How do you motivate yourself?

How do you motivate yourself to write? I’ve been daydreaming for a story for a month and barely started on first episode and haven’t continued it for a long time. I’m scared I’d just get uninspired/ forget about it when I’ve spent a long time planning about it and I don’t want to let my efforts go to waste, so how do you make sure you keep coding and don’t get unmotivated/lazy to continue?
*I’m a student too so I don’t have much time :confused:

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I lost motivation for over 2 weeks with my story after I published the first 3 ep, even though I had it planned out until the end. I haven’t fully got back my motivation yet but I managed to update ep4.

What helped me a bit is not to feel pressured to write or code. Then, after a while, I managed to get some courage to reread the published chapters and the upcoming scenes, and then I got excited again with the story and I want to share more of it to the readers.

Hope this helps. :blush:

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Thanks for your honest answer, I’d try that :slightly_smiling_face:

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Tbh I don’t.
Like I have read hidden gems that I fell in love with but the author burnt out after episode 5 and I get it. :sob:
-So I told myself until I can write 6 consecutive episodes and get to a plot point I’m not allowed to publish. (I think it’s the idea of publishing is appealing but putting the work in isn’t ;-:wink:

-BUT I know I’m going to have character moodboards for fans, so when I don’t wanna write I constantly go back to make new moodboards and improve them- then I get like a rush to say “hey this could work!” Maybe try that? I use PicCollage for them.

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If I loose motivation to write: I take a break. I do something totally else: take a walk, making some new outfits for characters, reading books or reading other stories on episode, studying, walk the dog/cat, working, doing household. And after a while the motivation comes definitely back. Just take a break and do something totally different. You are human after all and deserve some breaks, too. You have to take care of yourself, hun. Take care and wish you lots of luck with your story.

Love A-W

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Totally agree with you @AngelWings1983

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I get unmotivated so easily, I could plan out a whole story then the next day I’ll say to myself that “Its not good enough, I should just give up.” But, to prevent myself from thinking about all of that, I generally take a break from writing and read episode stories or just books in general to re-energize myself. Since you’re a student, you might want to set a timetable for when you want to write and when you can do schoolwork so you don’t feel so stressed out about being unmotivated. It definitely comes back, as A-W stated.

Also! Try preparing a script for an episode that is word for word so that when you are writing/coding you don’t get bored and overthink about how your hard work will be wasted. Motivation always returns! Regardless of how long it takes.

(I hope this helps!)

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Yes that is a really good idea - since I’m busy too.
I think the main thing is I want to get to the exciting part of the story and I’m bored making all the characters, outfits, overlays etc. I just don’t have patience for it :frowning: The only thing is my story has to be published if I request for covers/art scenes on the forums which is what makes me continue honestly - though I don’t want to rush coding.

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Thank you! Taking breaks does help a lot :two_hearts:

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Tysm that is really helpful :smiling_face: I’d try it out too!

Yeah that makes perfect sense! You kinda have to be real with urself and ask “Is there something that isn’t wowing me enough to continue?” You are perfectly capable of writing AND finishing an episode story. I believe in you, get those first 6 episodes done! :joy:

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Thank you for the support!! :laughing:

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Take a break and try new hobbies!
Reward yourself after you finish a chapter
Make a goal!
Don’t be too hard on yourself, it’s okay because you’re learning. Sometimes people lose motivation because they don’t feel good enough.
Remember why you working for your story in the first place, do you want to be a successful writer, etc?

My reason for writing a story is to have fun and improve my art/ writing skill, so it’s actually an escape from my boring young adult routine so yeah :rofl:

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Hhahaha I get that! Thank you for your suggestion <3

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Hi again
I’m going to be doing an Instagram where there will be many tips on coding and character/outfit examples. I will also be including motivational posts. if you want to follow me, my Instagram is my @tumbi.writes

Bear in mind there won’t be anything there at the moment, but I’m hoping to post my first one in the next few weeks, and when I do, I’ll post once a week from then on, most likely on Saturdays

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Things I do:

  • Listen to music that I can picture playing during scenes of my stories.
  • Draw my characters.
  • Edit my characters.
  • Write down ideas that come to mind for the stories.
  • Actually start writing to feel the relief and pleasure of finally beginning to get some work done.
  • Write down dialogues and narrations in notes as they come to mind (I often like to do that whilst listening to music).
  • Search for backgrounds / overlays that would really suit important or aesthetic scenes.
  • Read other stories / watch movies that might give inspo.
  • Read over positive messages of readers who are looking forward to or have enjoyed my stories.
  • Command my friends to hype me up. :joy:
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I do a lot of what @schittwriter does lol

  • Changing my characters outfits and appearance
  • Looking for backgrounds and overlays and then I go “Oh, snap! I can add this to the scene!”
  • Just start coding with an idea written down (I leave the gray # notes in my script so if any ideas come to me, I can add them in). Because once I get going, I really get going lol. I can code for hours and finally look up and be like ‘what happened to the time?’
  • Sleep. It sounds weird but sometimes I dream about my characters or story in my sleep. Next thing you know I’m waking up with new ideas to write.
  • Another weird one but when I really need motivation because I’m super lazy sometimes I browse the “Promote Your Story” section. I look at all the R4Rs and people asking to share your stories below and I start thinking ‘Aww, I want to share mines too’ or ‘Ugh, I need to keep working on my story’. Strangely enough it gets me working.
  • Another big thing. Try to work on only one unpublished story at a time! I know sometimes when my motivation wanes I get interested in another story I was writing. But I’ve got a library full of unpublished stories which means nothing is ever getting done if I’m giving them all little bits of my attention. Stick to one and go back to it even when your motivation is low.
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Well I struggle with concentration issues in general (possibly adhd) so I lose motivation, start things and never finish them… etc… I’m also a perfectionist which is a very great pairing with all of this!

What I’m doing rn is making a general plan for my stories when I have ideas. Because often I have a lot of ideas but not all of them will be good or work out. If I plan them out beforehand on google docs, I can easily take out things and revise things I don’t like anymore. If you code it right away, it’s harder to do this because you work hard on something only to not like it and throw it away.

I’m also accepting that idk if I’ll ever publish something. I’m writing for the fun of it. If I make something and happen to finish it I’ll publish it, but until then I’m kinda just writing for fun.

This probably doesn’t help at all lol.

I’m also a student and am busy a lot of the time. So yeah, it’s definitely hard to write. I just view it as a fun hobby. I try not to be hard on myself when I genuinely don’t have any time for writing.

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Same here. I just write for the fun of it. I’m not writing with the intention of getting any reads or whatever. Makes it much more enjoyable and rewarding. (underground authors ftw!)

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Thank you, I think that’s a great idea! I will check it out :slight_smile:

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