[quote="TheBlackCatCrossing"]
I wanted to ask the other Fanfic authors/writers:
How do you get motivated to write? Do you have a weekly routine or do you write on a whim? [/quote]
Just if I have an idea that I want to actually make happen. Also like; part of the reason I stopped for a while is because I honestly just wasn't very good haha. I was inspired to write by some of the talented authors on here but I was and still am pretty bad at it. Thing is, with how much truly bad fan fiction is out there now, I've started to realise that if you can even spell, use punctuation and structure it so its readable, you're already doing a lot better than a lot of others. I stopped judging myself so harshly. And at the end of the day, I usually just do it because I am bored. Everything I have written collectively has only been seen by maybe a few hundred people at best, which in the grand scheme of things is a tiny amount of people so I stopped being so negative and just put stuff out there, if it sticks great and if not at least I killed a few hours I'd have probably spent playing videogames or something instead.
[quote]I used to be more active here years ago. I had TLK bug really bad. Then, this annoying thing called Real Life caught up so my fandom activities were impacted greatly. It was really bad when I was interning and then I would get an email alert of someone reviewing or favoriting my fics. I missed it.
[/quote]
Its a hobby. Not a way of life. I'd be lying if I said that seeing a lot of people read, retweet and saying nice things about something I wrote didn't push me to want to carry on but again - its when I am in the mood for writing, not when people want me to.
[quote]When I was at university, I was able to plan my writing. I would plan it out by weeks. If I couldn't do it a certain weekend, I would see if I could do it the following weekend. This allowed for me to brainstorm ideas. By the time I was able to sit down, I was able to write 2K+ words.
I cannot do that anymore. [/quote]
So... Don't. If you wanted to write 2K words, maybe do just 100 for now and you'll have that 2000 in just 20 days. I've had almost entire short stories done in one session before and I've also had sessions where I've only been left with a couple paragraphs I was actually happy with.
[quote] I am trying to outline more. Because of my lifestyle now, sitting down and just writing on a whim is impossible. In fact, I find it intimidating and daunting.[/quote]
I don't know your situation but I work two jobs and am currently in the process of moving to another country. Still find time to enjoy my hobbies, though. Its not that I don't have the spare hour or so to sit and write something, its simply that I decide to spend my time doing other things. Sometimes taking my laptop out with me somewhere quiet helps, though. If I am indoors I will spend my time doing other stuff, even though I am literally supposed to be reading and writing lol I can't blame "my situation", its entirely on me.
My teacher said to me once "Its not that you don't have the time, its that you don't make the time."
Yeah its way too daunting to think about writing a whole story in one shot, so start small and work up to that. I'm learning a new language at the moment and you don't just learn a whole language in a day, but just a few words a day soon adds up.
[quote]Another thing I have done to keep the writing muscles going is using prompts. I bought this cool journal with ten word prompts at Five Below. You have to create a story using these words. I am basically writing using that journal instead of fictional (for now). To me, I see it as the same as weight lifting. If you don't do it, your (creative) muscles will atrophy.[/quote]
Yeah I started doing that a bit as well. We used to have a writing contest on here with a few prompts every week.
But also, I mean even just posting on forums and stuff is a form of creative writing, right? For as long as I have been active here, the members in the "FanFic writers" usergroup have always been the ones who tend to make longer posts. Because much like our stories, our replies in topics are in serious need of a good editor. But its still a chance to practice. I mean you just used the word atrophy... I haven't even ever heard that word before. Point is; try writing in other ways, if you can't get a fanfic going, maybe write a journal or something, or respond to stuff on here. So you're stretching yourself in some way. Just practice and then keep practising, I promise you even if you don't realise it right now, you have more time at your disposal than you realise.