Hey, this question might be a bit unusual and I already appreciate all the help. I don't seem to be able to actually write my story (stupid mechanical writers block), but I do like to still do things related to my story. I have done moodboards and casting and a few other things. But I want to do more things, but I don't know what. Any tips on book-related things I can do while trying to overcome writers-block (besides moodboard and playlists)? Sorry if this is a bit confusing :)
Getting Unstuck: Motivation Beyond Mood Boards & Playlists
1) Draw a Map or Make a Layout - try making a map of wherever your story takes place, whether that’s a town, kingdom, or a whole country or world. You can even draw layouts of things like high schools, houses, or other buildings in your story. Not only are they fun to do, but it can be a helpful tool for visualizing your setting, and sometimes it can lead to ideas about scenes or plot points.
2) Do a Character Interview - imagine that you’ve pulled your character out of a story into the room and now have the opportunity to interview them. What questions would you ask them? What do you want to know about them that you don’t already know? What do you think the reader would want to know? What might be pertinent to the story that you haven’t thought about yet?
3) Do a TV Crew Follow Around - no matter when or where your story takes place, imagine that you’ve dropped an invisible TV crew into your story’s world to follow your character around through an average day. Follow them from the moment they wake up until the moment they go to bed that night. What are they like when they wake up? What is their morning routine? What do they eat for breakfast? How do they get ready? What do they do throughout the day? Who do they interact with? What else do they eat and drink? What do they do for fun or relaxation? How to they make money or meet their basic needs? What is their bedtime routine like?
4) POV Character Switch - take a scene in your story and try writing it from the perspective of a different character in the scene. If you do it with a scene you’ve already written, it can help you understand your characters and their relationship better, and might even give you things you can use in other scenes. If you do it with a scene you haven’t written yet, it can help you understand the scene better, make you excited to write it from the planned POV, and can even potentially help you get unstuck.
5) Story POV/Tense Switch - try rewriting a scene or chapter using a different POV (try first-person or third-person limited if your story is in third-person omniscient.) Or, try switching the tense. If you’re writing your story in past tense, try writing a scene or chapter in present tense. This is really just a fun exercise, but sometimes you may find that a different tense or POV actually works better, and that can sometimes be the thing that gets you unstuck.
6) Letter from One Character to Another - choose a moment or event in your story that you haven’t written about yet, but which you have pretty well planned out. Now, imagine that one character in the scene writes a letter to another character in the scene, but it’s a letter they never plan to send. What would they say to that character about whatever happened that they wish they could tell them but can’t?
7) Try a Writing Tool - there are all kinds of interesting writing tools out there, both online and things, apps, and physical things. Story Cubes, plot generators, plot twist generators, the Storymatic, StoryForge, Story Dice, tarot cards, the Writer’s Toolbox… just to name a few!
8) Do a Writing Prompt with Your Characters or Setting - look for some good writing prompts, then try doing one but use your character/s, setting, or both. You may have to augment the prompt a little. The point of this is just to open your mind to things you might not think about in the realm your story currently occupies.
9) Do a Favorite Character/Story Swap - Try swapping one of your characters into a scene in a favorite story, or try swapping a favorite character into a scene in your story. Once again, this kind of exercise can get you to thinking about things that wouldn’t occur to you that might actually benefit your story in the long run.
10) Figure out what’s making you feel stuck - Loss of motivation is pretty common when writing, but it can be caused a lot of different things. If you can figure out what’s holding you back, fixing it can get you back on track again.
Story needs more planning - some stories require more planning than others, and some writers just aren’t good “pantsers” and always need to plan. If you’ve lost motivation in your story, it could be because you’re feeling lost, not really knowing what should happen next. In that case, it can be a good idea to take a step back and do a little planning. Have a look at different story structures and story planning methods (like Save the Cat! and The Snowflake Method) to see if they can help you plan things out a little better. Just remember, you never have to stick to a template or method exactly. Use them as a guideline but make them work for you.
Something isn’t working - sometimes we lose motivation with writing a story because something about it isn’t working, and we may be well aware of that fact or it may be something we’re only aware of subconsciously. Either way, it can help to go back through what you’ve written so far and see if there’s something that’s just not pulling its weight. It could be an unnecessary character dragging the story down, a subplot that is cluttering up the story or drawing attention away from the main plot, or it could even be a scene (or multiple scenes) that don’t add to the story. It could even be a combination of these things, so if you can figure out what it is and fix it, that can often rekindle your motivation.
“Life stuff” is interfering - one of the biggest motivation zappers writers have to deal with is general life stuff. If you have a lot going on at the moment, such as a hectic time at work or school, are in the middle of a big project, you or a loved one are sick, or you’re dealing with anxiety and/or depression, you may simply not be in the mood to work on your story. Writers love to pump ourselves and each other up by saying things like “are you writing” or “get your butt in the chair” and talking about how we need to write every day, but the truth of the matter is there’s no shame in not writing if you have other things going on. Just promise yourself you’ll recommit to your WIP as soon as things calm down.
You’re distracted - if there are other things competing for your attention, like that series you’ve been binge-watching, that new book you bought, or that other story idea you came up with, it could be zapping your motivation. In this case, you just have to figure out how to plan your time so that you can indulge in the thing drawing your attention away while still having time to write. If it’s another story idea, you may not want to start on another project while in the middle of your WIP, in which case you should just take a little while to write down everything you’ve already got in mind, then set it aside someplace safe so you can come back to it later. Quite often that’s enough to get it of your mind.
You’re just bored with your story - if you’ve been working on a story for a long time, it’s pretty understandable that you might feel a little bored with it. In this case, keep trying the exercises I listed above.
————————————————————————————————-
Have a question? My inbox is always open, but make sure to check my FAQ and post master lists first to see if I’ve already answered a similar question. :)
germansingergirl
turnnoffyourmind
titsay
yousharknotpass
gummygunk
vaporwave
stormborns
