#arien's aggressive writing advice

[hypnotisedfireflies]

How do you get fanfiction ideas? And do you have any advice to writers currently who may feel burnt out or have no inspiration?

Hi anon! Thanks for messaging.

I hope I can offer some helpful advice. Writing is such a different experience for everybody and what works for one person doesn't always work for someone else, so I can only really speak from my own experience.

I think burn out and lack of inspiration are very different. If you're burnt out no amount of inspiration is going to help. But I don't think burn out should necessarily be seen as an entirely bad thing. It's a chance to rest, maybe catch up on other hobbies, and to read. Especially if you want to get back into writing, then the best thing to do is read things you really like - fic, published works, whatever - but things that you enjoy and make you feel good. View burn out like a sprained ankle. You need rest, but you can do exercises to help come back to full strength.

I believe inspiration is not something that necessarily finds you, but you often have to go looking for it. Sometimes ideas just come and that's fantastic, but it's not always the case, and sometimes you gotta really work at figuring out what you want to write. I think the best ways to invoke inspiration are by:

Reading - especially the genres in which you want to write. Daydreaming - fuckloads, do it all the time, get drunk on it, dive headfirst into scenarios that seem fun and build around them. I wrote The Legend of Charro based on a daydream about a girl on a big horse shooting someone she loved to save him *shrug*. Getting into the habit of writing - set yourself a minimum target a day and then write that amount. 200 words, 500 words - whatever, but hit the target. It doesn't matter if you delete it all tomorrow. But getting into the discipline of putting words down (even if you don't know what you're really doing) is so good. It's amazing what you'll come up with. Sometimes it'll be garbage and other times, you'll inspire yourself. Don't compare yourself to the output or content of others. Your voice is yours alone, nobody can write like YOU because nobody else on the planet has your individual, special experiences.

Also ... writing is not always fun. There are times when I am not enjoying myself but I know I need to write this part to get to the good bits. And the things is, I don't remember which parts I slogged through when I re-read later. I know a lot of people say it should always be fun and just stop if it's not, and that's okay too, but sometimes if you want to write a story you've just got to bulldoze your way in and make that story your bitch.

So I guess, in a nutshell, my advice is: "Put ice on that ankle and then take a single idea by the throat and shake it until the coins bounce out."

I hope this is somewhat helpful, anon. Like I said it's not one size fits all, but I think if you get into the habit of a healthy writing routine that suits your lifestyle, the inspiration will begin to flow.