Finding the motivation to write, when you love to write?

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kxmode
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29 Jul 2009, 10:56 pm

Does anyone have any advice, that has worked for you, on ways to motivate yourself to continue writing?


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29 Jul 2009, 11:55 pm

Not really. Just create a plot that you really want to write, and which you think people will read. Should be all the motivation you need to write, and when (rather than if) you need to rewrite.


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30 Jul 2009, 12:12 am

Stories just percolate until they're done, then seem to write themselves...;) Of course, I have to fill in the details...;)

I just take an idea (like...what if?), and let my mind play with it a while. What would happen, really? Eventually a plot works itself out, and I have to commit it to the web.



Ravenitrius
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30 Jul 2009, 12:19 am

Maybe. I tend to imagine the many plots/settings in my head and then just from scratch, write about it first as ideas, then modify most of them into what could make it into something interesting. Dreaming of a setting while writing...I actually forced motivate myself to get the flow going or my ideas will disappear.



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30 Jul 2009, 12:20 am

it's like exercise, a routine you have to adhere to.

as Ali G once said: "success is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration"


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30 Jul 2009, 12:41 am

computerlove wrote:
it's like exercise, a routine you have to adhere to.

as Ali G once said: "success is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration"

he took that quote from isaac Newton, who said genius is 99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration...


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30 Jul 2009, 12:53 am

hyder13 wrote:
computerlove wrote:
it's like exercise, a routine you have to adhere to.

as Ali G once said: "success is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration"

he took that quote from isaac Newton, who said genius is 99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration...

I was joking


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kxmode
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30 Jul 2009, 1:09 am

Thanks Quatermass, pakled, and Ravenitrius. It's not the material I want to write because I actually have that part done. What I'm struggling with is actually motivating myself to write. What do you use as a trigger to "make" yourself write. Is it music? Is it self-discipline? Is it a goal? What is it?

Thanks computerlove. :) In all seriousness what do you do to keep writing?


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Last edited by kxmode on 30 Jul 2009, 2:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

computerlove
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30 Jul 2009, 2:06 am

plain ol' discipline...
...and a daily fight with the inner demons that tell you to stay warm and cozy in your bed, dreaming of doing things instead of really doing them,
And of course the need for doing something (:

about advice in how to get inspiration: do it in a different place, for example avoid your bedroom or your house (where you have lots of distractors). Do other stuff, read other stuff, meet or know people not related to what you do.

Sometimes the daily job is a chore, so I find peace diving into some creative endeavors out of it, but I just realized a couple of weeks ago that my current bosses have really pushed me in all kind of new directions, doing stuff I never thought I'd be doing, and being congratulated! (: and it has helped me a lot in many many areas, both professional and personal (:

What do I to motivate myself? I think of the future, the $, the girls, the fame and fortune :lol:
trips around the world, things yet to learn, I think about living well, healthy, and of course the hot girls,
and that life's too short to do it all, so that's why there's even more hurry to do all that we want to do.


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mistercheech
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30 Jul 2009, 2:10 am

coffee



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30 Jul 2009, 5:53 am

computerlove wrote:
hyder13 wrote:
computerlove wrote:
it's like exercise, a routine you have to adhere to.

as Ali G once said: "success is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration"

he took that quote from isaac Newton, who said genius is 99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration...

I was joking


It wasn't Newton, it was Thomas Edison. Newton said 'If I had seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants'. And apparently that was a sardonic remark to short scientist Robert Hooke.

kxmode wrote:
Thanks Quatermass, pakled, and Ravenitrius. It's not the material I want to write because I actually have that part done. What I'm struggling with is actually motivating myself to write. What do you use as a trigger to "make" yourself write. Is it music? Is it self-discipline? Is it a goal? What is it?

Thanks computerlove. :) In all seriousness what do you do to keep writing?


Uh, the motivation to finish and perfect a fine piece of work, not to mention a possible (though not likely) fiscal windfall. But I do stim by using music. Lately, I use this music to remind myself of the adventurish nature of my novel:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auqpstPVdIA[/youtube]

Whether it will work for you is unknown, but finding music that fits the themes of your novel or fiction helps, to a degree, to help keep your mindset.


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pakled
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30 Jul 2009, 6:27 pm

Nothing succeeds like a deadline, or eager fans awaiting your next opus (well, I have yet to get #2). I've promised something to someone, just have to finish the story up.

As mentioned previously, don't force yourself to write. If it's not coming, put it aside, and try something else. Come back later, and see where it goes.



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31 Jul 2009, 11:44 pm

kxmode wrote:
Thanks Quatermass, pakled, and Ravenitrius. It's not the material I want to write because I actually have that part done. What I'm struggling with is actually motivating myself to write. What do you use as a trigger to "make" yourself write. Is it music? Is it self-discipline? Is it a goal? What is it?

Thanks computerlove. :) In all seriousness what do you do to keep writing?


I actually listen to music to keep me motivated to write. Afterwards, I look at writing each word like its a game in my head where it goes towards the goal. (playing mini-games in my head >.>)



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01 Aug 2009, 5:41 am

For me, it's just getting myself to sit down at my netbook in silence and start typing. If I can just write that first sentence or paragraph, the rest will flow and it's not long before I've got 1,000 words down. I think it's important to just keep some kind of progress going. even if it's just 500 words or something. As long as you can break that deadlock and keep breaking it, it gets easier and I find it is easier to motivate myself.

It's probably good, too, to avoid focusing too much on the end point. In other words, don't look at the fact you have another 70,000 words to go before you finish your first draft and then there's all the editing etc. Little steps, I think. I like to just focus on getting my daily word count down and experiencing the story in my head as I write it.

Maybe it's like all mind games, or something.



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01 Aug 2009, 6:12 am

I am not a professional writer so I have no illusions of money or fame or sexual power. If an idea grabs me and I am sucked in to working out details or an interesting character or new adventures in style I go ahead and give it a try. If I feel I have to write something just to crank out words - to hell with it. I've got other interests.



ZEGH8578
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02 Aug 2009, 9:04 am

kxmode wrote:
Does anyone have any advice, that has worked for you, on ways to motivate yourself to continue writing?


if i plan my plot too much, i lose motivation.

if i avoid planned plots, or even SCRAP a plot that i just got, i get motivation back :S

i write for loose ideas, keywords that i see a scenario evolving around.

if i plan a plot, it feels like "ive allready seen the movie", so it bores me to type it all down.


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