Ways to Gain Motivation?

[TheNyanCatMinecart]

Hello, y'all.

I've been dealing with a major lack of motivation for months now. I love this website so much. I love my characters and the relationships they've formed. I love all of you guys. However, it's getting harder and harder to roleplay, and I wish I knew why.

I don't want to quit. Far from it, I want to find a way to regain motivation and have fun like I once did. I've been trying to talk it through to others in the site's Discord, but I'm unsure how much that helps.

Taking a break only works in the short term, and I don't want to take another one. Not now.

Does anyone have any advice for gaining motivation or finding inner motivation? I'm really missing the passion I used to have for my stories, and I know it's still there, but something's missing/holding me back. This isn't just a problem for WCO - it's happening for my personal writing, too.

[GoldenRavenWings]

Hm… Maybe try to brainstorm ideas or try to look at other works? It’s something that helps me. I have a story I’m sorta working on I could lend you for a moment. @TheNyanCatMinecart

[zBlaze]

I'd say that if there's something you've been doing on-site that's stressful and might be subconciously be keeping you away, such as someone waiting on you for an art request, roleplay reply, etc., let them know you need more time! Everyone's really nice,they should understand
Maybe you could try brainstorming up new plots, or try to get your cats complexly entwined in the social web of the clans? I don't have very much advice, but I want to help.

[zozelen]

@TheNyanCatMinecart from what i've heard from you in the wco discord, it seems like writing can be stressful for you, and also that you're insecure about your writing abilities. maybe the lack of motivation stems from that. if you're placing your worth or feelings on how good you think your own writing is, then it'd make sense for your brain to just be tired of it. working on something like that will probably involve a personal journey and lots of time, so its not something i can offer advice on, but if you're passionate about staying on wco then maybe you could try and refocus on less stressful rps? silly and indulgent stuff with a lower word count. since its not too serious to you or your character, it might help you find enjoyment in writing again.

[TheNyanCatMinecart]

Originally Posted by GoldenRavenWings

Hm… Maybe try to brainstorm ideas or try to look at other works? It’s something that helps me. I have a story I’m sorta working on I could lend you for a moment. @TheNyanCatMinecart

I'm not sure if brainstorming ideas will help - I already have a ton in my head. But thanks for the suggestion! I'd be interested in looking at your story if you're willing to share it. It helps to see the creativity of others.

Originally Posted by blxze.

I'd say that if there's something you've been doing on-site that's stressful and might be subconciously be keeping you away, such as someone waiting on you for an art request, roleplay reply, etc., let them know you need more time! Everyone's really nice,they should understand
Maybe you could try brainstorming up new plots, or try to get your cats complexly entwined in the social web of the clans? I don't have very much advice, but I want to help.

Thank you. A huge thing for me is my anxiety. Even though people say my writing is good, I'm always worried about it being bad, not properly writing about certain themes, always feeling like I'm being judged, etc. And I always feel like I never come off right when I try to ask for help in the Discord. Which has just made me more nervous because I feel like I'm annoying people. Asking here, though, feels a lot fresher, y'know? Like I'm not just floundering around and acting desperate with no solution. I really want to get my passion and motivation back, and even getting a little help will go a long way. As for plots, I'm not sure what else to do, and I'm also not sure if I'd have time to engrain them in the social web of the Clans. I do feel guilty about not being as active, though.

Originally Posted by zozelen

@TheNyanCatMinecart from what i've heard from you in the wco discord, it seems like writing can be stressful for you, and also that you're insecure about your writing abilities. maybe the lack of motivation stems from that. if you're placing your worth or feelings on how good you think your own writing is, then it'd make sense for your brain to just be tired of it. working on something like that will probably involve a personal journey and lots of time, so its not something i can offer advice on, but if you're passionate about staying on wco then maybe you could try and refocus on less stressful rps? silly and indulgent stuff with a lower word count. since its not too serious to you or your character, it might help you find enjoyment in writing again.

You're right. It's definitely my anxiety that's fueling this. But I feel like there's a fix out there somewhere that will help me get my motivation back. I have the love and the passion; I just wish I was able to get more motivation, something that would help reignite the spark that I know is there. And I don't want to be insecure or worried or anything like that. I just want to write and have fun. But I'm just so scared of messing up or of being judged. Do you have any advice on that front - how to be less scared, and also how to be less critical of my writing - to allow myself to enjoy it instead of worrying over every little thing? Also... your advice is good, but the smaller posts aren't on my priority list. Those posts are harder to make because, well, they require more strain on my motivation. They're extra to what I'm already doing, and there's no passion behind them. But I get the general idea. I used to have fun doing small things like that. However, I need to focus on getting my general motivation back for the roleplays and writing I'm most invested in before moving onto anything more.

[iliri]

Hello! I deal with the same motivational problems when it comes to writing and most often - it comes from being stressed out and scared if my posts aren't good enough. I've always been told that the biggest standby when it comes to procrastination or loss of motivation is FEAR. Fear and anxiety are some of the hardest tropes to overstep, and I often deal with this coincidentally enough daily even though I have been told numerous times that my writing is cohesive and fine the way it is. However, even with this fear, the thing you have to do to overcome it is to pull through. It's how I overstepped my lack of motivation that I had endured a little bit ago when I was having a hard time due to irl situations or just not having the time to write in general due to being busy.

One of my bigger tips is to set a goal for yourself; think about how much you want to write per day and keep that goal. Don't make it too extreme to the point where you can't even do it. Start slow, and then gradually increase it a little bit day by day. To add to this, find yourself a quiet place to think and consider what you want to do for your writing. Think about how you would like to start it, or how you want it to take place. Being in a quiet, dimly lit environment helps the mind start to think and unravel your thoughts and allows your creativity to flow as freely as it wants.

I also recommend listening to music. Music is another big motivator to set you going to write the tone you want to set out for the post you want to make. A prime example of something that I wrote is this from listening to this. Listening to this soundtrack in particular helped me set up the proper motivation and tone that I wanted the readers to feel while reading it, to make them feel the emotion that is pouring off the post that you want your readers to portray.

I'm no expert writer myself, but these are tips that I gradually like to use to help myself - and others - gain the motivation that they desire to try to aid them out of writer's block or procrastination. It's never easy to aid yourself out of a mindset where you think that you cannot write well enough, but you have to pull through and try. Remember, don't aim for extremely long posts if you lack motivation, that is just going to send you back to being in a downpour of anxiety and fear of being unsure of what to write next. Always start with something small, like 250 - 300 words, and slowly write longer posts as days pass by.

@TheNyanCatMinecart

[TheNyanCatMinecart]

@eris

Omg, this is EXACTLY what I've been experiencing, and it's so great to know that I'm not alone. Like, it's scary how closely this mirrors what I've been going through. It's hard for me to write because I'm afraid. Because of my anxiety making me feel like what I write will be hated or that it doesn't matter even though people say such kind and wonderful things to me. And I keep going around and around in this cycle of begging people for help/advice because the most straightforward things don't help me like they used to (ex. taking a break). That only added to my anxiety because now there was this extra level of "they're all annoyed by me and think I suck."

It's super hard to break out of this mindset because, well, as much as I want to, it feels impossible. If I'm not on the lookout for flaws, will they just fester and make me a terrible writer? What if I'm destined to fail? And the biggest thing of all is how sad I am that I don't just immediately feel excited and inspired like I used to. I don't want writing to be a chore. I want it to be fun. But, until I find a way of overcoming this, things won't change.

I'm not good at setting goals because I'm scared of those obligations. I'm scared of my work not being as good if I do it when there's no spark, no care. I love listening to music, and it's always inspired me, but not for WCO posts. How do I find music to represent these specific characters? I'm not trying to say your advice is bad; no, the opposite, it's great! I'm just not sure how I'd be able to apply these to myself.

It's hard for me to write shorter posts, especially because my current ones are so character-centered and vital to them. However, maybe trying to branch out with non-super-vital posts would help. Oh yeah, and I totally relate to the dim, quiet room thing. That definitely helps the creative juices flow.

Just hearing that someone else went through this helps so much and is already starting to bring back my motivation. Not perfectly.

But, even though I want advice, I'm just so terrified sometimes. I just wish I could get some magic words that inspire me enough to shake off my fear and have fun again and not have this lack of motivation... It sucks. If you're okay with it, maybe you could DM me some other strategies for shaking off anxiety if you have them? Like, telling that critic's voice to shut up, to tell me that writing isn't an exhausting chore but something I love. I can use all the help I can get because I hate being stuck in this rut and feeling so helpless when all the creativity is there. And I will keep your advice - and everyone else's - in mind. I don't want to be the type of person who asks for advice and then ignores it. It's just hard trying to adjust to being able to write so easily, then all of a sudden needing to do extra to do this thing that I love when I'm already so darn tired out.

[hades.]

My strategy is that when I don't feel like writing something long, I can get myself to write a a bare-bones post. It's not a bad thing. If you don't want to write one of those, I just don't post until I find a song, a piece of art, or poem or whatever thst gives me the vibes and inspiration to write the post. Also, when I get an idea for a pos, I write it down in handwriting on a piece of paper to look at when I'm ready. @TheNyanCatMinecart