I have at least fifty thought out ideas. I have characters, setting, scenes and unstructured plot-lines and yet I can't seem to get in the mood to actually sit down and write for very long. I'll open a document and begin but the minute I hit a small roadblock or bump I quit and never go back.
Any suggestions?
Steven J Pemberton
Favorite Answer
Give yourself permission to write badly. I don't mean you should deliberately write badly, but let go of the notion that everything has to be just right before it's committed to your wordprocessor. You're going to have to edit it later anyway, no matter how good you thought it was when you were writing. If you hit a problem and can't see a way around it, just pretend you solved it anyway and carry on with the next part of the story. Leave yourself a note to fix it in editing.
The other thing I've found helpful is to tell yourself to write something every day, even if it's only a sentence. If you can't write every day, at least try to write to a regular schedule. This keeps the story near the front of your mind, so you're thinking about it when you're not writing. Thus, when you sit down to write, you have some idea what to say.
Don't worry about not feeling inspired or in the mood. Most of the writing process requires dedication and hard work. Obviously, you need some inspiration to start writing, but unless you stick to stories short enough to finish in a day or two, inspiration on its own isn't going to carry you all the way to the end.
Spec Tac
I've got a good book recommendation for you: 'If You Want to Write" by Brenda Uleand. It was written in the 1930's or 40's but is still highly relevant. It's the best book I've read on writing, and it discusses none of the technical aspects - it's all about the art of writing, what it really means to write or produce any kind of art. It has really motivated me to just write and to understand why I have this desire to do so.
I'm a procrastinator, so it is sometimes really hard to get myself to write. What I usually do though is just start writing in an email or something and send it to myself. I say I'll give myself a half hour to just write about anything at all, and usually I start about something that happened during the day, or a dream I had, or I start writing about a story idea that is in my head. What always happens for me then is that I get more ideas flowing about the story, I start thinking of new things for it and get really excited to put it all together. I wrap up the email by organizing my thoughts, and then I'm ready to get to my actual story and start writing it right away.
Lex
I'd like to second Steve's idea to give yourself permission to write badly. Keep in mind that you can always fix things later. My rough drafts have plot holes like you wouldn't believe. My favorite is my major major character who magically appears out of nowhere... I couldn't figure out a way to introduce him, and so I just said "screw it". When I wrote my second draft and made drastic changes, I figured a way to introduce him without being weird. Well I'm not focused on writing things perfectly right now. I'm just trying to get the general idea. My stories usually end up gutted anyway.
jupiteress
You need to remove the block or go around it. Ok come accross a blockage so leave it there and take the round about to a different road. Begin vvith another section. Once that's running nicely you might get another block. Novv go back to the original and you vvill see the blockage has gone.
Think of it as stitching pieces of cloth together. So vvrite a piece at a time and once you have many pieces you can stitch them together vvith vvords. Hope this helps.
Anonymous
I just think how I'll get all the money rolling in when it's published.. HAHA just kiddin'.. :-)
Umm, whatever comes to mind, I feel I have to write it down no matter what. When Ive read about 3 good books, I sort of compare them, and see if I can make one that will be just as good.