#ik this is a WIP but my motivation to work on it has hit an all time low so have this for now

[0rchidm4ntis]

🍎🪻

[writingquestionsanswered]

I'm not sure if this has been asked before, but what can you do to gain more motivation? ik this is common writer things, but how do you actually overcome that thick barrier between writing and thinking about what you're going to write—and subsequently never doing it?

Thinking About Writing but Never Doing It

If you typically hit a barrier between thinking about a story and actually writing it, before you can overcome that barrier, you have to figure out why it's there.

1 - Is this problem general or specific? My first question would be whether you experience this problem with every story, some stories, or just this story in particular. Because if you don't always have this problem, that tells us the problem is localized... it's either something to do with this particular story or something going on with you right now. If you have a lot going on right now, are distracted by other things, or aren't feeling well physically or emotionally, that could certainly create a barrier. You zoom in on the specific issue/s and see what, if anything, you can do about them. Or, wait for it to pass. If it seems to be something to do with this particular story, my post 5 Reasons You Lost Interest in Your WIP, Plus Fixes! can help. You can also look at Guide: How to Rekindle Your Motivation to Write, Getting Excited About Your Story Again, and Getting Unstuck: Motivation Beyond Mood Boards & Playlists.

2 - If the problem is general... if this happens to you with most or all stories, it's still worth considering the possibility that your motivation is hampered by how you're feeling physically or mentally. If you're in an era of life where you have a lot going on right now, say you're in college, your job is particularly hectic, or you've got small kids, you may just be physically and mentally exhausted. In that case, you can work on self-care and trying out different routines to see if you can improve your physical/mental well-being and perhaps find a writing time that makes the barrier come down or more easy to climb over.

If the problem doesn't seem to be with how you're feeling physically and/or mentally, I would suggest it could be an issue with having ideas for stories and a general desire to write, but not really knowing what to do with those ideas. In that case, spending some time consuming stories (reading, watching TV/movies, etc.) and paying attention to how the stories work can help you form a general foundation for understanding plot and story structure. You can also spend some time on my Plot & Story Structure master list of posts. Or, if the problem is that you have the desire to write, understand how stories work, but the barrier is a lack of ideas, my post Guide: Filling Your Creative Well has some suggestions to help with that. You can also have a look at my Motivation master list for additional help.

I hope something here helps to get you over your barrier! :)

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[kittytual]

🦋🌷🌤️🍧 meowwwww meow meoww meow

RUBS HANDS TOGETHER MEOWMEOEMOW

🦋: (butterfly emoji) FINALLY soemone asks abt my wip hiii <3 so im currently working on a few diff wips rn, the most notable is a fic ive been working on since march 2022 called lavender. and its abt like. the parallels between two chars, kurapika and neon from the hit shonen Hunter X Hunter. yeah! also theres a whole leopika side plot and neon dealing w comphet. idk i like when togashi draws paralells between two characters u wouldnt think to be alike in anyway, ESPECIALLY w villains or antagonists, so thats kinda the main part of the fic as well as kurapika trying to overthrow the nostrade foundation. it takes place post-yorknew during the greed island arc

some other stuff im working on is. yes, Another fic but this time its a pjsekai one, abt mafuyu realizing she's transmasc (uses she/he/they) and that being like. an act of rebellion against his mom in a way, like not catering to her idea of them and finding out and reclaiming her agency/identity. and mizuki helps him bc they're also trans (specifically transfem) but deals w their own issues as they havent rlly told the rest of niigo that yet. the last thing is a poem abt my issues <3 bc all my poems r abt that, usually mental health and transness, or both. it also has like. theatre/play motifs which is funny bc im not even a theatre kid but yk. anyway i'd like to write abt aromanticism or aplatonicism poem-wise someday as ive been thinking a lot abt that lately

🌷: (pink flower emoji) ig like the fact that ive written 40k words before. ik ppl have written WAY more than that but yk

🌤: (sun in front of cloud emoji) honestly A LOT like........ its rlly hard to do anything writing wise as i dont always have the energy or motivation. currently its hard to brainstorm wips and feel like im connected to them at all, but hey!! im trying :3

🍧: in my notebook in middle school GHJDSHGFDJGH i used to always get in trouble bc of it. i did this in early high school too until i made the switch to using my laptop

summertime writing asks!

[existentialburden]

11 13 16 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 29 30

11. How do you come up with your fic titles?

ngl it just sort of... happens? I’ll be writing and then I’ll go “oh FUCK I need a title” and 9 times outta 10 it ends up a joke. placeholder names tend to be whatever characters are involved or whatever ik will remind me of the fic, if it even gets a placeholder name. “Duktra”. “Enslog’ph”. “Fern bby are you okay”. “Aila come out of the closet you grimdark bastard”. all placeholders the moment they move to their own document. “Give Enny A Decent Dad 2019″ is not a placeholder. the only difference is I took the time to capitalize shit.

13. Do you outline your fics? How much of a headache would someone get if they just looked at an outline of yours without reading the fic?

sometimes yes sometimes no! mostly no. the Enslog’ph outline is. okay it doesn’t even focus on what the fic’s focusing on now but it’s at least coherent, even if it goes into two branching paths. another Enny fic I have going has a two-sentence outline that is. technically correct. nothing headache-inducing but very Vague and Frustrating to look at.

16. Do you research for your fics? If so, how deep of a rabbit hole have you gone down by accident when researching?

depends on if looking for my own character lore is research! if not, nothing really takes that much research. if yes... every time I go to find character lore I end up reading through hours’ worth of rps just to find How West Types or Enzo’s Height Compared To Ryze’s or.... yeah. I did that today. it was nice and also a fucking ride bcause I ended up reading the ENTIRETY of the rp channel for an au and then an hour of dms.

18. Do you have a WIP that you keep telling yourself you’ll eventually get back to, but deep down you know that’s probably a lie?

anything on my OG writing document. like... look. we all know I’m not finishing any of those Aila fics. I’m not gonna wrap em up concisely. I’m probably not gonna finish that superhero au fic where Nuad gets to see just how much Enny’s affected by her false memories. the impulse Wynn and Aila monster au fic is not getting finished. except. wait. fuck. now I want to work on that. GOD DAMN IT.

19. Do you edit your fics after you write them, or do you prefer to just hit post and run (because it’s someone else’s problem now)?

depends who I’m sharing them with! I don’t edit them before showing people in dms. I do edit them before putting them on here or ao3. the editing process is... minimal. I will say that. Ro helps though!

20. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

just getting that rush of an idea that I spit out most of in an afternoon, or not being able to go to sleep so I shrug and just let the midnight creativity carry me through another fic! the initial inspiration for an idea mostly. and also reading it back, sometimes.

21. What’s your least favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

when I inevitably get stuck and have to actually FIGURE OUT WHERE I WANT IT TO GO.... also trying to wrap it up into a neat conclusion. fuck that. this is a scene lifted from daily life out of a series of moments that never stop how tf am I supposed to give it an ENDING??? it leans into the rest. time doesn’t stop on  the hour every hour it flows into it! bluhhhh.

22. Do you take fic requests? If so, for what characters and why?

I used to do oneshot requests but uhhhh my motivation is inconsistent and it felt like promising something I couldn’t deliver ig? I’d take them again if anyone wanted specific fic about my ocs though! I just. I’m not invested enough in any canon stuff to write things people would request for. the stuff I AM invested in doesn’t have a huge following and I’m too close to it to feel anything but insecure about writing it! like... yeah I could feel comfortable writing some wild Homestuck shit if I were still invested in it. because Homestuck exists in the view of the masses and has for a while and there’s so many takes on the characters. but I don’t feel comfortable writing, say, Watt, because Netnavi RP is so much smaller and if I write stuff I’d be like... the ONLY PERSON. there are so few takes on character voices there. the large community versus small community terrifies me bcause if you write your take on a character in an ocean it’s like yep that’s just another stranger. if you write your take on a character in a kiddie pool everyone can see you doing it and there’s nothing to compare it to either way. the moment someone else writes something it will be immediately judged against yours. it just. terrifies me y’know?

tl;dr I would totally take fic requests if y’all wanted to request more of my OC bullshit and I’d write stuff for like... Animal Crossing. hand me those obscure villager favs like Hornsby or Antonio or Eloise. I’ll write about the Koopalings. shit I’d go back to Homestuck hell if you offered me a dollar (the others are free). fuck dude if you want my take on your OCs and give me an OC tag to scroll through I’ll do my best if you promise not to make fun of me for any misinterpretations.

23. What’s your absolute favorite trope to write?

hurt/comfort. or just comfort. I love me some cuddles and affirmations and overwhelming trust and care babey!

24. What’s a trope that you’d like to never hear about as long as you live, let alone write?

I hate miscommunication bcause I get HEAVY second-hand embarrassment and I’m prone to mishearing or misunderstanding things myself so it just... hurts to read. I’ll write it but hhhhhhhh y’feel?

25. Do you listen to music as you write? If possible, link your writing playlist.

sometimes! I used to do it more often. I don’t have a specific playlist but I did use this one for a long while, and you can get to my other ones from it! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2WdXLJmV6zOPRPx9lNRR1d?si=krNNeOWgTS666LJ8G_PoaQ

26. What’s your biggest distraction when writing?

messages or having to look for character lore. it just makes me wanna read old rps....

29. Have you ever written for an exchange or event of some kind? Which one(s)? Did you enjoy it?

nope! the thought is terrifying! I used to trade fic for Noodle’s writing but he stopped trading me back (I think he ran out of relevant fics he was comfy sharing. thas cool I just love feedback :3).

30. Post a snippet from your current WIP without context - no more than 300 words.

okay gonna mix it up and not have it be GodqWest or Enslog’ph this time uhhhh take this. lore-wise “Aila” is correct but it’s about Enny, trust me. superhero au gang rise up--

"Is there a problem?" The voice is muffled, but not muffled enough. Yüur. 

Aila shakes her head silently, not daring to open her eyes. She can feel herself tense up, her shoulders raising and her head ducking down to hide herself, knowing that everyone must be looking at her now.

"Aila's having an episode," a voice mumbles, and she freezes. Shut up. Shut up.

Everything's quiet for a few moments, and she holds her breath to keep it that way. Her heartbeat pulses through her ears, suddenly so obvious that she can't bear the sensation of it. It beats, beats again, and her head dips lower, ears touching her shoulder blades, pushing against her hair uncomfortably. Ticklish and trapped and disgustingly there. It's a lot, it's too much, she's going to scream--

There's a low hum from just behind her, and she gasps in a new breath of air.