I think I've seen other posts like this so if it seems like I'm borrowing tips from other people, I am!

Just leave it. You can come back to it later

Make a list or some other mapping device for possible ideas: What can realistically happen next? What do all the characters think of the situation? Would any of them be compelled to do something about it? Is there a character you haven't remembered to consider as much as you should've? Think of motivations, character viewpoints, consequences of previous actions ect

Think of something right off the top of your head. Does it suck? That's okay, do it again. Don't think too hard about it. While this might not help you come up with an immediate solution (or maybe yes, that'd be nice), it does help you loosen up your thinking muscles. That's already a step towards getting unstuck with a plotline

Take a creative break (not to be confused with the first point on this list). By this I mean, step back, do self care, watch some cool shows or other artists, ykno general recharging. Especially in the artistic sense. Try something new, read or watch a creative thing, gather inspiration and so on

Reread everything you've got so far. I do this, at least. It helps me get back up to date on what's already happened and sometimes that can help in getting back on track with new stuff.

Get a fresh pov: As feedback from a friend, family member or, perhaps a tumblr blog like you're doing right now lol.. But generally get some views and thoughts on it, sometimes other people might be able to bring up something you never thought of!

Expanding on the first point: Work on something else in the meantime. It can be something more minor, or details, lore, background stuff ect. It may help inspire new ideas if you have the previous stuff more filled in already

This is a great question that I will do my best to answer.

I don't have chronic brain fog (I think), but I have a host of concentration and motivation issues because my brain is a bag of squirrels, so my answer will be based on my own experience with that.

Find the mode of writing that works best for you. I'm very much a typing person (I used to air-type stories on my desk in middle school, once I learned how to touch-type), with writing by hand as my second best mode of writing. But I know that when I'm having concentration issues, I will sometimes open a document and literally not be able to process the words in front of me, which can make writing very hard. So see if there's another mode that works best for you, like making voice memos or using speech to text.

Minimize the steps to get to a document. Some authors recommend having very good work hygiene--having somewhere to work that isn't where you do other things--but even that movement of setting up/going to your workspace can be a step too far when it comes to motivation. I keep about a dozen WIPs open in google docs at all time, and so if I am struck with the inspiration / motivation / energy to write literally all I have to do is click over to the tab and type.

Be willing to leave holes in your writing. Don't remember what a word is? Leave a note for yourself. Can't remember a character name? Leave a note. Feel free to pepper your work with comments with information for you to fill in when your brain is working a little better.

Work in small chunks. You don't need to keep to any sort of standard of writing 500 words at a time or 1000 words at a time or whatever. Write 10 words. Edit 3 lines. Chip away at it like a stone instead of forcing yourself to do a lot and burning yourself out on it.

Don’t base them exclusively on physical and/or sexual attraction. While these kinds of attraction can certainly strengthen relationships, they can’t create anything but a weak foundation for a relationship on their own.

Know how your characters like to show and be shown affection. Not everyone shows their interest in others the same way. Some people like to give gifts. Others like to cuddle. Still others like giving compliments. Different people like to receive different kinds of affection as well. 

Remember that love at first sight is a myth. You can have lust at first sight and romantic interest at first sight, but true love takes time to develop.

Show the characters interacting and getting to know each other. This should be obvious, but it is all to common for a character to be given a love interest at the last minute or to be paired off with someone the reader hasn’t seen them interact with much. Remember, the reader doesn’t have to see every little thing they do together, but the relationship will feel forced to the reader if they don’t see the characters interacting and establishing that they genuinely care about each other in a significant way. If the reader views your character’s significant other as little more than a stranger, then you’re doing something wrong.

Have both characters do things for each other and contribute to the relationship in meaningful ways. Relationships are two way streets. While you don’t need to keep score of exactly who does what for who (Relationships are not a competitive sport!), the relationship should seem fairly balanced or, if it’s not, then the characters should be working to change that.

Don’t give your characters completely incompatible traits. While it’s healthy for people to differ from each other, there are some differences that even people that are otherwise perfect for each other probably can’t overcome. For example, a environmental activist would have a hard time having a healthy relationship with someone who wants to chop dow a forest. Basically, know your characters’ deal breakers so that you won’t try to match up characters who are simply incompatible with each other.

Have them share interests. This is a great way to add substance to relationships outside of physical attraction and compatible personalities. Maybe they both like fishing. Maybe they share a passion for baking. Whatever you decide to have them like, don’t be afraid to use your characters’ shared interests as opportunities for them to bond. Also, if your characters don’t share a lot of interests/hobbies, consider having one character introduce the other to their hobby or have one character take initiative to try something the other likes. This is a great way to show how much your characters care about each other because it demonstrates your characters’ genuine interest in what makes their partner happy. 

*Noticing each other and filing that knowledge away for later: bringing a jacket for if they get cold again, packing a water bottle since they always seem to forget one, picking up a food mentioned casually as being one they like, calling back to something loved in childhood (seriously telling each other innocuous little things and having them come back is the BEST)

*Personal behavior impacted based on the new relationship: changing which side of the street they walk on because they now feel protective, trying not to be so loud/animated when talking because it makes the other person nervous, ordering extra fries because SO will steal some, wearing hair down because SO made an offhand comment about it

*Thinking about them when they’re not around: Filling away funny stories to share or neat places to take them later, wondering what they’re up to right now, picking something up with the intent of taking it home to them, leaving messages or surprises where they’ll find them, daydreaming about having them in their life

To all you authors out there, here’s a little advice that will help you so much. 

Do not write for other people. Yes, this sounds like classic writing advice, but I’m going to go deeper into it. Because I realized today what that actually means.

When you write for other people, you find yourself constantly being anxious over how they’ll perceive it. As you’re writing you’ll be looking at it like “there’s no way anyone will ever like this.” You’ll point out every flaw and that just makes writing a burden. You’ll get writer’s block or quit writing altogether, because it’s just not fun anymore.

So instead of doing that, just…turn off that part of your brain that points out the mistakes and tells you people won’t like it. Save that for later. It might be hard to do this, but you’ve got to understand that you’re telling this story for yourself, and that at this point it doesn’t matter if it sucks or not. That’s for your other drafts. 

Enjoy the writing. Smile when you make some cheesy joke, even if you know you’ll have to delete it later. Write out the parts that you like about the story, whether or not they matter to the plot.

Writing can be so easy when the muse kisses you and you write and write and forget the world around you. But a lot times you don’t have the luxury to wait for the muse to come kiss you and you still have to write. Here are some of the things I do to motivate myself to do what has to be done.

How to motivate myself to write more

The 100 Words Challenge

Set yourself a specific amount of words that you must write every day. 100 words doesn’t sound like that much, but even if you only write them every day and not anything more you still wrote 3,650 words that year. Better than nothing and definitely helps to get back into writing, because it motivates you to write even more and helps writing on a schedule.

+ it also works with a specific amount of time

The Inspirational Jar

Grab some pieces of paper and write down prompts you saw on the internet, song lyrics you like, characters you like to write about, quotes from books or movies, or just random words or situations. Fold them and put them into a jar or a box. Now you can just open it and grab one of the papers which you use as the basis for your writing that day. It’s great for getting back into writing and finding your own writing style through different forms of writing and different topics.

+ doesn’t have to be a real story, try other forms of writing, like a poem, a stream of consciousness, fanfiction, dialogue only, texting only, a retelling, no dialogue at all, a song, a diary entry, a character description,…

+ try to spice things up by using two or more inspirational slips of paper

Set a writing time

By setting a specific writing time you can trick your mind to shift easier into the mindset you need to write. You can write just after waking up or right before going to bed or somewhere in the middle. Try it out and find out what works best for you.

Block your phone/laptop

The luxury of having the world at your finger tips is great but it’s also distracting. Use apps (like Forest or Selfcontrol) to block your phone for the time you need to write. Or use something like Cold Turkey Writer so you have to write a specific amount of words or time before you can use your computer again.

Choose a writing place

Where do you write your best works? Choose a specific place to become your writing place, so you can trick your mind (like with the writing time) to get into the right mindset.

+ switch it up from time to time and go somewhere else. Go to a library, a coffee shop or a park to get fresh ideas and then go back to your routine

Music

Try to find music that stimulates your brain to concentrate more on writing or use music that fits the scene you’re about to write to get the right mindset. Music is great to feel like you are in a specific situation or have specific feelings - that’s why it’s great to have a soundtrack to your stories (and it also motivates you to finish it, so someone can buy the rights and make a movie out of it and use your Soundtrack - or is that just me?).

Ask a friend

Ask a friend, a family member or someone else to give you a setting, a word or a character that you try to incorporate into your already existing story or write something short and new.

Exercise

When you’re stuck and suffering from writer’s block with a scene, just stop and go out and work out or do a couple exercises at home. It clears your mind and you feel better after, so that you can sit down again and concentrate. And exercising is also a great opportunity to think your story through and work on solving existing problems.

Make a calendar

Write down whenever you wrote something in a calendar or use a habit tracker. It makes it easier to keep track on what you achieved so far and where you can still improve.

Reward yourself

Don’t punish yourself if you haven’t wrote in a long time or didn’t finish on time. Rewarding yourself is much more efficient. Choose some form of reward (when I write today I can… watch the new episode of my favourite show after, call my friends and go out, order a pizza, buy a new books, etc.) and stick to it. Even if it is a really small reward, getting to recieve it will fill you with joy and pride and makes it more likely for you to do it again.

I hope this helps everyone who struggles to motivate themselve to write. Good luck to you all!

Check out my side blog for more advice and writing prompts: creativepromptsforwriting

Hey Scribes - today, we have a writing tip for you: read it out loud.

If you can’t read a sentence without running out of breath, chances are, it needs editing. Another thing to consider is if it sounds correct when you read it out loud. It may sound right in your head, but are you certain your grammar was correct? Try to also listen for overuse of jargon such and trite phrases such as “at the end of the day”. 

Diner coffee, sneakers against tiles, buzzing of a neon open sign, and red booth seats.

The feeling that something isn’t quite right, red glinted eyes, long claws tapping at the window, and the sound of chains dragging across the floor.

Leather jackets, band shirts, a roaring campfire, pitched tents, and a smooth singing voice.

Sitting in an empty room, confetti litters the floor, a birthday cake went untouched, and the sun slowly starting to set.

A dark theatre, ghostly apparitions flitting through the seats, the curtains rising, and a haunting violin melody.

Shimmering stained glass, the scent of vanilla from a lit candle, the sound of creaking wood being walked on, and shifting curtains.

Lanterns strung from branches, a large crowd flitting about, the smell of food drifting from stalls, and the sun setting after an eventful day.

I fuckin LOVE dialogue as a first line. I adore it. whenever I flip open a book and the first line is dialogue I’m like hell YES this is my SHIT

there’s lists of, uh, TOP TEN WAYS YOU SHOULD NEVER START YOUR NOVEL EVER and “opening with dialogue” is always on them

the gist being that it’s bad bc the reader doesn’t care about this character yet so why are they gonna care about this dialogue, right, they don’t have any context for it, you should start with something that gets the reader invested and emotionally pulled in, so on, so forth

(and I’m not here to argue or call bullshit on these lists or anything…… 99% of the time, the reasons listed of why you should Maybe Not Do The Thing are perfectly valid concerns and dangers that should be taken into consideration)

(this post is more a ramble about personal preference with a nice moral at the end)

(and definitely not a TOP TEN REASONS “TOP TEN WAYS YOU SHOULD NEVER START YOUR NOVEL EVER” LISTS ARE LIES AND SLANDER post god could you imagine)

but yeah, for me, dialogue opening lines pull me right the fuck in emotionally. for real. nine times out of ten they’ll yank me in and have me engaged instantaneously. always have, probably always will

(like come on. have y’all never just started eavesdropping right in the middle of some total strangers’ conversation on the bus. especially if it’s somethin weird. it’s so good)

but ANYWAY, the moral is uhhhh

whatever Mortal Writing Sin you wanna commit, there’s probably at least one weirdo out there possibly named logan who digs it

do whatever the fuck you want, honestly

you can write an opening scene that does everything every advice page tells you to do with an opening scene and it can still be shit

you can write an opening scene doing everything every advice page tells you NEVER to do with your opening scene and it can still be fabulous and engaging