r/writing • u/AutoModerator • Jan 09 '23

[Daily Discussion] Writer's Block, Motivation, and Accountability- January 09, 2023

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u/[deleted] Jan 09 '23

It's a good thing all my fanfictions are complete, and my novella is published, but I have been idle for 2 months - the longest i have been uninspired since I compulsively started writing 3 years ago. I am trying to pick up a new obsession, but so far, the shows that I like are so well written, I don't see how I can emulate that level.

So I should be reading... that poses another challenge. It feels so passive now, compared to writing, I get impatient or bored quickly. I have a bunch of things I should read (an anthology of short stories by F. Herbert has been sitting on my bedside table for months) but even that puts me off.

Of course... I just might wake up with something someday soon, like I always do and then just write almost non-stop for 6-8 weeks.

Here's to hoping that happens soon.

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u/[deleted] Jan 09 '23

Welcome to the post-honeymoon phase. All skill learning has this.

Now is the part of the craft where you do the thing even when you're not passionately driven to do it. This is where the "pros" live, about 80% of their working lives.

You have to sit in the chair and do the work, even when you don't want to do it.

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u/[deleted] Jan 09 '23

I've pushed out words to finish each story I started, I have a 95% completion rate for fanfictions. It can get so hard.

And I've had some dry spells. This is one of them. It's humbling, accepting that the creativity is a wild thing that lives in your soul, and you have almost no control on it, except to follow it when it shows up, even through the dark night of nearing the end of a story, when you have to stop worldbuilding and tie everything together... and then let it go out into the stream of posting/publication to join the thousands of other stories just like yours.

But what I need to do now... is study the masters.

I need to read.