Writing endurance

[SpecterNecter]

My latest story is much like my others. An idea hit me and I wrote and wrote, hours seemed like minutes, writing and editing and writing more. But then I hit a wall and minutes seemed like hours and the writing becomes like work. I have the next part in my mind but writing it seems like such a slog. Anyone else have this problem? Some are messaging for the next chapter but I'm stuck in neutral. I'm not looking for advice on how to get motivated. I'm just wondering if others have the same problem or if it's just me.

 

[NotWise]

I had the same problem with one of my stories. I set it aside and wrote other things, but the readers wanted the rest of the story and started down-voting earlier parts because they weren't gettng the rest of it. I eventually bit the bullet and slogged through to the end of the story.

 

[SpecterNecter]

Ya that's exactly what happened to my last story before this latest

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I'm not trying to give advice here, but I have about 15 stories in some stage of progress at a time. If I get stuck on one (and that happened with the next thing I'm going to publish), I swap over and write another one until the mental block clears.

"Some stage" includes everything from "second drafts" to "one-paragraph plot summary".

-Annie

 

[SpecterNecter]

Ya I appreciate what you are saying. I'm not stuck though, just not motivated enough to write. I have no idea how I went to bold btw

 

[TheWritingGroup]

Ya I appreciate what you are saying. I'm not stuck though, just not motivated enough to write. I have no idea how I went to bold btw

In stories? You surround the bold text with HTML tags, <b> and </b>. There's a FAQ.
https://literotica.com/faq/publishing/publishing-text-formatting

 

[pink_silk_glove]

My latest story is much like my others. An idea hit me and I wrote and wrote, hours seemed like minutes, writing and editing and writing more. But then I hit a wall and minutes seemed like hours and the writing becomes like work. I have the next part in my mind but writing it seems like such a slog. Anyone else have this problem? Some are messaging for the next chapter but I'm stuck in neutral. I'm not looking for advice on how to get motivated. I'm just wondering if others have the same problem or if it's just me.

How bad do you want to finish it and how good do you want it to be?

This is how I roll up my sleeves and get to work. I want to finish it and I want it to be as good as it can be. Sometimes it comes easier and sometimes it's tough, but that's writing. If you want to write your best, it's work. If you just want to fling some stuff out there, go ahead and fling some meh stuff out there. It shouldn't take much effort.

 

[SpecterNecter]

Ok the stuff I wrote fast I didn't just 'fling' and I think it's really good. The reviews were great. I don't want to work at it, that's kind of my point. In the beginning it just flows.

 

[Voboy]

Sure.

Usually, a story that becomes a chore goes onto the scrapheap. Not always, but usually. There are always more stories out there waiting to be written.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Ok the stuff I wrote fast I didn't just 'fling' and I think it's really good. The reviews were great. I don't want to work at it, that's kind of my point. In the beginning it just flows.

So ... you write great stuff with no effort and your fans absolutely love it. Then what is your question and what is your problem? What is this wall that you speak of and how does the slogging come about? Seriously.

 

[gunhilltrain]

My latest story is much like my others. An idea hit me and I wrote and wrote, hours seemed like minutes, writing and editing and writing more. But then I hit a wall and minutes seemed like hours and the writing becomes like work. I have the next part in my mind but writing it seems like such a slog. Anyone else have this problem? Some are messaging for the next chapter but I'm stuck in neutral. I'm not looking for advice on how to get motivated. I'm just wondering if others have the same problem or if it's just me.

There are some good responses here. Basically, you have to pace yourself. If you don't feel like it's a good day for writing then don't do it. Or, maybe more accurately, you may not be able to spend all day on it. You're not getting paid, so it's not supposed to be like working in a factory (or fast food joint!). Personally, I can do about two hours at time and that's about it. I may have more to say about this later.

 

[ronde]

My latest story is much like my others. An idea hit me and I wrote and wrote, hours seemed like minutes, writing and editing and writing more. But then I hit a wall and minutes seemed like hours and the writing becomes like work. I have the next part in my mind but writing it seems like such a slog. Anyone else have this problem? Some are messaging for the next chapter but I'm stuck in neutral. I'm not looking for advice on how to get motivated. I'm just wondering if others have the same problem or if it's just me.

I very seldom write subsequent chapters to my stories for this very reason. I try to make a story have a definite beginning and a definite end, so starting another chapter in the series is pretty hard for me to do. I could come up with an idea, but making the second chapter "feel" like the first would be difficult for me. I'd have to work at it and I write because I enjoy writing, not because I like working at writing.

I find it much more enjoyable to write "serials" - stories with the same main character or characters with different plots. I don't have to be concerned with anything I wrote in the first story except some character descriptions.

 

[StillStunned]

My latest story is much like my others. An idea hit me and I wrote and wrote, hours seemed like minutes, writing and editing and writing more. But then I hit a wall and minutes seemed like hours and the writing becomes like work. I have the next part in my mind but writing it seems like such a slog. Anyone else have this problem? Some are messaging for the next chapter but I'm stuck in neutral. I'm not looking for advice on how to get motivated. I'm just wondering if others have the same problem or if it's just me.

It's not just you. Sometimes it happens. I wrote four instalments of The Rivals within a month. It took another three months to write the fifth. I've been working on a sixth for eight months now.

I've given up feeling bad about it, even when readers ask for more. The only obligation I have is to myself, so I'll write what I want and when I want. One day the excitement will return, and I'll go back and finish it. In the meantime I have plenty of other stories to mess around with.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Pretty common malady I'm afraid. For me, everything between the sexy scenes is super interesting and fun, and I tear through them pretty quickly. Building the backgrounds and plot, fleshing out the characters, and setting the stage. It's all just bliss for me. And then the sex begins and I'm forcing myself to not take a break.

 

[THBGato]

I feel you. I get that.

Sometimes, though it's almost the opposite: I get massively enthused and animated by a story, so much so I can't sit still to type. I get up and pace around, then, when I do sit back down, get ridiculously frustrated that my typing speed can't keep up with my imagination.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I feel you. I get that.

Sometimes, though it's almost the opposite: I get massively enthused and animated by a story, so much so I can't sit still to type. I get up and pace around, then, when I do sit back down, get ridiculously frustrated that my typing speed can't keep up with my imagination.

Point form. That's what I do anyway. Fastest way to get your ideas down.

 

[THBGato]

Point form.

Excuse my ignorance, but what's "point form"?

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Excuse my ignorance, but what's "point form"?

Note taking.

~meet for a date at 50s diner
~juke box plays
~order soup
~talk and connect
~he tries to pay, she insists on separate bill
~they leave, it has started raining
~share umbrella, holding hands

etc

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I feel you. I get that.

Sometimes, though it's almost the opposite: I get massively enthused and animated by a story, so much so I can't sit still to type. I get up and pace around, then, when I do sit back down, get ridiculously frustrated that my typing speed can't keep up with my imagination.

Dictation software? It's pretty good, and you can get all your thoughts down as fast as you can talk, then fix the transcription errors when you do your normal edits.

 

[x_quietshysub]

When I wrote my stories, they were quite quick and to the point..not lots of character development. Also record your ideas using your phone as well for times when you don't feel like trying to make the effort.

 

[SpecterNecter]

So ... you write great stuff with no effort and your fans absolutely love it. Then what is your question and what is your problem? What is this wall that you speak of and how does the slogging come about? Seriously.

 

[SpecterNecter]

Ok well thanks everyone for the input

 

[lovecraft68]

You hit that point, you take a break. Forcing it rarely does it any justice, and then it can make you more frustrated because when you go back and read through you will see where your flow stopped and the pushing it began.

Take a step back and breath. As for people asking for the new chapter? Well, are they paying for it? Do you owe them anything? Answer is no. You owe yourself to do your best work, and sometimes that doesn't all come at once.

 

[SpecterNecter]

Good thoughts..thanks

 

[pink_silk_glove]

You hit that point, you take a break. Forcing it rarely does it any justice, and then it can make you more frustrated because when you go back and read through you will see where your flow stopped and the pushing it began.

Take a step back and breath. As for people asking for the new chapter? Well, are they paying for it? Do you owe them anything? Answer is no. You owe yourself to do your best work, and sometimes that doesn't all come at once.

Speaking as someone who doesn't like to force things, I have to agree largely with this, except that there are different writers with different processes. I have a friend who writes through attrition. He will force himself to word counts and writes reams of stuff, and at the end of the month he tosses away 70-80-90% and keeps the cream, and it works for him. His stuff is easily as good as mine or better. I just can't work that way. My worst mangled messes are always from when I sat down and forced myself. Now once in a while I find that forcing myself (even if it's bad) will grease my wheels and nudge me closer to the productive groove, so I still try to force myself in rare instances when I feel it necessary.

I will say however, that most of the time the words are flowing decently (not awesomely) and these times can be very productive. But it takes effort. It's the dirty work that I have to roll up my sleeves and get to it because I want the result. And it can be frustrating but if I want the story done right I just have to put in the extra effort to make it as good as it can be. If I only wrote when the inspiration was a perfect breeze and never got my hands dirty I would never get anything done - or I'd just keep churning out the same basic stuff and never get better. That's just me.

If you just want to write some stuff, it's not hard at all, but if you want to improve and push yourself it's work.

It's perfectly okay to only write the easy stuff. This is a hobby site after all. No one should be forced to take their hobby as super serious as I often take it. That's my choice, no one else's problem. If someone only wants to write the easy stuff, then they should just do that. If they've hit a wall, go mow the lawn and do the dishes and come back another time.

As for publishing chapters as they're written, a writer only has himself to blame if he can't keep up the productivity or the inspiration and the fans are upset, because there's a perfect solution to ALL of that:

Don't post any chapters at all until the whole thing is written.

It's that simple. You can then publish on a regular schedule (once a day, every three days, once a week), can promise an ending to the story to your fans (because it's already done) and also can have a tighter plot because you can edit from top to bottom before anything is posted (no excuse for meandering loose end plot, no accidental loss of continuity, etc). So if a writer insists on publishing chapters as he goes, that is the risk that the writer runs, the tightrope that he balances on, and if his fans are upset with him for it, his tears are his own because he chose this method.