What's Holding You Back?

[Cheekybee07]

For me it's having a demanding day job that saps me of mental energy in the evening to do much for myself. i'm trying to focus on discipline more than motivation though to get me to write. i also joined a writing contest so hopefully that should get me fired up.

[arcaneer99]

Greetings!

Time is a major setback for me. Whenever I have it for writing, something always interrupt the flow.

[rayrichardsauthor]

I get this. So much. When I get home, I just wanna watch my shows

[skidiggy]

Right now, I'd have to say "releasing the kraken." There's a big, horrible thing coming up in the story, and I'm fighting the urge to start it because I know it'll be difficult to get in the right headspace to inflict that kind of suffering on all involved. I keep thinking "we can push it off, it'll be good for XYZ," but that's just me avoiding conflict (narrative or otherwise).

[king-goldfish]

I have no trouble writing and finishing things, but I have a huge amount of trouble writing things other people actually want to read.

[jerico]

What do you mean by that? Like are you talking in terms of genre/tropes?

[SagaHolmgaard]

My day job is really holding me back from having the time and energy to work on my longer projects... Not just in the time it's taking up but I also always feel so rusty when I finally sit down to draw lol. Then it's hard to get into a good flow state and I just end up doodling.

[rayrichardsauthor]

Nope. More questioning what's keeping you from living your dreams. Like if your dream was to have a book published, what's stopping you from taking the steps to get a book published.

[jerico]

Oh, oops. Sorry, my reply/question was for @king-goldfish, but it didn't work

[king-goldfish]

Oh, whoops. Yes, I guess I mean in terms of genre/tropes. I mean whatever has made it difficult to find an audience lol. I think if I knew what the issue was, I wouldn't have it. The audience I do have is amazing, A+. But I struggle to attract new readers. Despite writing for many years and posting on a lot of different platforms, my writing has never drawn a lot of interest. Whether that's a fault of subpar self-promotion, subpar market knowledge, or subpar talent, I'm not sure.

@jerico Apparently hitting the reply button didn't work to make it a reply to you, either. So hoping this edit will do the trick

[ameliacovet30]

I want to say we're vibing but since it's kind of a depressing topic and all too real, I'll say... Go away

[Cass]

I'm afraid it won't be good enough. I'm also pretty busy most of the time to write it.

[toonben]

For me, it's anxiety. When I make my webcomic, I worry about the reception of my webcomic whether they like it or not and how many people read it. But I make and post my comic anyway to showcase my skills and as a form of communication.

Anxiety also holds me back from talking because I'm not the best with words.

[bolodibuja]

Right now, unfortunately it's only one word... Money!

[NickRowler]

I do get stuff out but I know I could be doing more. I think what's holding me back is that I'm just mentally broken. I am unwell in a way that I don't know if I will ever get better. I am surprised that I can get anything done tbh.

[EncryptedWriting]

School, money, talent, agencies, etc.

Ultimately with being in college and having an uncertainty about money, I can never feel confident about writing or art.

[Rai_Muffin]

Carpel tennel.

Literally drawing my last page of the current chapter and my body is turning against me.

[alontheus]

I feel your pain. I usually write in a hyperfocus state. So, when someone breaks my focus, it can be hard to get going again. Once I get going again, I have to read my work all over to recapture the mental state. How do you do it?

[alontheus]

@bolodibuja I think we all feel that one. Keeping rent paid and food on tables can be quite an obstacle to creativity...

[eldritchtroubadour]

Up until recently, fear of failure. It's still there, like when I got to the 13th most popular community novel last week, but have dropped back into the 125 position at the moment I'm writing this reply hahahahaha.

It feels disheartening to feel like you've failed like that. I know it's something that happens and I'm doing well on other platforms, but still, it stings quite a bit to have that happen.

But I keep going. Mostly to feel good about writing and all, but also in the hopes I can turn what I love doing into a source of income. You just gotta keep going one step at a time I guess hahahahahaha