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Hi AC/FICTALKers. If you see this (11/12/2024) please see new post in General Discussions about Open Doors OTW Organization for Transformative Works) offering to help preserve the AC archive and let me know your thoughts:

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Author Topic: Finding Your Mojo  (Read 2036 times)

cabybakes

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Finding Your Mojo
« on: June 20, 2009, 01:50:38 PM »

I realized I was kind of hijacking another thread with talk about my lost mojo...so I thought I start a thread (which I don't normally do for some reason)...

So...when you have no writing mojo, even though you really want to write, what do you do to get it back? 
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RokofAges75

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Re: Finding Your Mojo
« Reply #1 on: June 20, 2009, 02:02:12 PM »

I wish there was a magic formula for this that works every time, but unfortunately, there's not.  Sometimes you can get your mojo to come back, and sometimes you just have to wait for it to come back on its own.

One thing that sometimes helps me is to go back and re-read the story that I'm stuck on.  Maybe not the whole thing, if it's long, but at least the most recent parts of it.  That sometimes gets me back into it and makes me want to write more of it.

Also, looking back at feedback, old reviews and whatnot, sometimes helps too.  When you've got people telling you they like your story and begging for more, you really feel like giving them more, and even if you're not totally inspired, sometimes that can be enough to at least make you force yourself to sit down and try.  Sometimes all you need is to get started, and then the words start flowing again.  But if it's like pulling teeth the whole way through, that's probably not the best solution.  You don't want to have to force the entire chapter out.

This is not something I'm very good at, but it can work.  If you're stuck on that one story and don't have a back-up story to turn to, try writing something new.  It can be a short story, a challenge, a flash fiction or songfic, anything.  Doesn't have to be fanfic or even fiction at all.  Sometimes just writing something else for a change helps refresh you, and when you get bored of it, you'll probably be ready to go back to Casual.

I have a half-finished chapter of 4.15 that I need to finish, but the writing class I took this week got me really inspired to write personal narratives.  I wrote one for class about my dad that I'm going to give him for Father's Day LOL, and that got me inspired to write another one about my grandparents that I'm going to give to them.  So I'm working on that instead, and the pages are just flowing out of me because it's something totally different, and it's personal, so it's much easier to write.

My last suggestion is to read.  Read work by other authors whose writing you admire - can be fanfic or real books.  Don't just pay attention to the story, but also the writer's craft... the way they use words to tell the story.  Sometimes that can be very inspiring, when you think to yourself, "Hey, I could do that too," and then you want to go do it.  It helps if you read something that's similar to your own story, at least in genre, but not always.

Hope this helps!
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~Julie

"Sometimes writers and sociopaths are hard to tell apart." -J.K. Rowling

Purpura Lipstick

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Re: Finding Your Mojo
« Reply #2 on: June 20, 2009, 04:10:07 PM »

well of course you have to hunt down Dr. Evil baby and get your mojo back! ;)

Sorry, if I had the answer I wouldn't be going on 2 years without updates to my stories....
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- Purpura -
   -Lore-

cabybakes

  • Commander of Confusion
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Re: Finding Your Mojo
« Reply #3 on: June 20, 2009, 05:31:11 PM »

I wish there was a magic formula for this that works every time, but unfortunately, there's not.  Sometimes you can get your mojo to come back, and sometimes you just have to wait for it to come back on its own.

One thing that sometimes helps me is to go back and re-read the story that I'm stuck on.  Maybe not the whole thing, if it's long, but at least the most recent parts of it.  That sometimes gets me back into it and makes me want to write more of it.

Also, looking back at feedback, old reviews and whatnot, sometimes helps too.  When you've got people telling you they like your story and begging for more, you really feel like giving them more, and even if you're not totally inspired, sometimes that can be enough to at least make you force yourself to sit down and try.  Sometimes all you need is to get started, and then the words start flowing again.  But if it's like pulling teeth the whole way through, that's probably not the best solution.  You don't want to have to force the entire chapter out.

This is not something I'm very good at, but it can work.  If you're stuck on that one story and don't have a back-up story to turn to, try writing something new.  It can be a short story, a challenge, a flash fiction or songfic, anything.  Doesn't have to be fanfic or even fiction at all.  Sometimes just writing something else for a change helps refresh you, and when you get bored of it, you'll probably be ready to go back to Casual.

I have a half-finished chapter of 4.15 that I need to finish, but the writing class I took this week got me really inspired to write personal narratives.  I wrote one for class about my dad that I'm going to give him for Father's Day LOL, and that got me inspired to write another one about my grandparents that I'm going to give to them.  So I'm working on that instead, and the pages are just flowing out of me because it's something totally different, and it's personal, so it's much easier to write.

My last suggestion is to read.  Read work by other authors whose writing you admire - can be fanfic or real books.  Don't just pay attention to the story, but also the writer's craft... the way they use words to tell the story.  Sometimes that can be very inspiring, when you think to yourself, "Hey, I could do that too," and then you want to go do it.  It helps if you read something that's similar to your own story, at least in genre, but not always.

Hope this helps!

Thanks, Julie!  I have tried a few of these things...maybe I need to go back further and read.  I've only gone back a couple of chapters this time.  I did actually start, I received a couple of "nudge" reviews in the past day or so that have helped.  Many people have said to start something else, but I am worried if I do that I will get distracted and not finish Casual.  I am a very concrete sequential person, so I like to do things in order, plan everything out, have symmetry, etc...so breaking that when writing is tough for me, but hey, maybe it would help me.  I have considered doing a challenge because it wouldn't be a commitment like starting a new story...hmmm..

I am constantly reading, but oddly, I haven't been reading any fan fiction lately so maybe I should try that and do what you suggested.  But...knowing you are a romance girl, I must tell you that I have stumbled upon a fun little series by Lisa Kleypas...defi nitely worth reading, I am on the second book now. 

I love that you always put so much thought and time into your responses...th ank you!  I am going to make another go at it later this evening after the sun disappears and I am officially "off duty"...
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