Staying Motivated

[Nolafus]

So, once you guys have chosen to work on a story, how do you stick with it to the end? How do you keep yourself motivated and not abandon the story halfway through? Have you finished any stories before? Do you write on a strict schedule and make small goals every day? What are the best ways to stay motivated and to keep writing? Discuss!

 

[PokemonTrainerRobert]

Hm well this one can be very touchy subject lol. As everyone has different ways and means of keeping their stories going and not half way finished. I should know considering I have managed on a fanfic like website...write about 41-42 chapters of a Naruto challenge/story of mine.

All the while finishing part one of it last year. but that's a different story lol. As for what I use to keep myself motivated and going for my stories?

Well usually it depends for me, some time when I literately have nothing to do and have no other activities for the day. I usually go and sit down and begin writing through my chapters, all the while gathering ideas of what should be said, what the characters will be or what the "important" role the chapters will have and personal goal. Sometime though whenever I write a battle like scene, or a tranquil and peaceful scenery? I usually listen too music that will fit for said scene in my head.

While also sometime write about like three or four pages in a chapter. Then take a break from writing, to go over and see if its exactly what you want it to turn out too be. There many ways of getting yourself motivated...but the only thing that is really stopping you from writing is practically yourself and letting things get to you in your head.

 

[moon]

Years ago, I was more focused on a single story at a time, and finished them. But these past years I've been RPing mostly, in several RPs at once. You dive into several stories at a time and it's not easy to stay loyal to your own writing and finish that when you have RPs that lure you away.

However, with The Color Of Your Hand, I have the plot planned out since long already and it's really easy to stay focused because I'm eager to see how the details fall into place myself. Thank you, alert fingers <3

And since I'm nowhere near a professional writer, rather I hide my work and don't even let my boyfriend (whom I live with!) see it, I can't write on a regular basis. I write when I have time and feel like it. And that works for me, because when I force myself to do something... Well, the flash banner of FF&W states it pretty well. It's like a fart ;)

 

[Fernbutter]

I try to not focus on writing all the time, in a way it sort of draws me back to wanting to finish the story. I try to not make it schedule, because sometimes I can't think of anything to write, but then there are those times where I could draft, edit, and print a novel then and there.

I try to finish a story as soon as I can, that way it doesn't end up cluttering my mind and thoughts than it already is. This way I can keep things clean and orderly without mixing any plot points when I write. This applies mostly to me though so yeah.

 

[Silversnk]

In my opinion, feedback is the main source of motivation. We can't just write a story for ourselves. We do it because we want to share it, and if we don't receive at least a pat in the back, the chances of us leaving the story halfway through are very high.

To keep myself motivated I use a very flexible challenge: Write at least 2000 words per week. I think that if I don't, something will catch my interest and drag me away from the story and even make me want to change it. For that reason, I like to finish a story fast, or at least have a very defined outline.
Just like Red Hawt Chibi Pelippers, RPs drain my will of finishing my own story, so I try to stay away from them when I'm working on something I like.

Another important thing for me to keep motivated is organization; I can't work well if my project notes, character bios and scenes aren't divided in folders or categories. I need my papers on the table most of the time.

 

[Nolafus]

I find that planning a story can really help. Well, considering that the only time I actually took the time to plan everything out and get all of my main events situated, is the only time a story of mine actually made it past chapter two, I'm not so sure it's a coincidence.

I think you just have to keep writing, no matter what. You can always go back and edit things later, it just helps a lot when you're getting at least something out. If you start getting lazy with your fic, I think that's when it's in danger of being abandoned. I've written too many stories that have fallen short because I finally had to make a decision, stepped away to think about it, and never came back to it.

 

[Chocolate™]

This is difficult to answer. Like Red's and Silver, RPing really takes up a lot of time for me. Add that with the constant pressure of school and exams, it's really difficult to write. So I save writing for the holidays but even then it's difficult since so many new and interesting RPs pop up every now and then.

There's this story that I've been planning for 2 years now and now I've decided to start writing it from next Friday. I'm planning to push myslef to write at least 5 pages everyday and finish it as quickly as possible.

With fanfics it's a different story. usually, I plan to write at least three chapters before uploading the first one. This way, if any of my readers get bored during exam times when I'm busy or something like that, then I can easily upload one chapter which I've already finished.