Question! - Writer to Writer! - When you get stuck in your writing, as in finding yourself unable to progress in a Fanfic, for any reason, what do you do to get yourself unstuck? What motivates you? What kind of music, if you listen to some, helps you push it forward? Do you go through whatever Mangas and or Episodes to refresh your mind? - Shoves a mic to you. - Do share some details behind your creativity!
Oh wow! I decided to break my response down question by question. This ended up being a long post, so everything is under the cut.
What kind of music, if you listen to some, helps you push it forward?
Music has become a pretty big thing for me when writing. When I'm stuck on a particular section, I make up a playlist. I have ones for each type of mood or scene. For instance, I have one for battle scenes, and I have another for quiet talking scenes, and another (the one most often played to no one's surprised) for angst.
What kind of music that is is a mix up of various genres and songs. They're mostly anime soundtracks, like from BLEACH, Violet Evergarden, Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist, etc . Sometimes they're just instrumentals or acoustic tracks. I do listen to some pop music, but they don't often make my 'music to listen to' recommendations for the fic as they often don't fit the mood.
Song lyrics have even gotten me out of a writing funk. For instance, A Million Miles Away (both the dub and original versions) from the anime movie Belle had a few lyrics that inspired me when I was struggling to get into the head of the characters and motivate myself. The song itself is more about platonic and familial love, but I've found it's helped me get through writing platonic and romantic scenes. Specifically, these lyrics from the dubbed version have inspired and motivated me:
At times I've thought "I'm not enough"
The chains that tied my heart
But there's still a path that lies ahead for you and I
This got me through the later [currently unedited and being worked on] chapters of An Unwavering Light where I was losing motivation while writing the lead up to the reconciliation of hitsuhina. I feel like this is something Hinamori would think and feel, that although she has low self esteem and is unsure of the future, she knows she and Hitsugaya need to reconcile, that their friendship can't come to an end.
if you'd like, I can recommend specific songs that remind me of certain characters! :D
Do you go through whatever Mangas and or Episodes to refresh your mind?
Absolutely! It's what's gotten me through writing An Unwavering Light sometimes! I also go back and re-read chapters/rewatch episodes to remind me of why I love BLEACH. Sometimes I've come away with another fic idea (like when I write fics about missing scenes, such as what did Hitsugaya do after Hinamori got taken into custody in the Soul Society arc? That led to me writing A Matter of the Heart) and other times I learn more about or consider something new about a character (again using the 'what did Hitsugaya do after Hinamori got taken into custody' scenario, I questioned for the first time if he was at war with himself about choosing the logical thing to do over the heartfelt thing to do).
When you get stuck in your writing, as in finding yourself unable to progress in a Fanfic, for any reason, what do you do to get yourself unstuck? What motivates you?
Motivation, particularly when you're stuck on something in a fic, is so hard to maintain. There have been a lot of instances where I lose it, sometimes because of things happening in my life, and other times I simply lose interest in what it is I'm writing about -- whether it's because I've been stuck on it for so long or I put a lot of pressure on myself to write or I lose interest in the idea. There's also times where I realize I've been writing for the same characters for years, and I feel like maybe I've come to the end, that there's no ideas left to expand upon and that whatever I write is just sending me in circles.
I can admit that happened with An Unwavering Light when writing chapter 5. It's why there was a big gap between the release of chapters 4 and 5. I got to the end of chapter 4, and was about to start on 5, and despite using my headcanons as an outline for where the story was going, nothing was coming. I could write scenes for upcoming chapters, but I forced myself to write scene after scene fr chapter 5 and I hated everything I wrote. None it felt like it was working or I wasn't confident I was doing the characters or themes justice. I lost my motivation and walked away from the fic for over three months.
I went on to write various one shot fics, but in the back of my mind, I knew I needed to get back to An Unwavering Light. I went back to old ways of motivating myself:
re-reading old fics I wrote to remember why I loved writing for these characters and seeing how far my writing has come
re-reading old reviews and comments (I keep saying, but I really do read everyone's tags and comments, I'm sorry that I don't always reply to them; please know that they can be a massive motivation for me to continue writing!!)
reading fics (and your RP threads actually) from other writers to see their love for the characters come through
rewatching and re-reading the series, including the newer episodes and videogames and the material they've added to canon
doing some self-care, like going on longer walks and seeing friends more often
moving away from BLEACH for a little while and watching/reading other series. I think during this time, I went back to Trigun for a little bit, then watched a bunch of shows (like Dandadan) and read new manga.
Eventually in December, my head began to clear when I stopped fixating on 'I need to get the next chapter out'. I did worry that anyone who was interested in the story would [rightly] grow tired of waiting, and that I would lose my confidence in posting the next chapter, but I also knew sitting there and worrying wasn't doing me any good.
As my head began to clear and the year was coming to an end, I was writing fics for the Two Weeks of Hitsuhina. Out of all of them, In Your Eyes, In the Rain was affecting me the most. I was getting emotional while writing it, and for days after I posted it, I kept thinking about it. At the time I thought it was because of the song that inspired it (Farewell, My Friend), but it wasn't. I thought it was for the usual reason -- was it any good? -- but it wasn't that either.
I realized I wrote that fic, on some level, as a way to remind myself of why I wanted to write about Hitsugaya and Hinamori. I wanted to explore their strengths and faults, see the ways their dynamic can go in different situations, and was captivated by the lengths they go to for each other (whether it's for their benefit or to their determent). I wrote a whole author's note at the end of that fic that goes into detail about all of this (and looking back on it now, it was my way of reminding myself why I love this ship and why I wrote about them). It got me thinking about what had motivated me to write An Unwavering Light, and I realized that motivation (at the time, because it had won the poll result and it was something I was eventually going to write anyway) wasn't working for me anymore. I needed to find a new motivation, a new source that was going to get me through the tougher parts of the fic and help me see the story to it's end.
I reflected on BLEACH's characters and all the dynamics I love from the series. I pondered on what could be done for each one (for instance, the scene with Rangiku and Izuru in chapter 8 came about because I went on a train of thought that went something like 'wait, we don't know how Izuru reacted to Gin's death! Did he and Rangiku ever talk about it? Did she ever go looking for him like she did Renji and Hisagi? What if they grieved together? Would they even do that? Did the dynamic ever change and it was Izuru comforting Rangiku? Does speaking with him give her the idea to request Gin get a grave? What if Izuru comes to terms with Gins death before Rangiku? I feel like he would, and that Rangiku may resent him a little for that...or maybe just wish she could be like him in that moment.').
I also considered what I hadn't yet wrote about them or things I haven't yet tried. It's thoughts like this that led me to making up an AU -- which I NEVER do -- where Hitsugaya is an Ice sculptor and Hinamori is a university student who actually wants to be an artist; I wanted to try something new, and it worked out because it led to me to think of other ideas for the canon series.
In the end, I discovered my new motivation to get through those moments when I got stuck: I'm going to write this fic to finally get all of my ideas into one place. For years, I've written the headcanons across one shot fics, it was about time I brought it all together and also explore not just the hitsuhina dynamic in details, but other dynamics like Rangiku and Izuru, Rangiku and Momo, Harribel and Hitsugaya, Shinji and Hitsugaya, and so on. When I don't know where to go or what to do, I go back to the headcanons and I think again 'what haven't I explored yet?' In terms of maintaining that motivation, I make sure to think deeply on the characters to see if there's any stones I have left unturned about what can be explored about them, and of course any new comments/reblogs with tags or someone asking about the story is a great source of sustaining motivation.
I'm hobbyist writer and by no means a teacher or can offer real writing advice, but I've learned from this experience that your motivation, like your writing style and ideas, evolves and changes. Sometimes you have to walk away from what you're writing and go search for that motivation to get through a writers block or past that one scene that is causing you grief. It can start with reflecting on what has been motivating you up until now and why it doesn't work for you anymore -- maybe you don't love the character/dynamic anymore, you've been writing the same things for so long they don't excite you anymore, you had a short-term motivation rather than a long-term one, you're writing purely for others than than for yourself, you've run out of ideas to explore.
Finding a new motivation can take a while (especially if you have a lot going on irl or you put pressure on yourself), but at some point, you can rediscover your love for what you write, or discover you have a new character or series you want to write for. I imagine the latter can be scary, because everyone who follows your writing is there for character/dynamic/series you normally write, but going into something new can be exciting and lead you to meeting new people. It may even motivate you again to go back to what you used to write. Maybe you never come back to hat you have been writing for, and that's okay too. Sad, but okay.
Going off my own experiences again, I lost my love for BLEACH for several years. I was reading the series purely because I'm a completionist and I had moved on to being more invested in other franchises. Then, chapter 671 happened and I suddenly remembered why I loved the series, Hitsugaya and that hitsuhina was once my OTP. I found the spark to start writing fanfic again.
Also, a bit of advice I've always seen is your first draft is always going to be bad, and in my experience that's true. Editing takes so long for me because I'm going through draft after draft, and even then I miss spelling or grammar mistakes or I wonder if I wrote that scene right or should have move it to be earlier or later in the fic. At some point, I know I just need to let it go, and that keeps me from staying stuck for too long and risk losing my motivation. Worst case scenario, I post the fic but can go back later on and edit the scene to something I'm more happy.
So I guess, tl;dr: I realized my original motivation had run it's course and I needed to find a new one. I reflected on why I love the characters and what I wanted to explore with them and what I hadn't yet wrote for them. I also took a break from the fic and did other things, like going to watch and read other franchises and reading other fics. Motivation is something that constantly evolves and changes, and sometimes you need to break away from what you've been writing up until that point to go find it again.
I'd interested to hear your answers to these questions actually, so feel free to share them here if you'd like.
@lastflowerpetal sent - 🌈 ― aesthetically pleasing blog, ⭐️ ― convincing portrayal of a canon character, 💻 ― excellent writing,🌼 ― creative headcanons,🎙️ ― great to talk to, 📚 ― nice threads to read, 🎀 ― all-around kind person, 📌 ― a staple on the dash, 🏆 ― 10/10 blog, would recommend
Excuse me while I send nearly everything 😅
( Shout Outs of Awesomeness - Accepting! )
🌈 ― Aesthetically pleasing blog.
@clown-demon - I like their trading card and sort of magician aesthetic they have going on, it's perfect for their muse and really adds to their blog - of course, the aesthetic is only one of many great things.
⭐️ ― Convincing portrayal of a canon character.
@galaxofmuses - Singling out your Leon for this one but I think all of your muses are amazing for the record - you really capture Leon's sense of empathy, his compassion - in a world of shitty adults, shitty people - he is a genuinely good man, because he cares - and you convey that so so well. Love our thread together.
💻 ― Excellent writing.
I'll go with @ervaurem - their writing is always so fantastic, never fails to draw me in, when I see them on the dash, I scroll just a little bit slower.
🌼 ― Creative headcanons.
I always enjoy reading @chronic-paragon's headcanons, seeing little glimpses into Harmony's culture, her family, her insecurities. Adds so much more depth to her.
🎙️ ― Great to talk to.
I got to talk with @heartwilled a bit last night - was great just catching up and gushing about RyuAnn together. Excited for our ship.
📚 ― Nice threads to read.
@mused-like-roses - Always enjoy reading their threads and their writing and muses are just fantastic.
🎀 ― All-around kind person.
We don't talk or interact all that much but @ryusxnka is someone I admire a lot and always enjoy seeing on the dash - when I check out Bleach one day, I'll definitely have their blog in mind.
📌 ― A staple on the dash.
I see @asmaticbomb on the dash quite a bit these days! They seem really like a really nice mun and their writing is amazing! Definitely hope we can write together soon! Their Okarun icon is cute too.
🏆 ― 10/10 blog, would recommend.
@corruptedbunny-multimuse - incredibly incredibly kind and incredibly incredibly fun to write with. 100/10.
Caleb!! One of the coolest people in this rpc by far imo. I always love seeing you around because you've always got something sweet to say on the dash, and I really appreciate it every time you put an encouraging comment in my replies whenever I'm posting about crashing out for whatever reason. Ash has vouched for you before about how awesome you are and I can totally see it.
Also your Hitsugaya is amazing and I looooove annoying him. It was so fun sending Zangetsu after him to terrorize him, especially because he always had some snarky shit to say. Crack aside though, you capture his maturity so well, to the point where it's easy to forget that he's... short and stout, I should say, and I think that's a sign that you portray him very well.
