It can be super difficult to find motivation when writing. When you are stuck searching for ideas or not being able to think of anything knew, it is better known as writer’s block.
What Is Writer’s Block?
Merriam Webster defines writer’s block as, “a psychological inhibition preventing a writer from proceeding with a piece”
I would have days where I could write and keep going for what feels like an eternity then it would be followed up by weeks of not being able to produce a single paragraph I was happy enough to keep. It took me a year and a half to write 20 pages.
I trashed all of it. I cringed at reading it, so I had to redo it. That is how I came up with the idea behind my first book, which took about another three years.
When I was dealing with insomnia, I felt that my best writing came at night. When I could not sleep, I would grab my laptop and write as much as possible. It was rare that I kept anything from those nights because I lot of it was incredibly errored and absolute gibberish.
I recently learned that is was normal for writers. When you are suffering from writer’s block, its easy to become unhappy and you are more likely to have depression or depressive symptoms.
How to End Writer’s Block
My solution to writer’s block is to keep writing, it will most likely not be what you want it to be, but it can be something you want to write eventually. Another solution that has worked for me is to become distracted with something else entirely until that idea pops into your head. What I did was focused on Dungeons and Dragons, I was a DM (dungeon master), what that role does is plan the game and pretty much makes sure things go smoothly.
I used it as an opportunity to grow my own version of the game with the science fiction world I had created. It let me think of new ideas, which were shattered by the players, which helped my ability to keep the story going.
That leads to motivation and finding what interests you enough to write about.
Doing What You Enjoy
I think the most important aspect to writing and finding motivation is to continue doing things that you love, even if that takes you away from writing. By finding a hobby or enjoying activities, I found it helpful to think of new ideas.
I also found that journaling was a good way to elaborate on ideas or new topics I could try to write about. I have been heavily motivated by television, movies, and video games because of the strong characters and storytelling within those mediums. I came up with my next project after I replayed one of my favorite video games, Assassin’s Creed.
I was working out and the idea popped into my head and I rushed upstairs to the small notebook I use for my writing and put the idea in there.
Final Advice
By trying new things or becoming more involved and distracted, those are the times I have found motivation. You can also have motivation from things that you have gone through and use the writing as a kind of therapy. I have done this too, I dealt with insomnia for about half a year and I felt the need to write it into my book. It helped me work through my own issues and be able to give myself the advice I needed to hear.
Finding and keeping motivation is hard as a writer, there is no schedule that will miraculously fix writer’s block. Writing takes time, energy, and most importantly patience. It is okay to write something and hate it the next day. Eventually you will find part of a short story or paragraph that you want to keep and develop into something more.
Believe in yourself and your writing.
Brendon Ellis 