Why You Have No Motivation to Write (And How to Fix It) 

PROBLEM: My inattention from ADHD makes it excruciatingly difficult to "write a little each day." SOLUTION: After 10 years of pulling together various elements of my novel, I used a vacation week in seclusion (in a barn on my sister's farm) to focus and write. GOAL: To write every scene from my 88 scene cards. RESULT: I wrote 49,000 words in 7 days and completed my first draft.

On the other hand, people like me have exactly the opposite problem. We externalize everything and get obsessed with finding the perfect writing method. We convince ourselves that we'll finally be able to write once we get the right equipment or the right workflow, when what we really need to do is get our butt in a chair and write.

Every writer I know abandoned several books before they finished their first. I beat myself up for years for not getting a book done. If you're still trying to finish your first book, I promise you will get there.

I think my motivation is tied to me being a perfectionist. I'm trying to change my approach when I draft. I try to focus more on getting the words on the paper (or document) and refining afterwards.

The narrative about laziness is often drilled into you as a disabled person. I just need different mountain climbing tools from the allistic population and then I'm good. Even after you know that you need those tools it can be a while before you allow yourself to use them. Solidarity with everyone dealing with internalized ableism in their writing processes!

I needed this video even though I knew all of it already. I have multiple chronic illnesses that set me back and I let myself beat myself up over it knowing I have no control over it. So if I end up going n a few days without writing. I’m motivated but tired sometimes and just have to accept that. I’ve watched too many videos where they yell at you about all the things you said were oversimplification. It doesn’t take life into consideration. Just “if you’re sick, write through it or you’re not a writer”. When I’m actually unmotivated not to write its often depression or anxiety. Like you said, sometimes it’s something about my story isn’t working and I can’t figure it out. I seriously love your videos. They have helped me so much especially lately while writing a short story for a class.

Honestly biggest thing for me is that underlying Imposter syndrome which manifests in me hating the later part of the draft like you said usually comes at 20K but something you said just now clicked and I'm going to do that - slow drafting. 😚 Thank you so much for making such honest content!

Thank you for this video. Really good message. Personally, I've been realizing two things for myself: 1. sometimes a work genuinely doesn't interest you anymore and you should let it go, as pouring more work into it will just be a waste of time, and more importantly 2. writing is an iterative process. You're not gonna write the perfect book on your very first try. You will get to do all the drafts you need to do later. Writing is like stone chiseling, it's a slow and messy process that isn't your final product until you decide it is. Just get it out on the page, even if it's embarassing, because you can take all the time you need fine-tuning it to make it amazing later!

thank you for once again reading my mind

The real writing was the Pinterest mood boards we made along the way 😌

I don't have a lack of motivation I simply have Fear and Shame

My two most recent problems. Problem: Blank page. The 'just write - easier to edit' advice hadn't been helping me because somewhere between my brain and hands literally typing, it kept getting lost in translation. Solution: Record it on my phone (it had an in-built voice-recorder) and transcribe. I have finished multiple short story drafts this way and I'm slowly going up the mountain that is my novel. I've done this enough times that I don't even have to record it necessary, all I have to do is say it out loud to my dog while cleaning, and then I can 'transcribe' it. Also a good solution for sticking to a cleaning routine for myself. Problem: Focused way too much on the word count (damn assignments and min/max word count making that a habit for me). Goal: Write 100 words minimum every writing session. 100 words are generally two paragraphs for me. Solution: Explore my laptop, does it include a word processor with no word count? Yes, it does. Use that for drafts. Now I'm editing multiple drafts I've finished because there was no way to check the word count without interrupting my writing. And honestly, I'm not struggling to reach my goal now.

This was a lovely discussion. I actually very recently realised my motivation problems were caused by the fact that I don't care about nor am I particularly good at sustaining plot, and I switched over to poetry which I am vastly more comfortable writing, and am actually on track to finishing a narrative poem cycle.

Hi, Shaelin. I just wanted to say thank you so much for making this video. I’ve been writing stories since I was ten years old and haven’t finished a single one because I “lost motivation.” Watching this has given me a lot more insight on what has been going on and has encouraged me to find some good writing tools. So thanks again for making this. God bless you!

is shaelin a clairvoyant or what? she knows what content i badly need. every! single! time. thanks for this video, shae!!!!

Thank you for this video Shaelin. I've not been able to write for almost a year due to lack of motivation among other things... this is exactly what I needed. I miss writing and enjoying writing and I hope to resolve my lack of motivation and get back to it soon.

Love the way you framed this. Thank you for being a voice of reason in the writing community!

I struggled with writing for years, cos I would write something then just get rid of it. It got to the point that even writing a page would cause me to just delete it. That video you posted a while ago about allowing yourself to love your work was eye-opening for me. My solution to my problem was finding a friend who would make me accountable - I would write scenes everyday from a story I'm developing, and show him. He would then pick another scene for me to write the next day. And this has been working quite well, I'm slowly learning to love writing again (or maybe discover the love that disappeared a long time ago).

I've had to mentally reframe how I view scrapping ideas. I get excited and then, sometimes a year later, I don't like it anymore. And it's because the character has taken a stronger shape in my mind than I had before. So I rewrite to fit who I know the character to be. It was hard at first to let scenes go, but I like the results I'm getting.

I have been working a collection of short stories where the subjects have been mostly outside of what I would normally write. The challenge was 32 different characters being faced with a decision and watch them make the wrong decision. The challenge has made me question some of my values. It is to write a story of flawed person without making them evil. It has been emotionally draining. My motivation has been more like going to a theme park. Sometimes, I stand in line longer than ride the roll coaster. With each story being different, the rides might be something that I didn’t want to experience so I would shy away or avoid the topic. Other stories, I wanted to get working on and it would present a new experience that I wasn’t sure of. This statement might be confusing but part of my lack of motivation was a feeling of shame for writing what a character did in a story. What i had to do was reminded myself is why I started the project. Give myself time to process or come to terms with what I write. The good news is that each character has story and now revision and editing can take place. Then, I can have others read it then. Maybe I will be able to get published. With the project in rough draft form now, there has been a renew motivation to keep going.

This is a mindset that could be helpful for issues staying consistent in many pursuits in life, not just writing. Thanks for this!

One of the biggest things that gives me inspiration in a slum is going through your book/idea with a friend. Whether this is letting them read some of just running ideas off them, I find that talking a lot about it will make you remember why you liked your idea so much in the first place and can reignite that passion you have for it.

Most of the time, if I can't write, it is because I don't put enough thought into my plot and outline. My "writer's block" is lack of plot. So, I gotta hunker down and figure out the plot or at least the next scene and then I can write again. If this seems too dounting, I just write 3 questions about the plot or character and try to tackle those. And then the next day (or week), I tackle the next 3 questions. I don't re-read what I wrote in the first draft, because I would self-critize way too much and get too much doubt. Self-critical thinking is the other "writer's block" I have. But I have less problems with that since I learned to not re-read and accept that my first draft is gonna be bad. Took the pressure right off.

Great video - you made such important points! I also hate the general notion in the writing community that you *must* always write, even when you have no motivation, in order to finish a book. Like, have you thought about just not doing it when you don't feel like it? After all, writing (for many of us) is just a hobby. I wouldn't force myself to do any other hobby when I don't have any motivation to, but when it comes to writing ...people really love the idea of productivity over anything else. Personally, I have more fun writing and my work is generally better since I've started just writing when I really want to, not when I think I'm supposed to.

“Fear is no excuse,” but it sure is real.

I cannot tell you how many times I revisit this video when I'm feeling stuck with my writing! Thank you so much for this!

Omg I needed to hear that. Esp the part about 20k words being a common slump for people because that's when they start struggling with problems popping up that need to be worked through. I'm EXACTLY at 20k and now I feel really normal and validated lol

"You must have chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star. - Nietszche - I always have an eye out for any words that seem inspired to me. I get intoxicated by profound sayings, but I rely too much on inspiration and not enough on perspiration. My way of handling this is to isolate myself as much as I can. I spend hours and hours alone in my room. My output has been sporadic, but I'm hoping I will get inspired to write more. Maybe great works will start to pour forth from my pen, I hope.

I love this lady, she makes me feel so positive and ready to write. i saw several things I needed to do to make my mountain climbable. Thank you Shaelin!

I realized that I tended to stop writing because I didn't know with enough precision what came next. I knew the ending of the story but I was lacking details that were essential for that next scene (such as: how do the protagonists enter the house and save the victim without getting caught?) and I would just stop. Solution: writing a much more detailed outline before starting the novel. And it worked! Thanks for you video Shaelin.

For me what has helped is physical exercise, which can help my energy level and motivation for writing. As I get older I find that being active is more important than ever. Find ways to stay focused and interested in what you’re doing, and you’re right it is crucial to know what drives us as writers, what motivates us to do our best.

Thank you so much for this video. You validated my writing issue of not knowing HOW to write, that is the PROCESS of writing. When I understood that the issue was knowledge based, I was able to spend six months learning online all the classic steps leading up to Outlining through character arcs--all the emergent phenomena that is part of writing. Once I learned these pieces, writing became natural and truly began to write itself. Even the characters now goad me on. I LOVE it. Thank you so much for your lessons and directions. For me, they mean a lot.

Motivation for me comes from folks like yourself. (From those who's hearts are willing to share their experiences.) So, thanks to you & all those willing to help :)

Such an excellent video! That extension of the mountain climbing analogy is 10/10. I turn to fellow climbers all the time!

Exactly what I needed. I used to have a set writing schedule until I got sick and didn't write for a period of time. Even after I got well I just haven't gotten back to my rhythm.

Yes. One of the single biggest missing parts for me was I needed to read more but I couldn’t read well because Im dyslexic. The simple solution was audiobooks! I used to shy away from audio because I thought I couldn’t be a real writer unless I read real books. Rubbish. Now I get all the fuel and inspiration I need and I do it twice as productively as reading because I can listen in my car. Stories are ultimately meant to be told, not read 😉 This increases my motivation 100 fold!

Insightful. Thank you. For me, I had the opposite problem. By drafting slowly, I gave myself too much time to overthink the story to the point that I continually changed things and never progressed. I felt stumped all the time, because after I wrote 2k in a relative short time, I had so much more time just to think about those 2k words and there was always something to fix. Many time, those fixes, ended up with, well, let me just change this entire thing and starting all over again. And then over again. And then over again. By giving myself an incredibly high word count, I have now been able to focus only on getting the story down. Once the story is drafted, I can slow down and revise with care. But if I never get the story down, then it doesn't matter how slow I go because I just end up writing/rewriting the same first act of the story instead of just getting it all down and then analyzing/revising as a separate stage.

I am currently writing a book with my best friend, someone I've known since we were kids and has witnessed all my stories, ideas, and ghosts for 15 years. Over the years, these stories became woven into a script, and he has written most of it by himself. He is, undeniably, the better writer of the two, and he wrote with such a beautiful voice that I knew, right away, "he needs to be the one to tell this story." Instead, I focused on learning subjects like creative writing and editing, anything that could make his work easier. The problems arose when this triggered my imposter syndrome aggressively because if I'm not writing this story, how can I say it is mine? What right do I have to sign my name in it? What right do I have to call myself a writer when all I do is rewritten? Unconsciously, I started abandoning this project because I couldn't bear the feeling that I was being left aside and forgotten, that my writing wasn't good enough, that I was a fraud. I'm still struggling with the imposters, but I've been learning to deal with them and finding my place in this story. Because my best friend values my insight and my creation just as much as I valorize his. Now I need to valorize my own work.

OMG I love this! I hate the guilt that comes with some writing advice like just write everyday and if you don't writing is not for you. As a beguineer that started out late, it can be very discouraging.

This is a GREAT analogy! "Lack of motivation" is an issue I've struggled with for decades, internalizing the "I'm just lazy and don't care enough" narrative, which truly only compounds the situation with feelings of guilt and helplessness, but the way you've framed it here makes so much more sense! It's a very positive way of looking at a "problem" that plagues so many creative people, and just being offered the support of your kind and understanding words on the matter is so inspiring. I love all your videos and have learned and grown a ton from watching them, but thank you in particular for this one ❤️.

Oh I love this video. I was a little wary of the title because the last thing I need is a lecture on being more motivated. But I see why you titled it this way. I think this is a great video for someone to stumble across if they're beating themselves up about having no motivation to write. It offers a really insightful perspective shift.

What I got out of this video, was when you talked about the 20,000 word problem. I realised I have the same reason for my lack of motivation, it's frustrations about the problems in the story and the quality. I will try and do what you do, write slower. Thank you.

I needed this video today! Thank you too much for sharing. I found it most helpful to rethink the either you're motivated or you're lazy approach. I'm not sure who created such idea, but it's sooo common for writers and one that bullies you internally. A reminder of a more compassionate approach is helpful, and why I'll probably come back to this video over and over again for that reminder.

I'm fairly new so I haven't found many issues when it comes to actually writing yet, my main issues stem from trying to find a basic plot for the story, as it's a fantasy and I need to do a fair amount of worldbuilding. what I have found is that I am very lucky to have a friend who also writes, we bounce ideas off each other and suggest things for each other's stories, which is so valuable to me. I also have ADHD so writing at the moment is hard to focus on, especially as I am just finishing my degree and any downtime I want to use doing something where I don't have to think.

Yes! Messy drafts! I have been so frustrated with my quick writing that editing is a royal pain. Thank you for the clarity. Now I can change the way I write to make editing better. You're amazing!!

I have been following your channel for the last couple of years and your videos are very helpful. This is the video I was needing. Comparing writing to climbing a mountain, put many things into perspective. Having the right equipment or the right weather or proper training helped me understand this writing journey a little bit better. Many times I will get an idea to write a story and begin, then I will get stuck and just stop. Wondering how to continue or even if question myself if the story was a good idea to begin with. Love your content and thank you for sharing your journey with us:-]

You can explain it so well. Thank you very much. It helped me.

Brilliant analogy. Makes perfect sense.

Well said. It could be any number of things. I'm discovering that with one particular story I just can't move forward.

This is so insightful and helpful 💯

Thank you so much for this video. I struggle with BPD and clinical depression and have been going through some not fun stuff lately so writing just has been impossible for me- but this absolutely came at the perfect time

I feel that I’m just putting the thoughts of the characters in a place that readers can see them. Sometimes the character(s) have nothing to tell me, so I have nothing to write. It always passes and up the mountain I go. I think patience is what creates motivation. Great thoughts Shaelin. Thanks

Great delineation of the issue. The oversimplified "not motivated enough" can be misleading and unhelpful ... so quite constructive to splice it out and unravel it. Chapeau!

I needed to let myself write something different and new first (a short story) and then have fresh eye to tackle the problems in my work in progress

I'm usually really bad with metaphors as I take them too literally, but that mountain metaphor made perfect sense to me!

THANK YOU for this

I needed this thank you

I love you! This is so true! Thank you so much for your viewpoint. I hate that I shame myself during this editing process. (First-time writer) Thank you!

Thank you very much ...

Ok this is also just amazing life advice, thank you for this

Thank you for making this video. I've been struggling with a lack of motivation in writing for a number of years. Most recently I would guess it is due to the current state of the world. I've been working on a novel since November of 2017 and I have gotten to somewhere in the 20K+ word range and have restarted it two or three times. I think for me it has been the inability to figure out how to plot and where the story is going. My most recent restart was due to me deciding that the beginning of my novel was way too dark and depressing and I was feeling more and more uncomfortable with it.

Unfortunately, my takeaway from this video was that, in my case, there is no way to gain motivation. I’ve struggled with motivation so much that the rough draft of my novel took over four years to complete and editing it until it’s ready to be published will likely take another few years. The reason I lack motivation is because I’ve struggled with severe mental illness since childhood. At this point, it’s so hard for me to do _anything_ that I often spend at least half an hour gathering the motivation to brush my teeth. According to your analogy, there’s been a perpetual storm that’s showing no signs of stopping. After all, I’ve been medicated since age 10 and having therapy once a week since age 17, yet I still feel like shit on a daily basis. Lately, it has occurred to me that I may not be cut out to be a professional author, and with every writing video I watch, I feel that more and more. My great grandmother, soon to turn 102, is my writing mentor. She’s a local celebrity who has published four books. A few months ago, I asked her what she does when she feels unmotivated to write. She told me that she _waits_ for the motivation. Unfortunately, that seems to be my only option, but I’m so tired of waiting. Last time I visited her, I wrote her a poem on the spot and she said that my soul is a fountain of creativity. Little does she know that I was only able to do that because of my admiration for her.

I walk through through the valley of the snowbank of Ontario. There won't be any mountains for a little while.

this video was a heater for sure

Some tasks can be huge and overwhelming. And you just need to find the way to divide them so they're fathomable.

Ahhhhh just what I needed 😽

Just wanted to say I love your top with the necklace ✨🙌🏻

Apart from all things you look gorgeous. you really have high gravity, I was much pulled by that. Thanks for your kind words to help struggling writers [like me] who are just stumbling in a dark tunnel to make their way out. Best of luck.

I think it's important to understand that there will be days you won't feel like writing. On those days, give yourself a break. Just don't get into a rut of not writing. Laziness may just be masking creativity, giving your brain time to think about the novel.

If I can’t write for a particular story I’ll shift to another but when I cannot write in general, I don’t. It’s a day or three but soon enough I’m fine again. It happens once or twice a month. Used to happen a lot more. I’m never going to write if I feel low because then one or two days becomes one or two months.

I need this video, I am so burnt out thank you so much :)

At @5:43 I felt so called out. 😅 I tried to blame my slow progress with my WIP to a bunch of things, but it all boils down to bad time management and laziness. And I don't know how to fix it.

i literally just binge watched all of your old videos about low motivation and writer's block lol

Watching you and Alex Donne has helped motivate me a lot, you both actually inspired me to start again after years away, and continue to motivate me as I learn new skills and things to do/not do. Also Mel Robbins videos are great for slapping the imposter syndrome right out of you 😅

i swear this is a gift from the gods

That is the best analogy I have ever heard.

The last book I completed that I'm querying was the baby I loved so, spent so much time with, inspired to write it. The current one...I did NanoWriMo and have 56K words on it now...but I need to push myself. I don't know. In many ways I think it will attract more agents...but I'm just not inspired. And I just had surgery 2 weeks ago so I got lazy. This video came at the nick of time.

I've had a long history of just randomly stopping writing stories because I felt bored with that story that day. Recently, I've gotten more accountability (specifically from in person people I see regularly, I've tried other methods of accountability and they didn't work for me) and with more accountability I've been able to keep on amd not quit on the whim of one day's feelings. Eventually my feelings come back around and I'm just as excited for the story, I just have to wait it out. I can't keep writing when there's problems in the story either. I have several stories that I haven't finished writing because I haven't figured out how to fix the problem. I also have some that I'm finishing now after having waited it out and figured out the solution (it was definitely better to wait it out, time as a way of working out the problems- at least for me).

I do find it tough to find the muse once in awhile. Seems a little more difficult as I get older. I think writing a novel today would be a lot tougher than it was 10 years ago. How do we find the will and passion to write something great?? Your youth and enthusiasm help me find more ways to as you say, "climb the mountain." Having the right tools is so important. On my last novel, I hired an editor, which was very humbling but a great learning experience. I wouldn't trade it for anything! It made my book better. I can relate to your description of the battle between the lack of motivation, poor time management versus passion to have a strong plan. I am still working on finishing my book of poems, and hope to finish 100 by year's end, at Poem 78 right now. I don't have the luxury of waiting for motivation. I have a good friend at work who has recently taken strong interest in poetry, and he is quite a good poet, a good beta reader to have also. Having Erind as a friend helps with my motivation on my goal. Thanks again for your fresh perspectives.

I'll admit, I was hoping this would just be a video on how to make writing fun for yourself. But I still found a lot of value on the rest of the things you said! Do you have any resources you'd recommend for learning how to make writing as fun as possible for a writer on an individual level?

I'd say that my biggest issues tend to be training related. I've never had anybody really help talk back and forth about an idea I have. Stuff like forming a crucial, but currently unknown character or transitioning between chapters / scenes are proving to be challenges. Also true, the book series I've wanted to write for the past 15 years is legitimately very complicated, there are multiple perspectives that need to be given properly and in the right order to make sure the reader is taken into the right things. Again, training.

Any tips for getting stuck between books, like how to find inspiration or develop the ideas I have?

Thoughts on when you are off to the races, get 10 chapters done then you take a break, and the next thing you know it's been months or years later. Yet whenever you try to get back into it, it's hard to get back into that world and you've forgotten stuff you had planned originally.

I write for fun, so it's not something I really need to do, rather something that I enjoy doing it. Still it bothers me when I have periods of low motivation and personally I found out I either subconsciously feel some problems within a story that need to be fixed to get it going or I just don't get the mood of a particular scene. For me it's hard to write, for example, fluffy and light moments when I don't feel anything of a sort in real life. Usually I search for some music or ambience to inspire me, but sometimes I cannot find the right one to get me on track :(

Scottish mountains over 3000 feet are called Munros after Sir Hugh Munro: Aonach Eagach strikes fear in the hearts of some hill walkers. As you say, training, mentorship, equipment and weather conditions are everything. Writers with health problems like HP (below) struggle daily. Vivian Gornick has a good essay on writing instructors - *At the university: little murders of the soul* in her book *Approaching Eye Level* (2020).

Hi, this doesn't have to do with writing but actually on reading. I don't know what's going on with me but it's been almost a month since I became aware of a change in my focus, it's challenging to read anything lately. I've been trying my best to take a break from writing and reading anything and see if my brain just needed a rest, so far it's worked a little, but let's see. I don't hold the same hyper focus anymore, whenever I read my brain skims the sentences and doesn't process anything, I'm reading without intention or purpose, more so for the sake of it and I'm feeling a disconnect emotionally and mentally.

Hi Shaelin and Yayy!!! First time being early to a video hehe!!! :D

I've had a story tumbling around in my head for years but every time I sit down and try to write I tend to overthink. I've never written anything more than a research paper. I dunno, I really want to write my novel but I have a hard time with self doubt and lack of confidence.

For me is getting started I haven't solved it. I am going through it because I want to publish a novel

My problems are mostly logistical, little things the characters due that I've been struggling to make make sense. When the problems I have are that small, the best solutions I've found are always the simplest.

I don’t even know what’s wrong. After Covid I just couldn’t write anymore. And it’s through phases like sometimes I have lots of ideas, other times I only want to write but I have no ideas, but the buggiest problem is when I finally write words to paper (whether it’s an outline, a character design or an actual story) I go to be or I walk away for a second, even just reread it only to come back and hate everything I’ve written. Like idk. Sometimes I start to hate writing because I can’t do it anymore idek why. Sometimes I don’t care what other people think while other times all I can think about is other peoples perspectives it’s just a whole terrible mess and I wish I could go back to when I was most passionate and I couldn’t even stop.

I'm pretty good once I get going but once I'm done I have no motivation to start something new

this reminds me a lot of the mental health industry hooking people up on medication instead of finding the root of the problem, which usually is childhood trauma lol. people become reliant on shady pharmacies when the reality is whatever is wrong can probably be fixed entirely by therapy and trauma processing instead of masked by medications. like anxiety. i firmly believe anxiety is caused by childhood trauma and isnt something youre born with because the brain is very vulnerable as a baby and being exposed to certain things can force the brain to develop in a way that gives one anxiety. it was not birth that caused the brain deformity but the brain being damaged during its most vulnerable state and causing it to develop in such a way. that is my theory and i find it very relevant to the topic. also we're stuck in a society that treats leisure as laziness which is fucked up. this is exactly why i do not plan on becoming an author. it will stay a hobby i enjoy and not a job i feel pressured to perform and lose passion for. edit: oooh nice fast drafting tip. now if it makes me frustrated i'll know why!

I learned something today, from you. Thank you. The mountain analogy was perfect. Also, I got back to tumblr today, and came across your post about writing Hold me under until I see the light. I went and read your story first. I was saddened and stunned by your story. I became so invested that I was saying outloud, when George began accosting her with his friends, that, "I hope she isn't raped, please don't let her get raped!" She wasn't, and I'm very glad for that. It's your story, of course, I'm just glad for the character. I liked your story, even though it was traumatic and intense. But I've lived around intense people, and I find it odd that you got it so spot on, since you don't seem the kind of person that has lived through what they have and what I have seen. I hope not, anyways. I was stunned also by the sensory detail in the story, and it was very well balanced and really did make your story more real. I don't like cigarette smoke, but some people do, and you captured that oddly well too, that moment when we are young and experiment. You used a word I don't hear often, weft, saying their fingers and hair wefted through the dandelions. What a lovely image, I looked it up and thought wafted would be better. Even now, auto correct is trying to say I misspelled wefted, twice now, lol. But wefted, weaved inbetween, is so much better than wafted, floating in and around. One other thing, I was surprised that Rainey's internal dialogue was so vocal. I can very much see people complaining that you was telling instead of showing, a big no no in writing, right? Well, not always, as you know. I imagined the scene without the internal dialogue, and it was different, less religious, more movie like and kind of empty. Rainey is one of those girls who thinks a lot, even if they don't say a lot, and her view on the world is what colored everything from the beginning. She turned Jude, who would basically be a non-person in our society, into a saint or oracle. You showed love for your characters, and that is not always easy to see, or even common. Usually, when I read current day literature, its some liberal arts major just regurgitating what their socialist professors wanted them to believe in, and or, a narcissistic joy ride for the author, which, I must admit, my stories always have me in them. But each of your characters felt like their own, and you painted them with love and reality too. Rainey's inner dialogue was the story, and it works very well. People are going to get jealous of you, artists always do, especially young artists, so try not to brag too much, even though this story deserves some bragging. I know you equated some of your story or I guess the subtext to female homosexuality, but I didn't get that. I got women just doing everything they could to survive a horrible situation, including finding love with each other. I'm glad you didn't go into sex, or sex acts I should say, because it limits your audience and can cheapen the goal of a story. Of course, women might disagree, but guys are different. I am a visual creature by nature, and like any being with attributes born into them, we respond according to those attributes. Not all are the same, but more of us are, and it hasn't always been fair, but it is human. Just as all the college girls I thought about dating, asking me what my goals were and how I was going to make money before they even agreed to date or be friends, and it happened so much that I really got a taste of a mind set of some women and their in-born desire for security which is quite okay, because its human, even if, like visual sex taken out of shadows can be ugly, so can some of the behaviors of females, its not evil, its life. And in all fairness to evolution, those two main traits involved in picking a mate have done very well to establish our species that can finally look back and see where we came from and decide where we are going, hopefully, without hating our younger more primitive selves. Wow, when I think back to just how animalistic and primitive college and young life was, I'm stunned by it. Your writing was deep, well written, and memorable, and excellent. You could almost use it as a dissertation. Frankly, this very video you made, expanded, would not only be a great dissertation, but helpful for a great many artists, not just writers. I wanted to create a poetry and short story magazine, and this would have been a top story, if not the best of the year.

I love your video on motivation in writing, but with me it was not the motivation to write, but the motivation to become a salesman. I couldn't traverse the bridge from being a writer to be a seller of that which I wrote. i wonder if you could do a video on this. I'm sure it will be helpful. I wrote over 20 books but barely sell any of them. Trying to break this cycle of writing and receiving and not receiving an economic return for my efforts.

For a while now I have been thinking about this. What is my problem with motivation or rather lack thereof. I realized that I used to write as a way of disosiating from certain situations. Mainly School and University I used to sit in the most boring of classes and just zone out writing. I could do like 3000 words in an hour and a half of class while having the teacher as some white noise in the back of my brain. I still passed the classes and I rarely studied. By not actively focusing on the lecture I somehow managed to passively absorb the knowledge (I´d still take some notes like important words and definitions but not much). Anyway that was how I motivated myself to write replacing a low dopamine activity with a slightly higher dopamine activity. When I got home I would mostly write if I had to study. I think I have about 15 non-finished novels. Another instance of me being in a writing spree was a time when I went to Canada for a semester. (I live in south america so its a pretty long way). Once there the first couple of months I had no friends there so I would go to the local library and just write like a mf. That time I got about 180.000 words in around 2 months. I was an absolute unit. (btw I was not in university at that time was just some sabatic semester I took). Now I´ve quit university and just started working but now I don´t have the motivation I used to have because: 1: I used to write while replacing more boring activities so I never developed a proper writing habit. Like making myself time to write instead of trying to fit it in my schedule 2: I set the bar for myself in terms of speed way to high in those times and now I just get annoyed whenever I look at the clock and half an hour has passed and I got barely a couple of new paragraphs. 3: The same habit I developed during University is now backfiring because whenever I boot my PC to write My brain looks for the highest dopamine activity available which are RU-vid, Netflix or some Games intead of writing. 4: I´m usually pretty introverted person but sometimes if I´m about to write but a friend calls to hang out I usually accept and am like "Oops will have to leave it for another time" I´m trying to combat these problems by writing in paper like I used to when in University. Somehow holding a pen just let the words flow easily while at the same time keeps me away from the distractions of technology and can leave my phone on airplane mode. The one drawback about this I´d say its a pain to transcribe from paper to PC for the edits. Thats why I´m trying to get a writing machine. Has the advantage of me being able to scan the pages and adobe converts it to a PDF document I can copy into Word Hope this helped someone

Psychic Shaelin strikes again! :-)

I think it's one's circumstance emotionally and financially.

wow one day after writing slump starts you come up with this i’m scared

idk, my motivation doesn't kick in for the first 10-20k words. I need to get through the early going before I can feel a connection. I'm not really attached to my characters at that point. I'll often have to force myself through the earlier pages, but once I have momentum, it's easier. I also tend to draft quickly which helps with motivation. A 90k~ word first draft usually takes about a month, although I've done it in 3 weeks before when I went crazy on weekends.