#stimulating and a masterpiece of its genre obviously but when i do give something a chance i like to know i made the right choice

[leatherbookmark]

i decided to give a k-bl series a chance -- i'm not a fan of k-dramas, and most bls i've watched were "yeah, it's nice" at best, so this is Big -- and my loves -- reader -- what did i get in return? what did the show give me in return for my enormous leap of faith? can you guess? hm?? hm???

second-hand embarrassment through the roof STRAIGHT between the eyes

[local-thembo]

how do you get motivations to write? i want to write but i dont have motivation nor do i have ideas, prompts, to write...

Hi! This got away from me a little, but I’ve got a few pieces of advice! I’m very aware that most of them are easier said than done, but it’s still a starting point…

I’m going to start with ideas! You mentioned it yourself, prompts can really help you get started. There are some awesome lists out there, and there are entire blogs dedicated to them on tumblr. Really, you can probably just google “writing prompts” and be offered heaps of them. Now obviously, not all prompts are going to speak to you. That’s why I really like to get into specific categories depending on my mood!… Feel like writing some gut-wrenching angst? I go hunting for these sweet sweet angsty prompts. Wanna stay light-hearted and cute, I just gotta go through fluffy prompts and find one I like! You can easily just pick a prompt that sparks something in you and then work on it, but sometimes it’s also nice to challenge yourself and have another person involved in the process. That’s why we writers on tumblr love to reblog these lists and ask for prompts! So, you can do that if you’ve got a blog (and don’t worry if you don’t get any response; I get that it’s not a nice feeling, but it happens all the time, and it doesn’t mean you’re a bad writer); but you can also ask a friend! Send them the list, ask them to pick one! Or maybe just discuss the list with them to get these creative juices flowing! You can also totally ask them/a website for a random number, and then use the prompt that’s associated with it. You might find some really interesting stuff!

If you don’t quite know what genre you want to write, look for the things that excite you. Try and find what you love about other people’s stories, be they novels, fanfic, movies, podcasts, and go into that direction. There’s no sense in creating anything that doesn’t hype you up.

Kind of contradicting my above point here, but: come to terms with the fact that not all of writing is fun. I love writing so damn much, I’ll tell any stranger about it because it’s part of my soul, and yet… yet sometimes I’d rather eat my sock than write lmao. Sometimes it’s a pain in the ass. But everything worth making is. And in the end, we make stuff because the good parts outweigh the bad ones.

I’m a real hypocrite when it comes to this next one, but: if you want to publish your stuff (and by publish I mean even just posting on tumblr) and if you think it’s the audience part that holds you back, you might have to work on that. If you’re afraid of getting no reaction/negative reaction for your writing and it keeps you from writing, that’s not great. You might want to shut down that part for now, and learn to write only for yourself and potentially a few close friends. (Again, real hypocrite here, I very much want and expect validation when I write stuff… but I’ve heard that detaching yourself from that is good for the creative process lmao)

Here’s one last piece of advice regarding ideas, from someone who’s on their phone A LOT and can have trouble just existing without constant stimulation: don’t do that. Let yourself just be in the world sometimes, without the Internet, without music, just let your mind stretch out and wander a little bit. Let yourself be a little bored. You could do that by properly setting up a time to meditate; or you can simply decide not to give yourself extra distractions when you’re, say, brushing your teeth, when you’re in the shower, when you’re cooking, etc. Sometimes the ideas are JUST THERE, but we can’t quite reach them because we’re always clogging our minds with external stimulation. Let your mind breathe a bit. You might be surprised!

When it comes to motivation, the best hack I’ve got is this: remove the choice. Instead of asking yourself if you should write later today, just put it in your mind that you’re going to write, it’s going to happen. Pick a time if you can. Add it in your calendar if you use one. And when the time comes, sit down and don’t think about whether or not you want to do it, or should do it; just switch into writing gear and do your best. That whole attitude is super useful to make me go to lectures, and sometimes it works with writing too!

If you’re very easily distracted like me, sometimes taking away the distraction for a bit can really work wonders. If I’m trying to write and I blank for over ten seconds, I just grab my phone and then my focus is GONE. And I can do that for hours on end, and not write a single word. If this happens to you, identify the prime suspect (your phone, a certain website, etc), and block it. There’s tons of apps and extensions for that. It doesn’t have to be for hours, sometimes just ten, twenty minutes where you don’t have your usual distractions can go a long way! I often find that the hardest part is to start writing, and that can really help you on that plan! I use the Forest app on my phone to entice me to not use it for a few minutes, and I usually keep on writing looong after the app has finished its task.

Get someone to hold you accountable. Could be a friend, another writer, a website… Give yourself a goal (“write something before monday”, “finish and publish one prompt today”, “write x amount of words this week”, etc) and tell your buddy about it. Nothing bad happens if you don’t respect it, but sometimes all you need is just the right amount of external pressure…

Stop making writing so important in your head. I know that sounds counterproductive, but here’s the thing: it’s very easy to completely block ourselves from creating if we’re putting too much pressure on ourselves, or expecting everything to be a masterpiece and change the world. It won’t. It’s okay to reframe your expectations.

TL;DR: Remove distractions, use lists of prompts you can find online, and set goals without putting too much pressure on yourself!

I hope some of these help!! Don’t hesitate to come back for more advice, or to ask for clarification on any of my points! And good luck with your writing 💞💞