire you, go for a hike in nature, watch a movie, play a computer game, or do something else. Take notes of ideas and see what sticks around in your brain.
Just don't write for a while and come back in a few weeks is a perfectly viable option as well (unless you have a deadline rushing towards you of course).
If you're stuck in a rut, consider writing fan-fiction in your favorite universe. This takes all the pesky worldbuilding and character creation out of the equation and you can just write a fun story.
I could go on for a while. As other's have mentioned, there are lots of causes and solutions. Figure out what's happening and work on that. Or alternatively, give us some more information and we'll see what we can do
There are plenty of reasons why people have trouble writing. But none of them are a magical Writer's Block, which is outside your control and can't be done anything about. The reasons are also not universal, and each reason requiers a different solution.
If you're 60% trough a story and you're in a muddy middle, then just write could be the best advice.
If you're somewhere in your story and you don't know how to continue, then sitting down to simply work that out, could be the best option.
If you're somewhere in your story and your brain keeps telling you something is wrong and refuses to continue writing, then go over what you did, figure out what's wrong with the story and fix that before continuing
If you don't actually like writing, but you like the idea of having written, then find a different hobby (nothing wrong with that), or find a way to motivate you (you get X after you've written 10k words or something like that).
If you're lacking inspiration, read works you enjoy and see if they inspire you, go for a hike in nature, watch a movie, play a computer game, or do something else. Take notes of ideas and see what sticks around in your brain.
Just don't write for a while and come back in a few weeks is a perfectly viable option as well (unless you have a deadline rushing towards you of course).
If you're stuck in a rut, consider writing fan-fiction in your favorite universe. This takes all the pesky worldbuilding and character creation out of the equation and you can just write a fun story.
I could go on for a while. As other's have mentioned, there are lots of causes and solutions. Figure out what's happening and work on that. Or alternatively, give us some more information and we'll see what we can do
Super Fantasy
Sage
you could brainstorm or make a list of topics to write about.
think of ideas for new chapters
think of ideas for new characters
ideas for quests and such
think of ideas for new chapters
think of ideas for new characters
ideas for quests and such
the25thstar
Dreamer
I find that reading some of my favourite authors often helps me to break through a lull, especially if it's one I haven't touched in a while and I find things I'd forgotten. I'll often read different writers depending on what I'm struggling with, whether it's dialogue or maybe the pacing of a scene.
Super Fantasy
Sage
you can write about all kinds of things, I like to write short stories when i'm not motivated
I agree with the advice of just write. Yesterday I was outall day, came home, and thought don't write, do it tomorrow. But instead I pushed myself to do so, didn't like it, and stopped having met my just write quota for the day. Write anything, if you need to plot, go to writing an outline, still counts bu if I write anything, I fnd I can see what's wrong and fix the problem, then go on wit the story. Also agree with writing something else, reading, doing another creative hobby that can get your juices flowing again helps tons.
bu if I write anything, I fnd I can see what's wrong and fix the problem, then go on wit the story. Also agree with writing something else, reading, doing another creative hobby that can get your juices flowing again helps tons.
Mage Prometheus
Acolyte
I start the morning by playing the piano, meditating, and then a few lines of gratitude in my journal. My neighbours and friends complain so much about their lives I'm always grateful to be happy.
Pyractus
New Member
I see a lot of great advice here.
I've found a lot of success in stepping away for awhile, and engage with one of my other hobbies, reading, watching films, or painting minis or anything far enough from writing that when I come back to the page, all the previous expectation and pressure I'd felt had melted away. So, I guess disengaging for a short amount of time would be my advice and see if coming back to it, after some rest, a snack, or what have you, clears you out and gives you a fresh shot.
I've found a lot of success in stepping away for awhile, and engage with one of my other hobbies, reading, watching films, or painting minis or anything far enough from writing that when I come back to the page, all the previous expectation and pressure I'd felt had melted away. So, I guess disengaging for a short amount of time would be my advice and see if coming back to it, after some rest, a snack, or what have you, clears you out and gives you a fresh shot.
Mage Prometheus
Acolyte
Yes, I like making clay models of characters and collecting things to eat from the wood.
Ozonequeen
Scribe
Hi there. The story I've been writing has been with me for a very long time. So, I usually have an idea about what's going to happen before I start writing. I've had writer's block when things didn't feel right. Sometimes, I plug ahead and force myself to write anyway. Just to see what comes out. I may hate what the writing sounds like but I do it anyway because I've trained myself to do it. It's my habit now, one page or one hour before bed every night for the past two years. Perhaps look to what makes your pulse race, what interests you, what sets your mind aflame?
>what makes your pulse race, what interests you, what sets your mind aflame
That is one way to approach writing, certainly. Because it's not one that has ever reverberated with me, I'll offer another perspective.
Writing can simply be a craft.
I'm pretty sure a portrait painter isn't aflame with much passion when they're hired to do a work. A great deal of the work of music is exactly that: work. It's repetitive and twiddly and sometimes downright exhausting.
Writing can be that. I doesn't have to be inspired, passionate, or fun. I sometimes wonder if reports--some, at least--of writer's block doesn't come down to the expectation that one must be possessed by a Muse and, when that doesn't happen, the resulting disappointment leads to the inability to write. I'm not saying that applies to anyone here, but I do think it's a sub-text of a good deal of complaints and responses to those complaints about writer's block. If my writing is supposed to be a joy, then the advice of "just write" doesn't actually help much. One might as well say, "just get inspired."
But if part of a writer's work is craft, then approach it as such. It's another day at the lathe, another trip to the practice field, off we go to the gym, or let's grab the sketch book and draw a hundred hands. Because that is the grunt work important (vital, for most writers) that underlies the finished work of art.
In short, don't worry about being motivated. If you aren't writing, you aren't working. You're doing other things, and that's fine. But to do the work, inspiration is not necessary.
post scriptum: As others have said, the above is all quite different from being stuck. Stuck means you're writing but you are having trouble resolving a plot point or fleshing out a character. That's a whole other thread.
That is one way to approach writing, certainly. Because it's not one that has ever reverberated with me, I'll offer another perspective.
Writing can simply be a craft.
I'm pretty sure a portrait painter isn't aflame with much passion when they're hired to do a work. A great deal of the work of music is exactly that: work. It's repetitive and twiddly and sometimes downright exhausting.
Writing can be that. I doesn't have to be inspired, passionate, or fun. I sometimes wonder if reports--some, at least--of writer's block doesn't come down to the expectation that one must be possessed by a Muse and, when that doesn't happen, the resulting disappointment leads to the inability to write. I'm not saying that applies to anyone here, but I do think it's a sub-text of a good deal of complaints and responses to those complaints about writer's block. If my writing is supposed to be a joy, then the advice of "just write" doesn't actually help much. One might as well say, "just get inspired."
But if part of a writer's work is craft, then approach it as such. It's another day at the lathe, another trip to the practice field, off we go to the gym, or let's grab the sketch book and draw a hundred hands. Because that is the grunt work important (vital, for most writers) that underlies the finished work of art.
In short, don't worry about being motivated. If you aren't writing, you aren't working. You're doing other things, and that's fine. But to do the work, inspiration is not necessary.
post scriptum: As others have said, the above is all quite different from being stuck. Stuck means you're writing but you are having trouble resolving a plot point or fleshing out a character. That's a whole other thread.
Ozonequeen
Scribe
I understand what you're saying. However, I can't conceive of writing a story and not feeling passionate about it unless I am forcing out a narrative. I have done this, mind you. I can see too how one should work on their craft, hone their skills. It is hard for me to conceive not feeling inspired about a particular story because the stories that come to me are exciting for me. The trick for me becomes finding the right words to describe the vision in my mind. And I don't always have THAT part right, sometimes I feel it, sometimes I don't. I don't have any kind of degree in writing so perhaps in that respect I am untrained and untaught.
