Jul
5th
2020
Update on Family · 9:38pm Jul 5th, 2020
Firstly, I haven't forgotten about Family, I have written and am editing the next chapter, but I'm finding it hard to keep going with this story right now.
I want to finish it, I have it planned out right to the end, but even with a pandemic keeping me indoors most of my time, I can't stir the motivation. I may need to break for a bit and try something else, write a shorter story or a different thing entirely. Anyone out there got any tips for when the motivation just doesn't strike?
My advice would be first write down what you have planned in a few different spots. Then go write something else to see if finishing it becomes easier.
It might not work for you, but when I need motivation to do something I usually need pressure of some kind, like a deadline or social pressure. If you promise someone (not us because that's a lot of people and it may be too much pressure), that you're gonna try to get a certain amount of work by a certain date, the pressure might motivate you.
That being said, you should be careful to avoid burning yourself out. Maybe try another smaller story if you got ideas, and maybe keep the Family story open, so that If you find motivation while writing the other story then you can just jot a bit down.
I may not have read family (but plan to at some point) but I do know if you lost your motivation for the story its perfectly fine to just put the story on shelf to finish/work on later, (or whatever fits you) I got few friends who are authors and they probably say same thing, take break, do what you like and maybe write a one-shot or work on another story that you have or want to get started, so with that ill end this here and wish you a good day/night and care
Nice new avatar
The worst thing you can do is try and force yourself to write. you just end up with something that's meh at best. Take a break, maybe try another project, and wait for the bug to bite again. I know I will often write 12,000 or so words, and then take a break of a week or so because I'm out of energy.
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Thanks, it's also by Wrangle Wolfe!
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That might work, I've got another Zootopia story that I've had on hold for a while but been wanting to go back to. Might be worth it to get the creative juices flowing again. Setting a deadline might also help, I always worked better to deadlines when I was at University, it helped me manage my time better.
I take 30 minute writing prompts. Even if I know the end result is going to be trash, now at least I have a base to build from. Plus, getting the mind planning out conflicts, resolutions, in-character speech, etc can actually shake the rust loose.