What do you do when you don't feel motivated?

To make a career in writing you need to finish what you start. You said it yourself: You've lots of ideas but so far haven't stuck to execution. Ideas are a dime a dozen, but the ability to see one through to the end makes an author. Focus on one thing and see how you like the process. Yes, there are authors who work on different stories at once, but you're just starting out. I'd advise to write just one story at first, because it'll tell you if you can see it through. Don't mind the bashers and just write to your heart contents.

 

I feel ya. This pandemic, being at home almost 24/7 with no means to break the monotony, has drained my motivation to do a lot of things, especially write. When this pandemic started and I knew I'd be working from home for the foreseeable future, I thought it would be my chance to get more done. NOPE! My brain apparently isn't wired that way. But in general, I do go through phases where I'm super productive and then days, weeks, or months where I can't force myself to write anything. And, for me, I found that when that happens, I have to let it happen. I can't force myself. The motivation to write has to come organically. I have to WANT to do it, and that's not something I'm able to fabricate.

I know this probably doesn't help, but it's my experience and I know how rough the feeling can be. Shield up!

 

Chuck, that is actually what I've been contemplating. It's worked before so I was thinking of doing it again- writing a story to get it out; to create my own closure.

 

Lack of motivation a lot of times is lack of creativity or inspiration in that moment. Most of us are not as 'momentarily creative' as we think we are, nor are we always inspired, simply because most of us are not truly 'engineers' of writing, we've become accustomed to merely 'mimicking' other people's writing over time. The way I overcame this is literally combing through many, many textbooks and writing/typing down pages of it 'ad nauseum' until I had collected pages and pages of actual 'text' to draw from at any moment. Now when I write, most of my 'momentary inspiration' actually comes from being able to read all these 'texts' with my own 'creativity' interposed and now I can quite easily sit down and write at least a good chunk of an idea of 'what I want' at any moment in time.

 

I lie down until the feeling of motivation wears off. Not a joke. Which is why I probably get nothing done.

 

I do not know. I'm going through that as well. I stopped writing for months, and I miss it. I know I miss it because I keep thinking about scenes, and ways to get the plot moving in a story I have been writing for years. But when I try to sit down and write, I simply cannot. It's such a disappointment to be honest. The first thing I did was google "how to get inspiration for writing" and well...I didn't come across anything that I found useful. I joined this writing forum to gain some motivation from reading the work of other writers. I hope that by reading their work, and replying to other posts I can get that inspiration again.

 

Bathing using my favourite bath salts usually gives me time to get my head straight.

 

I had a zombie joke for this....

 

I drop in on a few forums and see what I should be doing. I'm going back to work.

 

New here, and pretty much joined this forum for that exact reason. I need some motivation...I hear setting a release date and implementing a small reward system for finishing chapters helps. It is difficult though...

 

I take a shot of bourbon for each sentence I finish. Not only has it motivated me to write more, I also write longer sentences.

 

I'm actually between motivations right now.
I need to do the first edits on my first two stories, but I can't see what needs changing and I want to get going on the third story, but inspiration is lacking. On top of it all, Cyberpunk 2077 is out and although it's a buggy mess, it's a lot easier to pick up a controller than a laptop.
So now I've made a deal with me that I don't get to play unless I write something. Anything. Even if it's just a page full of words loosely relating to the subject at hand. Most of the time I'll be scribbling and suddenly get caught up in a good train of thought.

Of course, other times I'll go on forums and tell people what do for motivation when I can't get anything done myself.

 

I don't think that's a good writing habit, at least not in the long run.

Sometimes what I do is think about if I die tomorrow, there will be no one to tell their story, and no one will get to know them like I do. That scares me. So yeah, fear helps, plus some occasional daydreamings of living the life of Richard Castle in the tv show Castle.

 

I like to doodle. pen/pencil to paper and let lines form themselves. Don't care if it forms a picture or not. I really feel like it helps to grease the wheels. The ideas seem to flow and soon those doodles shaped into words.
Some of my teachers in school didn't appreciate me drawing in class but it was a part of my thinking process. I couldn't help it.

 

I agree, it doesn't seem a very healthy decision either. Healthy body, healthy mind. What you said about if you're going to die tomorrow, seems like it could have the opposite effect. You could question whether a story is truly worth writing, or place importance on other things etc.

 

I'm also new in the weft of these threads but wanted to share the motivation to write that I get from reading good poetry (often translated from other languages with their refreshing idioms); for me this is like nourishment for my soul which, like a force of nature, then causes me to write.

(Now that I think of it, this metaphor means my writing's like crap ... hmm ... might need to rethink this. )

I can also relate to @Megan-Leigh describing drawing as motivational; for me it generates a similar potential energy which builds a strong desire to then release the contents of my mind into spoken/written form.

For motivation, it's these and the junky hit I will often get from a (~daily) writing habit fix.

 

Couldn't agree more.

I see your point. Yeah, it's probably not for everyone. I only do it sometimes. Most of the time, looking through writing-related Pinterest posts does the job nicely. I also like looking up or coming up with motivational quotes. I write them down on post-it notes and place them in visible places. Some of my favourites:
"It's going to be hard, but hard does not mean impossible."
"If things stopped being easy, you are on the right path."
These two help me deal with the struggles along the way.
"Don't do your best, do what you can."
"One baby step at a time."
These two remind me to enjoy the journey too.

 

Stephen Hawking might have an opinion about that. ;o)

 

If I have a deadline that problem never happens.

Otherwise I will watch TV or take a nap. And come back later when I am motivated.