Starting. Stopping. Repeat.

[OmnislashXX]

My life is a series of starting and stopping projects and stories. I have returned to writing stories, mainly pervy stories so I like to believe that I like to write these kinds of things. At least, That's what I tell myself. The main problem is... well, I should start at the beginning,

First and foremost, I am concerned about my healt in terms of performance issues. About a year and a half ago, I was sitting in an online game , role-playing with a character, getting horny as all he'll and basically having cybersex. Now I am adult enough to know that none of those relationships are real, so please don't judge me. But the end result was that my balls ached and I end up going to sleep sore. This happened to me before and the result was on account of being horny for hours on end.

Sometime later, I found that it was hard to keep erections. Now I fear it is even worse because of the beta blockers that I take as a result of high blood pressure.

So basically I really can't get an erection but I can get aroused.

Unfortunately, I have to be in the mood and sometimes that comes in waves. Sometimes, I don't have a mood, other times I'm so horny that I must cum several times.

During these times, I want to write. And I do write but not the same story. Sometimes I will start a new story, other times I will work on an old one. But regardless, I will eventually work my way into a frenzy and end up playing an pervy game or watching a vid on Pornhub. And the cycle will begin anew.

But I want to finish my stories. I have so many ideas in my head, the problem is getting them all out.

So, any advice?

Oh yes I saw a urologist ; he gave me some medication.

 

[SimonDoom]

I think the answer is to de-couple your horny moods and your story writing. Just write. I can't quite sympathize because this is not at all how it is for me. I don't read erotic stories to "stroke" to and I don't write stories to make myself horny. I write because I enjoy the erotica and I find it arousing, but not to that degree and not with that "finish" in mind.

Try picking a regular time of day to write and just make yourself write during that time, regardless of mood. Try it and see how that works.

 

[vanmyers86]

I agree with Simon. I would add that success in writing, like success in almost any endeavor, is often the result of creating habits that lead to it and support it. Horny moods pass, so use them as inspiration, but also create the habit of writing at certain times, as Simon suggests, regardless of your mood. If you establish that 6-8 pm is your time to write, and you have the discipline to stick to it, then you will write.

Believe me, if writers waited for inspiration to strike before we sat down and wrote, we'd never finish anything. Sometimes it's a slog. But it's also rewarding and, for me, a joy.

Best wishes to you!

 

[OmnislashXX]

Well, I'm writing now again. Or re-writing. I have done that the most.

I think It's the accumulation of projects that I have built in my mind through the years. The end seems so distant now and the thought of actually finishing something just seems ardous.

But yes, you are right. I think I need to just sit and write.

 

[Hypoxia]

I write when the voices in my head force me to. They've been quiet lately. Send them amphetamines; maybe THEN they'll blather again and I'll be productive.

Yes, some folks making livings as wordsmiths carefully schedule their writing times, a block of hours every day. Some, who get paid, sit at office desks and happily churn words 9-to-5. And some just spew when the time comes. Robert Frost ended visitations by saying, "Excuse me, I must LET a poem," i.e. it's a fart. But don't eat a bowl of alphabet soup just to shit-out a story.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Agree with wot they say ^^^^^.

The only thing I'd add (because it works for me) is to limit the number of stories on the boil to one main one, and only one side project at any one time, and make the side project frivolous fun.

That way you keep your focus on the main game (which, if you're serious about writing, is writing, not getting yourself off).

 

[SamScribble]

I think it's all good advice - especially EB's advice to try and limit the number of projects on the go at any one time.

Also, try to train your brain to recognise the difference between reading and writing. I know that there are some Lit writers who have to pause mid-sentence to rub one out. Personally, I don't think that makes for good writing. I always advise writing it first - and then reading it.

Good luck.

 

[Hypoxia]

I dunno about limiting projects. My focus is usually singular. But other mindworms chew at my thoughts, insisting on their moment in the mental burn. Sometimes I lure them away with lilting mandola strums. Sometimes two stories demand to be told in parallel. Damn.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

I think the answer is to de-couple your horny moods and your story writing. Just write. I can't quite sympathize because this is not at all how it is for me. I don't read erotic stories to "stroke" to and I don't write stories to make myself horny. I write because I enjoy the erotica and I find it arousing, but not to that degree and not with that "finish" in mind.

Try picking a regular time of day to write and just make yourself write during that time, regardless of mood. Try it and see how that works.

I agree with this too. I might be an outlier here, but I don't read erotica to get me off. I read erotica to get me started, so to speak. To spark my imagination and let things go from there. I'm not trying to have an orgasm with one eye on the screen.

So, yeah, I get a lot of ideas when I'm horny. But I don't write then. I write the ideas that stick around in my brain even when I'm not horny. If I'm still thinking about an idea for a story at those times, I figure it's probably a good enough idea to start writing.

To each their own, of course. But if your problem is finishing what you started, then the plan of setting a time to write, or at least setting aside a time you can write, without it being dependent on libido, is a good one.

 

[yukonnights]

I have no idea if this will help, but here's my 2 cents;

1) Try to form the complete story in your mind — this is just another sexual fantasy, so run it out to a possible end. Without and end goal, it can be very easy to get bogged down midway. With an end in mind, the story is just breadcrumbs carefully laid out leading the reader to that end. (But, that doesn't mean the ending can't change as you write.)

2) I find it helpful to jot down an outline of the main points that I want to reach rather than just winging it and relying on my current frame of mind being enough to keep the thing going at each session. Also, the outline helps me get going again when I feel like writing because I know where I left off and what was supposed to happen next. It puts me back into the place I was when I set it aside. I usually make a note to myself at where I stop writing that includes my current word count to date and what's coming next.

3) I also find coming back to pick it up again to be a good time to proofread what I've previously written, correcting mistakes, making something clearer, as well as getting me back into the story.

For me, the dedicated time frame to write would not work. Sometimes it can be months before I get back to something I've started. I don't ever intend to turn this hobby into a job, and forcing myself onto a set schedule would do that...but that's me, it may work for you.

 

[UsuallyPresent]

Like Hypoxia, I find that stories want to be told when they want to be, not in a regular scheduled way. That’d be too easy! I find myself breeding plot bunnies, characters & McGuffins at odd moments & have learned to doublecheck they don’t end up in work pieces or the like. Keeping a docs file open on my phone helps, gives me a regular outlet that I can go back to & organize later into something useful.

Then it becomes a matter of tossing bunnies, characters & McGuffins into a blender and pouring the slurry out thru a keyboard, which is the hardest part of the process for me, as I also have gazillions of partial & incomplete stories I know how I want to finish but haven’t plus those which I haven’t fully figured out how to finish yet.

Wait - O god, "like Hypoxia"... I may be in bigger trouble than I thought!

 

[ElectricBlue]

Wait - O god, "like Hypoxia"... I may be in bigger trouble than I thought!

You certainly are. Best learn to cope, hilarity will then surely follow .

 

[MichaelGH]

Like Hypoxia, I find that stories want to be told when they want to be, not in a regular scheduled way. That’d be too easy! I find myself breeding plot bunnies, characters & McGuffins at odd moments & have learned to doublecheck they don’t end up in work pieces or the like. Keeping a docs file open on my phone helps, gives me a regular outlet that I can go back to & organize later into something useful.

Then it becomes a matter of tossing bunnies, characters & McGuffins into a blender and pouring the slurry out thru a keyboard, which is the hardest part of the process for me, as I also have gazillions of partial & incomplete stories I know how I want to finish but haven’t plus those which I haven’t fully figured out how to finish yet.

Wait - O god, "like Hypoxia"... I may be in bigger trouble than I thought!

This is mostly used for music but sometimes I flip through these in hopes of inspiration

https://www.joshharrison.net/oblique-strategies/

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

That is the problem I have. I make sure I write something every day. Even if it just a few sentences or a paragraph