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JoshRaed
Sep '22
1

I once wrote a story that was an unplanned Fanfiction about every show I liked at the time and how their stories all came together due to some mysterious entity. I would write a chapter of like 200-600 words a day and release it. Then I kept releasing them, hopping sporadically from idea to idea like a madman until I decided to condense all of this into a single plot line about the fate of the universe, that ended with the world changing forever, and then I wrote a sequel about those consequences. Throughout I would consistently be possessed to write quite a bit. I might end up writing 800 words last minute one day on a whim.

Halfway through that second part I got big into rewriting the whole thing because it was so underwritten and barely touched each character, so I unpublished the whole thing and rereleased every chapter but greatly expanded upon, with every character getting more actual focus character-wise and the plot becoming more coherent in general. But by the end I realized the story was still pretty weak and unfocused due to it's outline, so I decided to rewrite the whole thing again but with an outline, and now it's really boring and I haven't passed chapter 3. I'm now writing a new non-fanfic story and I just don't feel it anymore. I really want to write the story and I like these characters and this story/world, but I'll look at the page and then I'll switch to another tab and watch 3 more YouTube videos.

What do I do?

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    Sep '22

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    Oct '22
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Spectorium_1
Sep '22

Sometimes, you just have to push through the initial dread. Think of writing a new chapter like going to a new place with new people. If you're shy like me, you'll know the feeling, but in a new place with new people, I don't want to do anything and melt back into some corner. It sometimes feels easier and safer to just be alone and not interact. However, you probably also had those times where you have interacted and it turned out to be one of your best times of your life.

If you can't relate to it, then think of writing as a drug.(a healthy one and I'm not promoting drugs in anyway) Your first high feels great, and it probably didn't take a lot. Maybe a 60-150mg dose was good enough. Now, as you build up tolerance to the dosage, you need more and more to achieve that high. However, you can get the same effect by doing a detox for however long it takes and let your tolerance level naturally go down, then getting high again.

Writing can be the same way as both of these examples. If you want to stay motivated to write, either break through your unmotivated mindeset, or take a break and let your tolerance, to the dopamine from writing, go down.

konori
Sep '22

It sounds like a burnout and you may need a break to recharge.

JoshRaed
Sep '22

I’ve had a little bit more than a break. Not a single scene of my story written in the entirety of August, and the last time I seriously added to the story was for a single day after a long period of time when I didn’t do it.

konori
Sep '22

Hmm... Then it's like when coming back from a break, it's hard to get into writing again? I can only take from my own experience with drawing comics, but it should apply with writing. Oftentimes I do find it difficult to go back to drawing after a break, but in that case I still have to force myself to just draw. Even if I could only draw a single character that day, it's still better than nothing. The next day I'll force myself to draw again and usually by that time I'm able to get into the groove and draw my usual amount.

So, in the case of writing, you can force yourself to start with a single sentence. It doesn't have to be perfect because you can always edit it when you review it later. At the end of the day that's better than nothing. And if you feel like it, you can write another another sentence and so on until you make up a paragraph.

If you find it hard to get away from YouTube videos, how about keeping your document page open and have the video run in the background or in a smaller window to the side? When a youtube ad comes up, you can go and write a few words or a sentence while waiting for the advertisement to end.

When you're faced with a daunting task, the important thing is to start and get the ball rolling.

Spectorium_1
Sep '22
JoshRaed

In that case, just force yourself to write until you get back into the flow, just like starting to ride a bike again after a few years. You'll eventually remember the execration and keep going.

1 month later

closed Oct 1, '22

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