Hello fellow Nexus members. It's just DancesWithBaglez here asking for a bit of help. I'm not going to give you a life story here, but this may get a little long.

A while back, I decided to give up on pony fics and fics in general. I lost all interest in writing anything. For more of a reference, you can read the post I made months back here. (It was a bit of a vent as well as a goodbye)

Long story short: I want to write fanfiction again.

Hypocrite, some may call me. Perhaps that IS what I am for wanting to write horse words again, but that's not the point of this. What I'm asking you all is in regards to me writing again: how do I get back into the swing of things?

I'm at a point where I want to write, but I'm not sure what to write or how to write it. Currently, I have a Skyrim fic which has been on a two year hiatus and a comedy fic which remains unfinished. As a completionist/perfectionist, this bothers me a LOT. Don't gt me wrong, I want to continue them, but I don't know how.

Some of my lack of motivation to work on fics or write more stems from my own mind. After I wrote Of War and Ponies, fics became less of a hobby and more of a chore. Every single detail I wrote I went over time and time again, trying to perfect it to a point where I would finally taste the sweet satisfaction of the featured box. Ever since I joined this site, that was what I wanted to do: hit the box, be known all that jazz. From The Dead Trot until Of War and Ponies, I always told myself I'd get there next time, or that maybe my luck was off that day. After that, it became me telling myself that what I wrote wasn't good enough, that I had made too many mistakes, or that I simply wasn't worthy of the box. This still continues to the present; I look in the box, see stuff that I think I could do better at or perhaps something I could out-write, but tell myself that I'm not able to since I couldn't before.

This is a mindset and a habit I'd like to go away - or at least lessen to a point where I can get something done.

How does this involve the Nexus? What I'm asking is how to I get back into fic writing? How do I find enjoyment again? How do I stop being critical of my writing to a point where I can't write anything? Any advice is appreciated.

Keep in mind, this is not a vent. This is simply asking for advice and possibly some support. Thank you.

-DWB

4515794 I went on a hiatus for a few months before, since it did become a chore for me too.

What did I do?

I fucking wrote. I didn't want too, but I did. I blasted shitty pop music in my headphones and fucking wrote whatever pleased me, even if I didn't want to write. Then, I got a proofreader, submitted it, and never gave a shit about what happened to it. Next day, played the same songs, wrote whatever I wanted, and it was the best story idea I've ever had to date.

4515794 I agree with the idea of just writing. I, too, am coming off a hiatus of all my creative outlets. The only thing I found to really bring me back was to throw myself in. In the past hour or so I just dove into a chapter that I never started because I feared it would be way to large to complete. Now, 580 words later, I'm feeling like I used to. Where I have the potencial to explore the stories that float around in my own head.

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Does forcing yourself to write take away from the quality of the work, though? That's what I've always assumed.

4515794
Getting started back onto writing after you've been off can be tough, but I think the hardest thing is going to be for you to re-discover your enjoyment of it. Once you've done that, I don't think you'll have a problem doing whatever else you desire.

Now I'm not going to directly disagree with Fabulous and sparky, because I sometimes have to force myself to write when even when I don't feel like it's flowing very well just to make progress, but I am going to give a slightly different piece of advice where your problem is concerned.

I lost my spark a few years ago, especially when it came to writing in the fandom, and I had to take a slightly different approach. I wanted to keep writing because I absolutely love creating these worlds out of words: I love weaving a scene together in a way that makes you see it, hear it, taste it, touch it, feel it. I love telling the stories that come to me, begging to be told, and that's what kept me going -- a deep love of this craft that we ALL love.

I would suggest that you start something new. Being a completionist is just fine, but for the moment I would find something new and exciting to work on, something that you are straight up EXCITED to write and not something that makes you think "Oh good god here we go with this thing again." I worked on one of my stories for over two years, slowly plodding away at getting it done, but in the meantime I started four or five other stories and worked on various other things when I really didn't feel like writing on my long project. It sounds counterproductive, but keeping that distinction between "chore" and "thing you love" is exceedingly important and bouncing helped me do just that.

Write something silly, something serious, something exciting, ANYTHING, especially if it's a direct contrast to what you've currently been writing. Flexing other writing muscles will help you get back into the swing of writing regularly, and writing something that's new and exciting will help re-kindle the lost flame of your writing passion. Then you can go back to your unfinished projects with renewed faith and zeal.

Don't know if that'll be of any help, but I hope it does. I've been where you are before, and this is how I got out. You can do it! :D

4515794 I find myself looking to Dan Harmon more and more these days in matters such as this. The creator of 'Community' was once asked how to get over writer's block. He replied that the easiest thing to do is just to write something incredibly stupid and below you.

Why am I offering this advice? Because I did it. I was stuck in the middle of two stories for months. After hearing Harmon's advice, I wrote 'Tylenol With Codeine,' my first attempt at absurdist comedy. It failed miserably, but it really got the cylinders firing in my head again.

In short, and I know how this sounds, you just have to write. Get back on that horse.

Er... pony.

4517407 I've actually researched it, and some of the best writing out there comes from just not focusing on editing ot anything; just sitting down and writing.

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Made it official.

Thanks to you all for your support.