Seeking council of fellow writers...

[apenman]

Fellow writers, I?d like some suggestions/advice.

I have two stories that I?m currently working on, although the term ?work? may be an overstatement.

You see, lately I can?t seem to garner the necessary enthusiasm to sit down and apply myself to the craft. I?m not sure what?s going on in my mind?perhaps it?s the change of season?the inevitable coming of winter. But lately, all I can manage is to sit down at the laptop, write maybe one or two sentences, and then close it down and go do something else?

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? How do I (how do you) re-kindle the enthusiasm? Is it just a matter of waiting out this slow period? Is it just a simple matter of occupying my brain with something else until the writing bug strikes once again?

Thanks for listening,
A. Penman

[Giannis-CB]

Fellow writers, I’d like some suggestions/advice.

I have two stories that I’m currently working on, although the term “work” may be an overstatement.

You see, lately I can’t seem to garner the necessary enthusiasm to sit down and apply myself to the craft. I’m not sure what’s going on in my mind…perhaps it’s the change of season…the inevitable coming of winter. But lately, all I can manage is to sit down at the laptop, write maybe one or two sentences, and then close it down and go do something else…

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? How do I (how do you) re-kindle the enthusiasm? Is it just a matter of waiting out this slow period? Is it just a simple matter of occupying my brain with something else until the writing bug strikes once again?

Thanks for listening,
A. Penman

Same case here... Not able to advise you my friend.
Just an idea... maybe, to read again some of your old stories ? Maybe this "will warm your enthusiasm" as we say here.
Or some other stories, not yours, which you liked and you would like to be the writer ?

Anyway... Being one of the bigger fans of your stories, i wish the writing bug to strike you again soon !!

[Catharsis]

Some things to try:
1. Exercise. Walking, running, lifting weights, whatever.

2. Write everything that comes into your mind. If words for your stories are being crowded out by other thoughts, write those thoughts down as fast as they come. Doesn't matter how dumb or pointless they are. Delete them once you find that that your brain is able to organize sentences for your stories. The act of typing them out can convince them that they've been heard and they'll leave you alone to focus on other things.

3. Simplify your routine and reduce your distractions. Leave space for your imagination to recharge and do its thing. It will let you know when it has what happens next all ready to go.

4. Don't sweat it. Unless this is your livelihood, there's no need to force it. Do it because you want to and only when you enjoy it. The results may take a long time, but they'll be less mechanical and you'll feel better about putting your name next to them.

[JB57]

I second everything Catharsis wrote. I'd also alter Giannis' advice a bit and recommend reading the stories of others' that you have found inspiring in the past. I usually find that what others have written usually gets my inspiration going more than my own work.

In the end, I think that the best advice may simply be waiting it out until you feel the inspiration again. This is not your livelihood, so forcing yourself to write is not necessary and writing these stories should be a pleasure, not a necessity.

I hope you get over this soon. I'm really looking forward to your next stories on the board!

JB

[catfightlover40]

I'm doing "movie transcripts" in the sense that provided the needed headspace, I write down what I see mentally, like a movie. I stalled some of my stories exactly because there were too many options to choose from, or not viable ones. That's just only made worse if I get hooked on the sensual aspects of it, and instead of writing I just read what I wrote before.

Therefore, depending on how unique you want to make it, my advice is to clear your mind of those settings. What works for me is the polar opposite of sensuality, like an important documentary, which is both brain food and a bona fide boner killer.

[Rivals_Rapture]

Now, I might be different than other writers in that I let my passions and creativity take me to whatever story I want to work on and not a particular tale that I had otherwise planned to be drafting.

I have about, oh ... 14 stories where I have written anywhere from a paragraph to 7,000 words. And those stories, along with new ones I begin on a whim, I shift between as my creative winds blow (like three different versions of a sequel to Who is This? that will likely never come out, ha ha).

I find, that if I don't do that, I run into the exact same malaise you are describing.

Now, I don't write commissions and am very clear with people that stories they want from me might come out in a year or never. Ask poor catfightlover40 about the Star Trek story he asked me for about the time man first discovered fire.

I tell them of that irritating uncertainty, because if I am not feeling a specific story, the action and characters in it, or the particular pull of the tone -- I cannot write. I just sit and stare, writing a sentence over and over again until I eventually give up.

But even with the aid of that manic leaping, sometimes I'm just "not in the mood", exhausted from work, or distracted or anxious about something in my real life. Each of those states keep me from writing or even trying to write. If, for whatever reason, I tried to force myself, I'm almost certain that the results would be words on a document, yes, but words I would later need/want to replace with better ones.

In sum, I'm saying write WHEN you want to write.

Write WHAT you want to write.

If you don't feel the tale or the moment you as an author are living in, just close your laptop, breathe, and do something else. And if the siren call of fighting still pulls at your soul, use your time to plan out a story that excites you -- truly and deeply. One that you can't wait to get from fingers to keys and then before our eyes to blow our minds.

All of that said, if you're working under the gun of money or unshakable request, you're stuck, and I have no better advice than the authors who have already spoken here. I'd bet Luffy would have some pretty keen insight, given how many commissions he's done.

[Callousgirl]

I think it is hard to write about sex when it is someone outside your gender. Since I am a woman, I really have no idea what I would do with a penis. I can scratch it, I can rub it, I can play with it. It is just that I really do not know what to do with it all the time.

[catfightlover40]

I think it is hard to write about sex when it is someone outside your gender. Since I am a woman, I really have no idea what I would do with a penis. I can scratch it, I can rub it, I can play with it. It is just that I really do not know what to do with it all the time.

With all due respect, that's what in-depth interviews are for As for the phallic object, what is to be understood here, is the relation of age, sex drive and other factors. You probably know this better than me, that there are 2 types of misconduct, one is about power and isn't sexual (like the difference between a fellatio and irrumatio) while the other is about unchecked hormonal impulses to the detriment of other person(s).

Fact of the matter is, the research into the subconscious and into developmental psychology scared both professionals and laypeople so much that the reactions ranged from Freud's flawed (to mean: unresearched) disposition of penis envy to totalitarian attempts to literally wipe psychology out of existence in the 1950s.

Some of us men fear confronting performance (or issues with it) so much, that an objective take in extreme cases result in PTSD or even suicide. Suppose you had an average "precision tool", it'd come with the territory to overinflate. It's not different from comparing breast sizes, it's different for everyone, therefore it can be claimed as a personal victory, that "demands" constant care. So, you'd "tend to it" as much as possible, because it'd "validate" you as a man.

That's why most gender swaps are already built on the utter fantasy that women do this as well to the same amount, just hide it better. The problem comes from the commercialized mindset, that if advertising offers these things to us, then by default we're entitled to women liking and servicing us.

[Callousgirl]

With all due respect, that's what in-depth interviews are for As for the phallic object, what is to be understood here, is the relation of age, sex drive and other factors. You probably know this better than me, that there are 2 types of misconduct, one is about power and isn't sexual (like the difference between a ******** and irrumatio) while the other is about unchecked hormonal impulses to the detriment of other person(s).

Fact of the matter is, the research into the subconscious and into developmental psychology scared both professionals and laypeople so much that the reactions ranged from Freud's flawed (to mean: unresearched) disposition of ***** envy to totalitarian attempts to literally wipe psychology out of existence in the 1950s.

Some of us men fear confronting performance (or issues with it) so much, that an objective take in extreme cases result in PTSD or even suicide. Suppose you had an average "precision tool", it'd come with the territory to overinflate. It's not different from comparing breast sizes, it's different for everyone, therefore it can be claimed as a personal victory, that "demands" constant care. So, you'd "tend to it" as much as possible, because it'd "validate" you as a man.

That's why most gender swaps are already built on the utter fantasy that women do this as well to the same amount, just hide it better. The problem comes from the commercialized mindset, that if advertising offers these things to us, then by default we're entitled to women liking and servicing us.

Well, I really do not read romance novels and I find them boring as hell when I read a few as a teenager. Women write really poorly with male lovers, as being tall, strong, and have unlimited amount of money. It is strange that the leading men in movies are tall in a romance movie. And they are the same race as the woman as well. There is really little diversity with the type of person to have a fantasy with.

Since same sex marriage became legal a few years ago. The romance novels and same sex TV and movies, I really feel it is still stuck in the porn era. When it is with two women, the stories still deal with breast size. Like the women are DDD/E cup or bigger, when only 1% of women in America are that size. Then the fact that women who are lesbian, are around 2% to maybe 4%. So a lesbian being DDD/E cup or bigger is around 0.04% of the total female population, or, 4/10,000 women. And two women being like each other and finding each other with those breast size and being lesbian is very small. So that would be 400 per million, and they want to have a titfight like in porn movies without being paid. Your really looking at ZERO.

[catfightlover40]

Well, I really do not read romance novels and I find them boring as hell when I read a few as a teenager. Women write really poorly with male lovers, as being tall, strong, and have unlimited amount of money. It is strange that the leading men in movies are tall in a romance movie. And they are the same race as the woman as well. There is really little diversity with the type of person to have a fantasy with.

Since same sex marriage became legal a few years ago. The romance novels and same sex TV and movies, I really feel it is still stuck in the porn era. When it is with two women, the stories still deal with breast size. Like the women are DDD/E cup or bigger, when only 1% of women in America are that size. Then the fact that women who are lesbian, are around 2% to maybe 4%. So a lesbian being DDD/E cup or bigger is around 0.04% of the total female population, or, 4/10,000 women. And two women being like each other and finding each other with those breast size and being lesbian is very small. So that would be 400 per million, and they want to have a titfight like in porn movies without being paid. Your really looking at ZERO.

I'd argue on the merit of the different eras in porn. My personal preference is the Golden Age, 1968 to 1974, after the sexual revolution started, and before the witch hunt begun to remove mainstream adult entertainment only to be taken over by the mob. Here in Europe, fortunately, no such thing occurred, and as a result, movies like giallos could successfully combine the noir style (especially the Nordic noir) with softcore erotica.

In my own stories I like psychological realism, where most could happen the next room over, with only the characters being fictional. Naturally that only works the best if enough and deep enough character study is being done to let readers identify with characters. Yes, I'm implying that a story is being best served by the women featured being more than a "window dressing" for a polishing session.