writing enthusiastically then suddenly losing interest

Sunny_Arms

have any of you experienced this? writing and being so into the work you've done so far then losing interest because the rest of life needed you back?

i read somewhere that harper lee was gifted by her friends to write for a year to her hearts content. i hope that my good-hearted friends do the same to me. or at least my family.

km85264

Sunny Arms
Welcome to the same feeling that most writers have at some time in their lives and the majority of us fight it constantly. The passion that you have to express yourself in writing and the joy you feel when you’ve written something that you truly love does not translate into a continuous drive to spend every waking hour being creative, as you might expect it to.
I’ve read before about Harper Lee and her friends paying for her to take a year out; I really think that for the majority of us this would be a complete disaster. We would behave during our time off in exactly the way we behave normally. We spend our lives either doing things we have to do or things we like to do, and writing takes a back seat. At the end of that year we would have barely any more writing done and then we would have huge remorse at having wasted our one opportunity.
The best way forward is to establish a habit of writing something every day. Not a lot, maybe no more than a diary entry, or a couple of hundred words, but _every_ day. If you could write 250 words of a novel draft every day, you’d have 90,000 words done by the end of the year.
Pick up a pen now, and write something :-)
Best of luck
Kieran

ILoveYourVibes

I think there is a huge lack of incentive.

I mean most of us are not paid. There isn't a reward etc. Its something you do alone.

It doesn't give you anything. Except a story which for the most part you put away and forget about after its written.

km85264

I’m sorry that you feel like that, ILoveYourVibes. True, writing, fiction particularly, is less likely to provide you with a living than playing the lottery weekly, but that’s not what it is about for me. Writing is my passion, and the discipline of writing is my route to the joy of it. It’s like anything in life that has long term value: kids, your relationships, whatever, you have to put the work into it to truly appreciate the power of it.
Sorry if that all sounds a bit spiritual mumbo jumbo, but it’s what I feel, writing genuinely is it’s own reward, but only after you get over that hump of not being able to keep the daily habit going.

lambswool

I put time and money aside to write without working a few years ago.

Surprise surprise: it didn't work!

RichBradburn

It's a pretty common feeling, which is why finishing a book at all is such an achievement. Getting to the last page and that feeling as you type "The End" ? Priceless.

Sunny_Arms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117289371#Comment_117289371

I hope one day i'll arrive to that - we'll all arrive to "The End"

nigeldaniel

Writing can be a trying experience and then a very happy reward. Sometimes with a really good story, it can become almost an obsession to get it down in words and more times the idea is there but just won't come out to play! For me, I write for myself not to get published. I do not take to the idea to be a mega book seller at heart. I just find myself happy to get the words on paper and go over them a few times. someday when I am happy with my proof reading I might dare myself to self publish. If published, I will be content to see my book turn up in libraries and the like. How may I sell will not come into it.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058182307/writing-enthusiastically-then-suddenly-losing-interest

I have a consistent up and low cycle; especially If the idea is something I'm stoked about. So lots is written, then at the first speed-bump - be it plot, story or character based - my interest wanes then struggle to restore that energy. Especially if it's something tricky in a real "how do they get the door unlocked" kinda way.

Sunny_Arms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117723360#Comment_117723360

what do you about it? i mean, getting the interest back?

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117726658#Comment_117726658

Ha, well. If I knew a silver bullet for that, I'd be rich and famous now 🤣

If you have a particular story in mind you've struggled to return to? Perhaps you can come back through a different angle: say, if you were focused on Character X when you stopped - what's Character Y up to during this point; or was there a segue you liked worth expanding on? Even just reading over what you wrote start to finish, it might reveal some gaps you would like to plug.

It's next to impossible to bottle that energy you might have had when life intervened, so my reckoning is not to try. (Re)Start small. Don't force it, which is probably advice that's maddingly vague.

Sunny_Arms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117726905#Comment_117726905

thats interesting outlook! i'll definitely try that during the weekend. thanks!!

but what if I wrote it in first person? then I cant shift to another character right?

Anto17

This is a common feeling, which is often referred to as writer's block. In my opinion, it is best advised to sit for writing when your heart truly wants to rather than trying to forcefully pull out words within you. Focus on your niche of writing and write when you are truly attentive with no distractions nearby. Writing isn't as a simple task as it seems, which is why writers are given much prominence.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117731459#Comment_117731459

There are books which shift first person between characters. Ive not read many though.

Flinty997

I think some writers have a set time to write. In that they write on a fixed schedule. But always do it.

KieferFan69

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117289371#Comment_117289371

Hi I’m thinking of doing this myself in the coming year. I’ve saved a bit of money and am planning to stop working for 12 months. Would you care to post a little more on where you feel it slipped away from you?