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Discussion Coping with Low Morale

To be honest, it's never something I've really worked out how to do. A creative slump, I understand some ways of working around and trying to solve, but a motivational one? Much harder.

My natural reaction is usually to work on something else for a bit and come back later. There's something to be said for this - it means I'm never just idle, but there's dangers to it also, I think. Namely, I don't have it in me to treat a project casually. If I'm going to work on it, it needs to get all the effort I can muster. Not so great if it was only meant to keep me busy for a little bit.

I think the better solution, although it's admittedly not one I've had much success with myself, is in building consistent habits. If one can get to the stage where writing every day is just so normal that it would feel weird and wrong not to, then that's a good position to be in, I think. There was once I time I was close, but that level of discipline wasn't something I could keep up forever, so then I guess that puts us back to the original question.

One particular habit I have found helpful - this is going to sound weird, but you can all try this if you have a plush or something close to hand. At the very end of the day, I'd just take a minute or two talking to my Sprigatito about what I've done today and what I'm expecting to do next. I know how it sounds, but I genuinely think there's something to it. Saying thoughts aloud helps me to process them better, and it feels strangely easier to express certain things to a plush than to just talk to myself. Besides, I don't like to say I've done nothing in a day, I couldn't handle Sprigatito being disappointed in me.
 
Address the reason for the lack of motivation directly. Sometimes the reason is perfectly rational and logical. Sometimes it is caused by some deeper emotional issue.
It might help to reevaluate if the need that is fulfilled by writing still can be fulfilled by doing it. Questions to ask: "Why did you start writing in the first place? Do you get what you want out of it?" It is fine to not do something if you do not. It is fine to restart later, when life priorities change. Unless you went pro there is no pressure to.do things you don't feel like doing. In my experience trying to force or pressure myself only leads to more severe burnout. Letting go of pressure and expectations and letting myself do nothing is exactly the thing that lets me be free to get back to whatever I wanted to create, it brings the urge back.
 
it helps to realize you don't actually need to write if you're enjoying the other thing(s) you're doing instead; seen too many artists who think they're committing a sin against their god if they're not spending every moment being "productive" haha

can't help with a literal writer's block of "I do have ideas but can't put them on paper," but as for a thinker's block... sometimes you genuinely don't have ideas, but other times the mental room that'd have been spent on ideas is distracted by others things. can be good things ("Fallout 3 is just awesome, what will I do next?"), can be neutral things, but usually when it's strong enough to take over all the mental room it's bad things (because haven't the New 20s been just wonderful?)

so yeah. find out what's distracting you (and probably is the thing lowering your morale in the first place) from focusing on fanfic ideas and brainstorming instead and work from there (you may or may not need to cut off toxic relationships to do this)

art is very much a "feel, don't think" case so make sure not to think so much you have no room left to feel!
 
have a tendency to follow a muse. by that i mean if i'm more interested in drawing, then i draw. if i am more interested in writing, then i write. if i can't get the energy to do anything, then i do something else! when the muse takes hold i tend to follow it lol.

Freckles said:
it helps to realize you don't actually need to write if you're enjoying the other thing(s) you're doing instead; seen too many artists who think they're committing a sin against their god if they're not spending every moment being "productive" haha
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echoing this!! i think people would have a healthier relationship with creating when they realize they don't need to be creating constantly.

i find it really helpful in these cases to engage with other people's work in the mean time. i find that viewing or reading other people's creations to be inspiring and helpful for working on my own stuff. its the kind of way that fandom is always reciprocal, the best way to continue to create is to enjoy other people's work too.
 
Freckles said:
you're supposed to write (or draw) stuff because you like it, because it makes you happy
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There are other reasons people make art as well. I have been always creating some sort of art, and it usually did not make me "happy" and was not even created for that purpose. It is great that this works for you, however it is not what anyone is "supposed" to do. People are different, and that is ok.
 
Supplementary material. Try drawing, or otherwise create something that could jog an idea to transpose back into your story.
 
I do a combination of switching between writing ideas, switching to different fandoms, or even simply just taking a break.

Or even just write whatever comes to mind. It doesn't have to be a self-contained story or even very long; it can as short as a conversation between two people or something along those lines.
 
I really want to write and publish an original book, but I'm hesitant to start it. I can't even write a single chapter fan-fiction without constantly revising it, so how can I expect to write a multi-chapter novel without constantly revising it too? I fear that this will result in stalling and never finishing the original story. I'm still figuring out how to push past this issue to start writing.

When I get writer's blocks for my fan-fictions, it tends to be from frustrations over details. So I find that taking a break from the fan-fiction is the best way of addressing the writer's block; it gives my brain a chance to calm, so that I can clearly think through the challenging detail when I get back to writing. I also like joke about hunting writer's blocks.
 
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NumberOneSpinelApologist said:
I'm curious, what do you want to write about?
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I want to write a story about a pack of orphaned gray wolves (Canis lupus) as they struggle to survive without their parents (whom were killed by hunters) in the Northern Rocky Mountains.
 
That sounds interesting. AFAIK wolves are very misrepresented in popular culture, so having more work about them would be cool.
Maybe it is worth just starting and seeing where it goes? Even if you end up not finishing, the work you do on this will never be wasted, because you can always use it for inspiration for further works of yours.
 
NumberOneSpinelApologist said:
That sounds interesting. AFAIK wolves are very misrepresented in popular culture, so having more work about them would be cool.
Maybe it is worth just starting and seeing where it goes? Even if you end up not finishing, the work you do on this will never be wasted, because you can always use it for inspiration for further works of yours.
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Thank you!

Yes, wolves are highly misrepresented in popular culture; worse, they are persecuted as a result of that misinformation. I believe that wolves need more positive and accurate representation in media, and I'll admit that my story is meant to be a work of pro-wolf advocacy (specifically against wolf hunting).

That is a good idea. I've been thinking of at least starting work on listing, naming, and personalizing all of the major characters of my story. Once I do that, I can figure out how to write the story.
 
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