Unexpected hatred for Smokey the Bear

There are going to be days (or weeks, or months) where you sit down to write and feel... disconnected. From your voice, from your characters, from your ideas. Like the person who used to write your stories just packed up and left.

They didn't. They're just tired. Here's how to keep writing anyway:

Lower the bar (Until it's on the floor) You are not here to write something brilliant. You are here to write something. A paragraph. A sentence. A single line of dialogue. Movement matters way more than quality.

Write around the story Don't force it. If you can't write the scene, try: ⋆ A character ramble / journal entry ⋆ A conversation that won't be included in the final draft ⋆ A list of things the character would never admit out loud ⋆ A messy summary of what should happen Engage with the story from a different angle.

Borrow a voice until yours comes back No, not with AI. Read something that feels close to what you want to write, or watch a scene that captures the tone, then write immediately after. Not to copy, to reignite your instincts.

Write the emotion, not the plot. What is your character feeling in this moment? What are they afraid of? What do they want but won't say? What's being kept from them? The emotion leads, the plot catches up later.

Stop trying to "feel like a writer" first. You don't write when you feel like a writer. You feel like a writer because you write.

Complications and smaller problems are a natural consequence of your characters being characters and not just plot-executing automatons. If your characters feel too married to the plot to have non-plot wants and needs, it might be worth going into your mind-palace and asking them a few questions:

What do you do when nothing needs doing? How do you relax? CAN you relax?

How do you handle peace? Do you enjoy it? Do you trust it? Do you look for distractions, or for threats?

What would you be doing if the plot wasn't in the way? Have you ever really thought about it?

Now that things have slowed down a little, how do you feel about the stuff that just happened? Do you need to talk about it?

I'm the writer, so I know what's coming next, but you don't. What uncertainties are currently preying on your mind? Do you want to do anything to resolve them? How do you handle it if you can't?

What goals do you personally have that aren't shared with the rest of your crew? Do you have an opportunity to pursue that right now? Do you think anyone else in the crew might want to help you with that?

The camera mostly focuses on the important plot beats, but what do you do when the camera's off? What's your morning routine? What do you do for dinner? What does a Normal Day look like when the plot's not intruding?

or 

One- Your characters can be bad people, they can do bad things. There doesn't have to be a reason or a moral. You can make them bad if you want to. No other reason needed.

Two- it doesn't have to be good, it just needs to be written. On my last book i literally wrote the words "dumbest version" on the top of the page because I had seen some advice to do that. It changed everything. I stopped trying to make it perfect, I just tried to make it. Period. Full stop. You can edit bad writing. You can't edit a blank page.

18 years. this is enough time for the work to grow to adulthood and begin to care for itself

its fun

i can do literally whatever I want

cons of writing