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Y’all…idk what to do…I want to write…I need to write…but at the same time I don’t have the motivation/starting it is just hard.
Some of it is…I hate doing things alone. I’m a social person, and that’s some of why I really enjoyed CWW so much and why I love the RPs and KP and everything, and so idk what to do really…idk if anyone else is struggling like I am, but…I really want to accomplish these goals I have for this month and just…really want my series to work.
I believe this is a God given dream, and a lot of people are like “Maybe you should step back from it” or “Just push through it!”
but y’all…that advice literally isn’t working for me…
and idk what to do.
I wish there was a more social way to write and idk what to do.
anyway I just…kinda needed to post this and see what everyone else is thinking and if anyone else is going thru this too?
#IfMarcelDiesIRiot
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@godlyfantasy12. I’ve been in that place many, many times…especially this past 1-2 years.
So first, I want you to know this, girl: You are not alone.
We all struggle with feeling unmotivated…I even hit the point once when I hated all of my writing…I hated all of my books…I hated everything about my writing. So rest assured that you are not alone. Some days recently I’ve still been unmotivated.
Second, don’t quit because someone tells you to. God is the only one who can tell you what to do or not do with your future. No person has that authority or that power.
And I understand how hard it can be when people tell you to just power through it. It’s not helpful, and in my own personal experience, it hurts when someone says that to me.
And there’s one thing I want to say first:
Pray. Pray. Pray! Pray for God to give you a motivation. I know you may feel like your writing struggles are small (I often think the same!!!) but whatever matters to us matters to God. It may seem like it’d be so small to him, but whatever you care about God cares about. Our problems seem so small when compared to God, and I think that makes us forget the fact that God cares about even the little things that we think he wouldn’t care about. But he does. Reach out to him. Let him know the aching in your heart. God’s not afraid of our pain and our sorrow and our disappointment and whatever else we may be facing. He’s not afraid of our brokenness…he embraces us, especially in our brokenness. 💜
Also, girl…I cannot stress this enough…please, please, PLEASE don’t push yourself so hard to write that you push yourself to writer burnout. I’ve been there way too many times to count. I pushed myself so hard, wanting to write, that I began hating all of my writing (as I talked about above).
Also, I understand the not wanting to write alone. My books have only come as far as they have because of sharing them here on KP and getting feedback and realizing how much all of y’all actually believe in me.
If you want, you can reach out to many of us on KP…maybe we can make a forum all for everyone writing new/old books. We can give feedback as we finish scenes/moments/chapters and just be there to keep each other going and to give everyone encouragement.
IDK, I’m just thinking out loud here. 😂😊
Girl, we love you, your characters, and your writing. You are such a blessing in this community, and your books and your characters are absolutely amazing.
Here’s also a few KP articles, and girl, anytime you want to talk, please, just reach out!
I love you and you are a very dear friend of mine! We’ll all make it through this together! 💜💜💜
Oh Idk what to say!
I’ll pray for you about that though!
I only started writing last summer, so I haven’t gotten burned for a extended period yet. That begin said, if I spend too long on one thing, I do get burned out. Recently I started a second wip with the decision I wasn’t going to share much of it, it’s the farthest I’ve gone into fantasy and much more dystopian than my current one I share here. For some reason I found that the decision I wasn’t going to share it made me just wright a lot more freely. Everyone’s different, I just don’t worry about what the prose sounds like and just write like whatever I want. It barely has a plot, it’s just really for me to enjoy. I felt a lot more refreshed to work on my main wip after that, idk.
I know different people work differently. For awhile, I was working harder because I was sharing chapters of my wip. I stopped because I realized the quality was degrading and I needed to take some time to think about the plot before i continued, but I could see that helping somebody else, we’re all different.
I’d recommend working on something in your story that is super underdeveloped, and just have fun with it. Let it go wild, let the pen run away, for some reason that always makes me feel refreshed to just write with no limits. Good luck!
"And so I left this world just as I had entered it. Confused."
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@godlyfantasy12. Here’s the articles. (just add the https:// because KP won’t let me post the full link!!! 🙃)
kingdompen.org/a-writers-guide-to-overcoming-loneliness/
kingdompen.org/3-reminders-for-the-weary-writer/
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And I second @mineralizedwritings on just writing something undeveloped from your story just for fun, or even something entirely different just for fun. That’s probably been the most helpful thing for me.
(It’s where all of my Marvel fanfics have come from!!! 😂😂😂)
@freedomwriter76 @mineralizedwritings thank y’all so much!!!! 😭 I’m so glad y’all like my writings and characters!! I will probably check out that loneliness article, and might make a forum like that too to not just share scenes but also any worldbuilding or character building we’ve done because that’s what I’m working on rn
#IfMarcelDiesIRiot
#ProtectMarcel
#ProtectSeb- Rank: Chosen One
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I’m in a dry spell rn regarding my writing. Lately I’ve been writing down each character in each of my WIP’s profiles (their fears, goals, desires, and weaknesses/flaws [1 main flaws each]). That helps me get perspective and know what can happen next I guess. I haven’t gotten any inspiration yet for continuing chapters but that at least let’s/helps me write something even if it’s just brainstorming. I recommend taking a couple days off. I watched a YouTube video once where the woman talked about how the advice: Write everyday, is really not good advice. It leads to burnout and hating your writing like @freedomwriter76 said. She (the YouTube woman) also talked about how taking 1 day off every week can help refresh your mind. But she stressed the fact that every writer is different and she knows some writers that can only write 3-4 times a week, while some can write everyday. I’m more towards 5-6 times a week (really depends on the week because if I get a ton of inspiration I can go a month while writing everyday). Anyway, I hope that helped at all. I also totally agree with @freedomwriter76 when she said to pray. That really helps any Christian writer I’ve talked to.
I have a couple of ideas that might help.
First I completely second what @sarafini said about writing every day but it definitely helps to just try to make a habit of writing (especially early on trying this go small, pick a time you generally have time and make that a writing time (ie an hour on Saturdays (and if you cant have a backup day like an hour on Monday)). This definitely helped me.
Second (and in specific response to your social problem) I would recommend finding someone in physical world (ie. your best friend or sibling) who enjoys reading (and preferably doesn’t mind editing). You can have this person help you with ideas and be a sort of consultant. Also allow this person to read your (maybe bad first) writing and help edit/critique it. Also if you pick the right person they can help encourage you and you can discuss your world with them. If this doesn’t make the most sense I am basically just promoting what some of you guys do on the forums but instead with like 1 person who you are friends with in physical world and like way more in depth (like make sure you trust them). I have found it is really useful because this person can help encourage you and can also help you with ideas when you are stuck. Also they can help keep you accountable to your writing goals.
Third, don’t be afraid of overhauls.
Ok so a bit about Kharva and me to make this make more sense.
Kharvia was once a very different book about a dystopian dieselpunk world. It still had some of the themes, there was still a bunch of multi faceted factions, and there was still a large war. But ultimately Kharvia changed a whole lot. Now it is more of a lunar powered fading-fantasy world with a completely different ability system, mostly different factions, different characters, and a different name. Along the way Kharvia changed. Even recently things change in drastic ways. Sometimes (such as my magic system) things took forever to get to a point I actually liked them and I have started and scrapped multiple drafts (and outlines of drafts). I will say that sometimes you have to not be afraid of big changes.Through darkness,
light shines brightest@godlyfantasy12 *big hug* Something that helped me was sprinting on CWW. Maybe we could start a sprinting forum on here. We wouldn’t have to keep track of how many words we write or anything like that but we could just say like, “I’m going to be writing such and such for thirty minutes. Anybody wanna join?” And then we can write together for that half an hour.
I don’t know if that would help motivate you or not but it would be kind of like a social writing time, I guess…
The others have given fantastic advice. Although I don’t struggle with loneliness too much (since I’m introverted), I do struggle with motivation and burn out. Sometimes I just sit down at my desk, close my eyes and ask God to give me something, some thought or image that will inspire me to write. He helps me so much, and I know He wants to help you!!!
“Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.”
He must increase, but I must decrease.
Thank you everybody! I really appreciate all of the love, support and tips ❤️🥰
#IfMarcelDiesIRiot
#ProtectMarcel
#ProtectSeb- Rank: Chosen One
- Total Posts: 8156
@godlyfantasy12. You’re very welcome. We’re all here for you! 💕💕💕💕
First of all, I second @otherworldlyhistorian ‘s suggestion to find another writer that you can write with in person. If you’re a social person, and RPs motivate you, having someone to bounce ideas off of might bridge that gap between your RPing and your actual story.
Second – people have told you ‘step back.’ I wouldn’t say you should step back, because if you do every time things get hard, you’ll never write. But I do think that you should ‘step back’ metaphorically, at times.
When I was twelve (four years ago), I had this great fantasy idea, that I desperately wanted to write. It was going to be my dream, my bestseller, my magnum opus. I wasn’t obsessed with it, but it was a big deal for me. Every time I thought about its characters, my mind grew a little sunnier. It almost became real.
But when I actually tried to write a scene, my mind went blank. Anything I could have written seemed dumb.
I had set a mental bar of excellence in my head. By making this my thing – by dreaming about the end result so much – I had unconsciously expected something along the lines of Tolkien or Lewis to suddenly come spouting out of my pen.
In fact, I could barely write anything at all.
I’m not saying that’s what’s exactly what’s happening with you – but it’s possible that, by dreaming about your story, you’ve inadvertently made it harder for yourself.
If that is what’s happening, stop, and remember that even though this story could change people, it’s still imaginary. It’s a bunch of ideas, not real people. It’s you, playing with the paper and pencil.
If that isn’t what’s happening, I hope I can help in some other way 😊
“Everything is a mountain”
Sorry for not answering sooner!
I also struggle with this…😅
Honestly, I’m not sure what to tell you right now other than:
#1. If God wants you to write it, you’ll write it. It may take longer than you want, but, if He’s on your side, than girl, it’s gonna get done.
#2. You could try writing a small amount of words each day just to get into the habit of it. It doesn’t even have to be scenes of your chapter, it could be an explaination of a character, worldbuilding tidbits, etc. I’m currently trying to do this, starting with 100 words a day.
#3. We love you and are praying for you! You’re not alone!
#4. I think your story is amazing and definitely worth writing, even if you don’t see that right now.
I’m tired and can’t think of anything else to tell you, but I hope you know that we’re cheering you on! ❤️❤️❤️
"...I did not say to the seed of Jacob, 'Seek Me in vain..."
(Part of) Isaiah 45:19I will say that in relation to what @whalekeeper said on getting overwhelmed it has been that in my experience plotting really helps. I personally (and I know you aren’t really that big for plotting) feel that it is really useful to have an idea as to what your book is going to be about. Now if you are slightly confused about what I mean (I mean your the author, of course, you know what it is about) what I mean by this is that since you are writing a series it can be helpful to know what the particular book in a series will cover (I feel that at least when I was starting Kharvia I had to figure out what the first book covered in the series (this was actually kind of difficult for me).
One suggestion (this helped me) is to write two sentences. Make the first explain what you see of the beginning and the second sentence where you see that book ending. I would advise making them be brief and not heavily detailed outside of what is necessary.
(I did this more broken into plotlines which I would say do if your book has distinct different plotlines (ie in Kharvia S1B1 there is one group of narrators in the Sazhin Islands and another in the main Karpenta state. The two are very much connected but have semi-separated plotlines in terms of major events (only a few characters are present in both plotlines).
Through darkness,
light shines brightest
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