How do you guys keep it up?

[ISNEKO]

Ahahah.

AHAHAHAHAHAH, the title.

Anyhow, lately I haven't wanted to write anything at all. I'm currently in one of my biggest lulls of activity on the site and even tho I would pessimistically say to myself that it doesn't matter because no one is fucking reading my shit anyway, I don't like having everything sit for so long.

Aggravatingly enough, when I'm completely unable to work on my writing I think about it a lot. But when I'm home I don't give a shit. I don't want to write at all. It feels like a pointless effort.

And then I go take out the trash. And I think about writing.

I've tried not writing on my PC and using a notebook. I've tried writing on my phone outside. I just don't want to write anymore. And this is the longest I've gone for a good while so it feels like I've already taken a break. So, I don't have any fucking clue as to how to get my drive back.

Any specific things you guys do that makes you write? Bungee jumping while trying to make coffee?

I also am nicotine free for like three days it sucks I'm so tired all the time and hungry and tiny things piss me off and my skin is itchy I don't know what's happening.

[lartianmartian1]

You are most definitely going through withdrawal, and that is not helping your situation. I would consult other former nicotine users about what to do for that because I am not an expert, just the offspring of smokers. For your writing, though, I might suggest a writing sprint on the tapas discord (or elsewhere), if you haven't joined yet. You write for 15 minutes or more, like that's all the time you have in the day to write. Just to have something. Which is preferable to nothing.

Sounds like a fun and challenging exercise if you ask me, though I am more of a comic person who needs to improve her drawing skills quite drastically. Not that my writing couldn't use improvement too...

Good luck!

[darkone4587]

I take the occasional break and then get back to it.
If you get frustrated then take a break for a while then come back to work when you feel like it.

[ramiek]

I don't know about the nicotine thing which is a thing all by its own but if I'll take it aside for a minute I think you mention other things that I may be able to comment on.

You said nobody read your stuff. I think trying to write when you think nobody cares
really ruin the experience. It may sounds cheesy and cliche but YOU should care fore and foremost.
you can't control what others do. and with the abundant of content here (and anywhere else)
people may not get to your stuff. or might take a while.
So you must do it for you. find why you enjoy it. and if you think you're not good enough, try to improve. you can always improve.
there's youtube channels, essays... you can even start reading books and think what you would do different if you would have wrote that book. go outside and look at people and try to figure out their story - or even better - make one up.
I think you're in a place of "why am I doing it for" and it's a hard place, but the good news is that I think all it gets is a little thing to get you flowing with ideas again. you just have to find it.
and it sounds like you want it, just scared of doing it wrong.
so let yourself go wrong. do lots of mistakes. and show us only the good stuff that comes after.

hope that helps

[kaiwang868]

I'm not 100% sure, but I think late August and early September is where everyone's summer ends and everyone goes back to school and work? Maybe that's why traffic saw a sudden drop?

[revisionstudios]

It sounds like you could be going through burnout as well, and the fastest way to get out of that is allow yourself to rest. Don't beat yourself up for not doing anything and take some time to actually recharge--thinking about it all day and then feeling bad about ultimately not being able to do it doesn't count. That's just depressing. Actually separate yourself from it if you want to recover. It may not even be that you're burned out on writing, it could be your job or something else in your life, too. I know I couldn't do shit while I was at certain jobs and it really put me in a bad place creatively.

If you don't think that's it and it's a matter of discipline, start making a habit out of it. Like someone suggested above, resolve to just work on it for 15 minutes a day--set a timer if you have to.

Or maybe you're too much in your own head about your writing and things are foggy. Try finding a friend to bounce ideas off of and brainstorm with. Having a clear direction and purpose while writing can really help, and feedback is great for achieving that.

No matter what it is, good luck.

[HopCrop]

I set myself deadlines to keep me going, though I assume that's fairly standard practice.

[Wumbl]

I just make things that I'll enjoy working on, and I set goals for myself with incentives whenever I'm struggling.

For example, if I need a lot of lineart done I'll promise myself that once I hit a certain number of pages (3 or 4 pages lined, or a specific page number) I'll buy something that I want. That has helped me out a few times when I was running low on energy.

[lil-sea-salt]

This is definitely 100% nicotine withdrawal symptoms. I don't think it has anything to do with your writing productivity.

This is from webmd
* symptoms of withdrawal can last anywhere from several days to several weeks
* involves physical, mental, and emotional symptoms
* the physical symptoms will start to go away -- but you’ll still be dealing with mental and emotional problems like anxiety, depression, and irritability. Those will also taper off after a few weeks.

[baasinsimple]

Keep a small notebook with you, I don't write at home because I don't give a shit too when a home too. Unless I'm provided with an idea or new piece of character drama that I can realize. So jot down your idea or character drama and flush it out throughout the day, Home is the place for me that I refine things rather than create them.

[ISNEKO]

Thank you all for your replies to my stupid issues.