Does anyone else experience this frustration?

[Jemeralddragoon]

Do you think the plot could be part of the problem? For me personally whenever I feel unmotivated and “blocked” it always comes down to some issue with the plot I can’t get past. And sometimes I don’t even realize it until I approach the scene or plot point from a completely different angle. Maybe discussing the story with a writing friend and going over what works/doesn’t might help?

Unfortunately I do not have any writing friends. I only have artist friends and they would be very uncomfortable reading these types of stories (I come from a very Conservative area).

 

[Jemeralddragoon]

It ebbs and flows. I've written stories like Pirate's Paradox in a day.(~14K words) Others have taken a year to get to the point I feel comfortable enough to publish them. My muse is a fickle bitch, I guess.

The one thing I do that helps most I picked up from a Master Class by Dan Brown; I write something every day. Be it a few hundred words or 14K, I take time to write. I mean @SimonDoom called out Hemingway. From what I understand Hemingway only wrote 500 words a day and look at what he did. And, like Brown, he wrote every day.

PS. I do recommend Master Class. There are some amazing online seminars by some wonderful writers. It has helped me a ton.

I wrote all of the stories I currently have posted years ago. I slowly refined them over time before I felt comfortable enough to post them. Even the one I'm struggling with now I wrote like 3 years ago but then abandoned it because I just didn't feel like writing. But now I have posted stuff and now I HAVE to finish this otherwise I'll be even more disappointed in myself.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I do that sometimes, perhaps I need to do it here. Thank you!

You can also type the notes at the top of a file. Add bits of dialogue that occur to you. It doesn't have to be in perfect chronological order, but you'll see if it is making sense. You'll also know, one hopes, where you're going with it. Then start writing the story further done in the same file.

 

[SimonDoom]

If you have difficulty writing, you are in good company.

Flannery O'Connor: "“Writing is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay.”

Dorothy Parker: "I hate writing. I love having written."

Kurt Vonnegut: "When I write, I feel like an armless, legless man with a crayon in his mouth.”

James Joyce: “Writing in English is the most ingenious torture ever devised for sins committed in previous lives.”

Walker Percy: "Writing for a living is, for some reason or other, the only occupation to which people still ascribe a species of demonism."

 

[gunhilltrain]

The plot is part of the problem. The story was planned out a certain way, but when I got to the most important scene in the first chapter, I found that I had 2 characters to choose from to participate and the story worked great no matter who I chose. So I went with the new choice instead of the original planned choice because it made the story feel much more organic and realistic, but now I have to write around that change when I had already wrote about 13 pages that followed the original plan. I put myself in this situation and now I have to deal with it.

This is a little more difficult to deal with. How many chapters did you say you planned? Or how many words have you written so far?

If you really feel that the new course is best, then you might have to scrap those thirteen pages. Yeah, it does happen to all of us. We have stories that are never finished, for example. In my case they just weren't worth it. Or I've had stories that seemed pretty bad after a year or two, so I rewrote them and replaced them. I am on three sites, so I have some wiggle room to redo things if I wish.

Sometimes a stand-alone story with only 6,000 words or so is easier to handle than a multi-chapter serial.

 

[gunhilltrain]

If you have difficulty writing, you are in good company.

Flannery O'Connor: "“Writing is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay.”

Dorothy Parker: "I hate writing. I love having written."

Kurt Vonnegut: "When I write, I feel like an armless, legless man with a crayon in his mouth.”

James Joyce: “Writing in English is the most ingenious torture ever devised for sins committed in previous lives.”

Walker Percy: "Writing for a living is, for some reason or other, the only occupation to which people still ascribe a species of demonism."

I think Dorothy Parker also claimed to perfect each sentence before moving on and writing the next one. Maybe she was being tongue-in-cheek, or maybe she was outright lying. It's all moot now in any case.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I often have this same issue. I usually get interrupted while working, or a new idea blossoms and I have to follow that one. I have dozens of stories in my Need To Finish folder.

 

[NuclearFairy]

This is really good advice, thank you so much. Maybe I am just really stressed out and need to relax a bit.

You're welcome, I hope it helps.

 

[RejectReality]

The issue is that's all I've been doing FOR MONTHS. All I do is play video games and watch tv and do housework outside of my actual job. Every time I think it's time to sit down and write something, I just stare at a blank page for hours. Months on end!

Join the club! LOL I haven't finished anything since the story in my sig came out. Prior to that I think it was around the turn of the year. Months of nothing is my norm nowadays.

For me at least, beating your head against the wall is counterproductive. All you do is drive your motivation even lower because you're upset you're unmotivated.

 

[NaughteeDragon]

First is to figure out why you are writing. If you're writing to get better or writing for a living (or hopes of making a living someday) you need to write everyday, at least a little. If you're writing because it's your hobby and you occasionally enjoy it, let it rest and do it occasionally. If you're writing for the dopamine rush of seeing people read your stories, then you have to write or find another way to get that kick.

I used to write a lot, then my wife found out what I was writing and told me I was wasting my time and that I should try to focus on something that could help me build a career and be the writer I wanted to be. It literally killed my muse. I didn't write anything for years. When I came back to writing I struggled. This was made manifestly worse because my ADHD spiraled out of control during lockdown.
Every so often I would pick up the figurative pen and do something, usually gaming related: character back stories, narrative tellings of game sessions, world building, NPC development, etc... About 3 months ago I found a piece that inspired me like I haven't been inspired in YEARS. I've written 110k words in 2 1/2 months. I have a full time job.

But what does all of this mean to you?
Back away from it if you need to. Read more, find something something that inspires you to write; even if that inspiration is "this thing is popular? that author is a hack. I can write better than that." (That was why I started writing.)
If you feel like you've lost your muse because of your mother's passing, write something therapeutic. Write something just for her, with no intention of sharing it with anyone else.
Write a story about talking to your muse. Manifest them, give them a description and personality, give them motivation to talk to you. Why did they choose you? What story are they waiting for you to tell? Express your anger about them abandoning you, and let them answer you or even argue with you.
Read what other authors say about writing: Stephen King on Writing, Heinlein's The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, David Eddings The Rivan Codex. Brandon Sanderson has an 11 part lecture series on YouTube. Neil Gaiman has talked about writing in any number of places. Somewhere in there you may find what you need.

Hope this helps. Having lost my way, I feel that frustration. There is no better feeling than finding your way back.

 

[StillStunned]

The issue is that's all I've been doing FOR MONTHS. All I do is play video games and watch tv and do housework outside of my actual job. Every time I think it's time to sit down and write something, I just stare at a blank page for hours. Months on end!

You might benefit from the some of the Writing Exercise threads we've had here recently. Essentially a prompt, to write a few hundred words with no expectation of it being the start, middle or end of a story. They can be useful as a tool to get back into the habit of writing.

Here are a few of the threads:
Show us your style
Write a kink you don't have
In the dungeon
Fairy tales
There's a demon under my bed!

 

[Nynah]

I have almost no drive to actually write. It sucks because I've garnered a wonderful amount of followers in such a small amount of time with very few stories. Those same stories have gotten amazing reception and I feel really happy about my writing. Yet, I struggle to actually work on the stories I need to finish. What really sucks is that I know exactly how I want these stories to go, but when it comes time to sit down and actually write, I either don't want to do it or I get so caught up in the minutiae because I feel the story isn't following an organic path and I just get so damn frustrated. Not at writing, just at myself. Does anyone else get where I'm coming from?

As it turns out, it's very difficult to control your brain when you're trying to write. As you've intimated, you could have this whole plan ready but when it comes down to it, your brain just refuses to think and let you get your ideas written down and it's the most frustrating thing. I run into this quite often and I often get angry at myself for not being able to just... do it.

That said, I would like to expound on what NuclearFairy said. When I've been able to wrangle my muse long enough to let myself write, I found that it's because I set myself up for success by eliminating distractions and controlling what my brain can focus on. I close all social media and other websites and only have my document editing software up on my screen. It's not always perfect and I find myself slipping sometimes, but the key is to not get mad at yourself and just keep trying.

I use Notion to help me keep track of my story ideas. Might be helpful to just jot some ideas down there or even just in Notepad to at least record them and give your brain something to draw from whenever you do find a time conducive to writing. You said you know exactly how you want your stories to go, so try just writing down the broad strokes of it to serve as a roadmap that you can physically see and perhaps it will help you refine the minutiae that's tripping you up or help you refocus your path to where you want the plot to go.

Another thing I've found that helps me is having a soundtrack to write to. I assess the vibes of whatever it is I'm writing and create a playlist based on that. Being that what I write here is smut, the playlists for my work on Lit tend to be dark and grungy, with a lot of deep synth and heavy beats. But your brain might like something else that will help your work click, so I would suggest giving it a try.

My most sincere condolences as your mother's passing; I hope you're able to take the time to heal. And I hope that eventually you will be able to find your muse again and continue to write.

 

[Jemeralddragoon]

I think Dorothy Parker also claimed to perfect each sentence before moving on and writing the next one. Maybe she was being tongue-in-cheek, or maybe she was outright lying. It's all moot now in any case.

I often sit on one sentence until it's perfect. It's maddening but I can't move on until it's done.

 

[happyyy_]

If you really feel that the new course is best, then you might have to scrap those thirteen pages. Yeah, it does happen to all of us. We have stories that are never finished, for example. In my case they just weren't worth it. Or I've had stories that seemed pretty bad after a year or two, so I rewrote them and replaced them. I am on three sites, so I have some wiggle room to redo things if I wish.

To add to this- I have written well over 100k+ words on projects that I have scrapped or put aside, so don't feel bad about 13 pages! I struggle the most when I start writing, and suddenly the plot I planned and the scene I'm writing are two totally different things that don't align. I try to force the scene back into place. Sometimes the scene cooperates and I can get back on track. Other times it doesn't. I go back and edit and try to rework it. I spend hours and days fixing and tweaking and rewriting. But sometimes I have to accept you cant make it work, and something has to change. Sometimes the plot needs to be reworked. Sometimes the scene needs to be completely re hauled.

I have scrapped tons of dialogue, descriptions and scenes between characters I loved because they simply were not working. You can always save those pieces in another folder to maybe revisit another time. Once you have more writing experience, plotting becomes more realistic (you'll have a better feel for what will actually work before you start writing). Your plot and written scenes will more closely align and these "humps" will be easier and easier to cross.

Sometimes starting a new project with a very simple short plot is a good way to tackle these kinds of problems, and then you can come back to the old story with fresh eyes and better tools. Or maybe having someone to bounce ideas off of could help.

 

[Jemeralddragoon]

This is a little more difficult to deal with. How many chapters did you say you planned? Or how many words have you written so far?

If you really feel that the new course is best, then you might have to scrap those thirteen pages. Yeah, it does happen to all of us. We have stories that are never finished, for example. In my case they just weren't worth it. Or I've had stories that seemed pretty bad after a year or two, so I rewrote them and replaced them. I am on three sites, so I have some wiggle room to redo things if I wish.

Sometimes a stand-alone story with only 6,000 words or so is easier to handle than a multi-chapter serial.

Originally I had 3 chapters planned out. Chapter 1 is done and out. Chapter 2 is the one I have to completely rework and Chapter 3 should still follow the original plan. There might be a fourth chapter but it all depends on how Chapter 3 works out once (if) I ever get to it.

 

[Jemeralddragoon]

As it turns out, it's very difficult to control your brain when you're trying to write. As you've intimated, you could have this whole plan ready but when it comes down to it, your brain just refuses to think and let you get your ideas written down and it's the most frustrating thing. I run into this quite often and I often get angry at myself for not being able to just... do it.

That said, I would like to expound on what NuclearFairy said. When I've been able to wrangle my muse long enough to let myself write, I found that it's because I set myself up for success by eliminating distractions and controlling what my brain can focus on. I close all social media and other websites and only have my document editing software up on my screen. It's not always perfect and I find myself slipping sometimes, but the key is to not get mad at yourself and just keep trying.

I use Notion to help me keep track of my story ideas. Might be helpful to just jot some ideas down there or even just in Notepad to at least record them and give your brain something to draw from whenever you do find a time conducive to writing. You said you know exactly how you want your stories to go, so try just writing down the broad strokes of it to serve as a roadmap that you can physically see and perhaps it will help you refine the minutiae that's tripping you up or help you refocus your path to where you want the plot to go.

Another thing I've found that helps me is having a soundtrack to write to. I assess the vibes of whatever it is I'm writing and create a playlist based on that. Being that what I write here is smut, the playlists for my work on Lit tend to be dark and grungy, with a lot of deep synth and heavy beats. But your brain might like something else that will help your work click, so I would suggest giving it a try.

My most sincere condolences as your mother's passing; I hope you're able to take the time to heal. And I hope that eventually you will be able to find your muse again and continue to write.

When I was a teenager, music helped me belt out writing. I wrote an entire 150-page novel in high school and an unfinished sequel novel that was only half done and twice the length of the original. I really do need to just make a new playlist and start vibing. Thank you for your condolences. I lost my mom during my final year of high school and that's when I lost all my passion for writing. I came back to college after dropping out and have been taking nothing but English classes to get back into writing. It's still hard to find the desire to write (outside of imagining the stories I could write) but it has helped me to improve my writing. Heck, I wrote an entire One-Act play AND had it performed/performed in it at my college!

 

[Jemeralddragoon]

To add to this- I have written well over 100k+ words on projects that I have scrapped or put aside, so don't feel bad about 13 pages! I struggle the most when I start writing, and suddenly the plot I planned and the scene I'm writing are two totally different things that don't align. I try to force the scene back into place. Sometimes the scene cooperates and I can get back on track. Other times it doesn't. I go back and edit and try to rework it. I spend hours and days fixing and tweaking and rewriting. But sometimes I have to accept you cant make it work, and something has to change. Sometimes the plot needs to be reworked. Sometimes the scene needs to be completely re hauled.

I have scrapped tons of dialogue, descriptions and scenes between characters I loved because they simply were not working. You can always save those pieces in another folder to maybe revisit another time. Once you have more writing experience, plotting becomes more realistic (you'll have a better feel for what will actually work before you start writing). Your plot and written scenes will more closely align and these "humps" will be easier and easier to cross.

Sometimes starting a new project with a very simple short plot is a good way to tackle these kinds of problems, and then you can come back to the old story with fresh eyes and better tools. Or maybe having someone to bounce ideas off of could help.

That's exactly what I did! When I was writing the first chapter, I wrote the final scene with the character I thought was appropriate, then I felt a scratching in my brain that told me to rewrite the scene with a different character. So I saved the old one and completely rewrote it with the other character and found that the new version was substantially better, but I felt weird for not following my original design. So, I kept both versions and battled with myself for months over which one I should go with, all the while I worked on the second chapter and wrote two separate intros with both characters just to be ready for when I made the final decision. The real issue is I'm stuck on some dialogue at the moment that no matter how I go about it, it doesn't feel... real, ya know what I mean? Like it feels more like placeholder dialogue than a real conversation.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I often sit on one sentence until it's perfect. It's maddening but I can't move on until it's done.

You can leave a blank "space" if you can't get a particular scene done. Just go around it, and get back to it later. I have sometimes written the middle of the story first because that was the best thought out. Different techniques work sometimes.

 

[gunhilltrain]

You might benefit from the some of the Writing Exercise threads we've had here recently. Essentially a prompt, to write a few hundred words with no expectation of it being the start, middle or end of a story. They can be useful as a tool to get back into the habit of writing.

Here are a few of the threads:
Show us your style
Write a kink you don't have
In the dungeon
Fairy tales
There's a demon under my bed!

One of those worked well for me - the one with Ellie spying on her neighbors and then a guy grabs her from behind. It took a few weeks to write, but Ellie became Ellen Resnick, an adjunct professor of English at Hofstra University, Long Island and the guy was Josh Marcus, the nineteen-year-old son of the two neighbors. It turned out that their kinks aligned with each other quite well. Ellen narrated the whole thing, and she could be rather amusing at times.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I put TBD in those as place holders.

You can leave a blank "space" if you can't get a particular scene done. Just go around it, and get back to it later. I have sometimes written the middle of the story first because that was the best thought out. Different techniques work sometimes.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I put TBD in those as place holders.

Sure, whatever works. Sometimes I have a line or two describing what will go in there.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I often have this same issue. I usually get interrupted while working, or a new idea blossoms and I have to follow that one. I have dozens of stories in my Need To Finish folder.

You mentioned this once before. I guess the best way to deal with it is jot down the new ideas so you don't forget them, then get back to them later. Each "idea" file can be used for the story itself later.

If you have dozens of unfinished stories - I'm not sure how you wish to pick one to work on. Do it randomly, perhaps? Or find the one that's most intriguing? It would take me months, maybe years to finish that many stories but, hey, it's not like I have much else to occupy my time.

 

[RetroFan]

I'm struggling with writer's block at the moment, despite all these great story ideas that live in my head.

Being busy at work hasn't helped, but I think part of the problem is that early in 2024 I wrote and published three long stories that I had long wanted to write - an IT story narrated by an uninvolved third party, a story set on the Titanic and another about Bigfoot - that I sort of run out of steam in the second half of the year, and only managed to complete and post one story about a fictional English tennis brat and her pushy mother.

Hopefully I can improve my output in 2025.

 

[MrHereWriting]

The issue is that's all I've been doing FOR MONTHS. All I do is play video games and watch tv and do housework outside of my actual job. Every time I think it's time to sit down and write something, I just stare at a blank page for hours. Months on end!

Then stop writing.

 

[RejectReality]

Believe me, I know how it feels.

https://www.literotica.com/series/se/15830

Danica and the sequel linked here, "Sisters of the Mists" were originally written for the love of my life, catering to her kinks and fantasies, and the main character of Danica has a lot of her characteristics. She passed away on the day Ch. 12 went live here. It took me 4 months to post an already completed and edited chapter after that. Then it took me 3 years to release 14-18. Another 6 months to publish 18. Six years to put out 19. Four more months to release 20. That was May of 2018. I haven't been able to finish 21 in the six years since.

This is the central, "present day" story connected to almost all of my stories in that pen name. Having it languish unfinished bothers me almost each and every day. Bringing her to life on the page is a bittersweet struggle. Every so often, I find myself in the right emotional state and finish a few more paragraphs. Most of the time, I end up reading through what I've written, and then find myself unable to continue. It's the reason I have a rule now that not one word of anything else will ever be posted until I've penned the last word of the story.

That's the extreme, but it's likely got a lot to do with why I struggle to find motivation and muse on everything else I write as well. It took me 5 years to finish the last story I posted as Dark - "One Whore's Town" and that is about as divorced from the central Danica story as anything. Only 1 character who is a minor character in Danica or SOTM appears in the story, and that only as a cameo at the end. I've been fighting the next installment of my Magic of the Wood series as Les for years now. I started working on it shortly after the most recent story in the series came out in 2015. Going on a decade now.

When your life gets turned upside down, things aren't going to be the same. You have to learn to accept that and work within your new reality. Even something you love can be difficult.