How To Enjoy Writing More

How to enjoy writing more

I’ve seen, shared, and created plenty of posts about how to make your writing better, but I’ve decided, fuck that. It is 2020 and everything feels like crap and here’s a guide for how to enjoy your own writing more.

(Obviously! Like everything! Not all of these will work for everyone! These are just reminders for people who feel they could be a little sillier in their writing!)

1. Write at your own pace! It seems simple but deadlines that you can’t reach won’t help you. (And don’t force yourself to do Nano when it’s not your style.)

2. Write fanfic! All types of fanfic! Shitty OCs, OOC interpretations of characters, self inserts, etc etc etc. Write it without the intention of posting anywhere.

3. Write fanfic… of your own stories. Canon is a construct but that soulmates AU is real if only you write it.

4. Mercilessly switch between WIPs! Abandon them whenever you get bored! Write only the most interesting scenes!

5. Write without a plot! You don’t need to have conflict to have fun.

6. Fuck plot continuity. Write the scenes that make you happy. If they don’t line up? Who gives a shit.

7. If you read something you wrote and it’s not finished, don’t feel guilty. Just. Don’t. Your stories don’t deserve finishing; they provided you happiness as you wrote them, and that’s what’s important. (It’s the process, not the product.)

8. If you write something that’s sad, make it cathartic instead of depressing. Angst is great and all, but don’t stack sad scene upon sad scene for the sake of sadness.

9. Fuck genre. It’s okay if you aren’t sure whether your story is sci-fi or fantasy, it’s okay if you include random paranormal aspects in your historical romance, it’s GREAT if you blur the line between realistic and speculative. Don’t trap yourself in history which has been built upon marketability.

10. Write like no one’s ever gonna read it. It will help you in the long run. It doesn’t matter if it slows your “objective” improvement, it will help you feel less dependent on validation from others and make you write because–and only because–you want to write.

You know those things you think you can't write because they're an emotion not a plot?

Try oneshots!

Oneshots are great because they can be just a single scene or moment. They allow you to write that one conversation you want to write without needing to create a whole story around it.

You wish you could just write about that character getting a damn hug for once? Do it! Who needs a huge context? Just put it out there!

Oneshots, people! Write them read them. Love them. They're awesome.

worldbuilding: problems

there’s no place where everything runs smoothly. every country has it’s problems. that might be poverty, weak government, fake news, gun violence, or abuse of magical abilities. it could really be anything. so what’s wrong with your world?

what could go wrong:

poverty

corrupt government (a few infiltrations? biased officials? a dictator?)

discrimination/persecution of any kind (sexism, racism, religion, anything that makes someone unique)

violence (gangs, guns, magic, sexual assault)

failing economy

counterfeits (money, expensive products, anything)

drugs (fake drugs, very real and dangerous drugs)

weak government (ie. the government isn’t necessarily corrupt, but no one listens to them and they have no real power at all so everyone just runs amok)

environmental crisis

relations with other countries/regions

war

fake news (can be something smaller like what goes around on the internet today, or something as horrible as the propaganda the axis powers fed their people about the allied powers)

scarcity

terrorist groups

stereotypes (remember, even seemingly positive stereotypes can be damaging)

manipulation/using people

there’s a whole lot more, get creative! as saddening as this will be, scrolling through news articles will give you some good inspiration because our world is pretty messed up

how to choose which problems to include

what is your world like? as obvious as this probably sounds, your world’s problems are directly related to the things in your world. choose pretty much any element of your world, however small it may seem, and there can be made a problem out of it.

in a world of magic:

magic can be abused

magic can be faked (ie. in harry potter, around exam season, students sell items that “enhance your brain” or whatever when it’s really pixie poop, i’m not even kidding)

discrimination between magical and non magical people (muggleborns vs. purebloods)

people rely too much on magic and become weak (a great example of this is the Renegades series, where the non prodigies depend on the prodigies way too much)

non magic people using magical people (or magical people using other magicals, ex. grindelwald/percival graves using creedence to find the obscurial)

really, the problems for a magical world are endless - you can use regular real-life problems with a twist. the magical government lies to the public, buying out the main news source? people of pure magical lineage are somehow better than those related to non magical people? harry potter is a fantastic example of magical worldbuilding, steal stuff from jkr (but don’t make gay characters who are never actually gay)

in a world of science:

i’m a big fantasy nerd, much less sci-fi, so i don’t really have any good examples from books/movies, but here are some ideas anyway

the people who live on a different planet are starting to run out of resources and take over the earth (literally the plot of the Lunar Chronicles series)

the government is testing out new sciencey techy stuff and they accidentally make superhuman demon things (Incredibles, but they’re nice guys, not demon things, except maybe jack jack but he’s a cutie don’t hurt him)

terrorist groups steal a smart guy to make weapons for them (Iron Man)

the world is dying 

two + planets are fighting over something

technology/inventions/whatever can be abused

wow these are terrible i’m sorry i need to read more sci-fi

again, you can take regular real world problems and put a sciencey twist on them; a gang that kills people with laserbeam contact lenses, a new invention that uses a very rare element that’s important to the ecosystem and is starting to destroy the planet, the little robots we send to mars become self aware and build a colony of robots. go off sis

Writing can be so easy when the muse kisses you and you write and write and forget the world around you. But a lot times you don’t have the luxury to wait for the muse to come kiss you and you still have to write. Here are some of the things I do to motivate myself to do what has to be done.

How to motivate myself to write more

The 100 Words Challenge

Set yourself a specific amount of words that you must write every day. 100 words doesn’t sound like that much, but even if you only write them every day and not anything more you still wrote 3,650 words that year. Better than nothing and definitely helps to get back into writing, because it motivates you to write even more and helps writing on a schedule.

+ it also works with a specific amount of time

The Inspirational Jar

Grab some pieces of paper and write down prompts you saw on the internet, song lyrics you like, characters you like to write about, quotes from books or movies, or just random words or situations. Fold them and put them into a jar or a box. Now you can just open it and grab one of the papers which you use as the basis for your writing that day. It’s great for getting back into writing and finding your own writing style through different forms of writing and different topics.

+ doesn’t have to be a real story, try other forms of writing, like a poem, a stream of consciousness, fanfiction, dialogue only, texting only, a retelling, no dialogue at all, a song, a diary entry, a character description,…

+ try to spice things up by using two or more inspirational slips of paper

Set a writing time

By setting a specific writing time you can trick your mind to shift easier into the mindset you need to write. You can write just after waking up or right before going to bed or somewhere in the middle. Try it out and find out what works best for you.

Block your phone/laptop

The luxury of having the world at your finger tips is great but it’s also distracting. Use apps (like Forest or Selfcontrol) to block your phone for the time you need to write. Or use something like Cold Turkey Writer so you have to write a specific amount of words or time before you can use your computer again.

Choose a writing place

Where do you write your best works? Choose a specific place to become your writing place, so you can trick your mind (like with the writing time) to get into the right mindset.

+ switch it up from time to time and go somewhere else. Go to a library, a coffee shop or a park to get fresh ideas and then go back to your routine

Music

Try to find music that stimulates your brain to concentrate more on writing or use music that fits the scene you’re about to write to get the right mindset. Music is great to feel like you are in a specific situation or have specific feelings - that’s why it’s great to have a soundtrack to your stories (and it also motivates you to finish it, so someone can buy the rights and make a movie out of it and use your Soundtrack - or is that just me?).

Ask a friend

Ask a friend, a family member or someone else to give you a setting, a word or a character that you try to incorporate into your already existing story or write something short and new.

Exercise

When you’re stuck and suffering from writer’s block with a scene, just stop and go out and work out or do a couple exercises at home. It clears your mind and you feel better after, so that you can sit down again and concentrate. And exercising is also a great opportunity to think your story through and work on solving existing problems.

Make a calendar

Write down whenever you wrote something in a calendar or use a habit tracker. It makes it easier to keep track on what you achieved so far and where you can still improve.

Reward yourself

Don’t punish yourself if you haven’t wrote in a long time or didn’t finish on time. Rewarding yourself is much more efficient. Choose some form of reward (when I write today I can… watch the new episode of my favourite show after, call my friends and go out, order a pizza, buy a new books, etc.) and stick to it. Even if it is a really small reward, getting to recieve it will fill you with joy and pride and makes it more likely for you to do it again.

I hope this helps everyone who struggles to motivate themselve to write. Good luck to you all!

Check out my side blog for more advice and writing prompts: creativepromptsforwriting

- Jana

45 Questions About Magic

Who has it?

Who can use it?

Where does it come from?

What does it go through?

Is it active? Passive? Both?

Is it tangible? Visible?

Can magic people sense magic?

Can non-magic people sense magic?

Can non-humans be or have magic?

Can objects be or have magic?

Can it be used by accident?

What are the consequences of using magic? Of not using it?

Do some things (eg causing injury, death, etc.) have greater consequences?

Does level/degree of use correlate to degree of consequences?

Does magic require a bargain (eg service to a god)?

Can someone lose their magic?

Can someone gain magic?

Can magic be transferred or stolen?

Is magic something to be turned on and off or is it always there?

Does a person have a limited amount of magic? Can it be replenished?

Does everyone’s magic manifest the same way?

Does everyone call upon their magic the same way?

Does magic require physical aids? Meditation?

Is strength innate or based on training? Can it change?

How is strength indicated?

Are there physical indicators of magic use?

Is there some sort of test to be allowed to use magic?

To show competency?

To show mastery?

To certify teaching?

Is magic tied to or antithetical to religion?

Must magic obey science?

Does magic operate the same way everywhere?

Does magic operate the same way on everyone/everything?

Is healing possible? Is it telekinetic? Time-based? Done by switching physical health?

Does magic require a sacrifice? Before or after? User’s or others’?

Is magic something a person is? Does? Uses?

How is magic conceptualized? Is that correct?

What can someone do with magic?

What can’t someone do with magic? Why?

What are ethical/moral lines that have been drawn regarding magic? How are they enforced?

Is belief necessary?

Can magic only be done at certain times or in certain places?

How do powerful magic users face consequences from the law?

Is magic something that people want to be?

Every writing advice thing ever: Don’t get bogged down in details on your first draft. Just write! ☺️

Me: How I begin this scene hinges on whether cheese sandwiches were served with mayo in the 50’s.