Motivation???

Keep writing out your ideas! You are already keeping a notebook and this is an essential tool for writers. Every time you get an idea, write it down. Whether the idea is for a conflict or plot or for a character, write it down!

Next, get in the habit of writing. Read The Artist's Way and/or Writing Down the Bones. Both of these books can easily be found in your local library and bookstore. Every writer I know not only has read these books but owns them. They will teach you how to get into the habit of writing, of breaking past your censor, and really enjoying the process of writing.

It is very easy for writers to get into the habit of reading books about writing but you don't want to spend more time reading about how to write then you do actually writing. I listen to a lot of people who ask about how to get published, find an agent, etc. and when I ask them how far they are in their manuscript they tell me they haven't actually written anything yet but they have this "great idea." A great idea is nothing more than a great idea until it is written.

And let me tell you a secret--only YOU can write your great idea.

So write.

I would encourage you to check out nanowrimo . . . in November a lot of people take up the challenge to write a certain number of words (50,000) in thirty days (the month of November). Everyone knows that what they will write is probably going to be pretty bad but rough drafts are usually pretty dreadful. So don't expect to write a finished and polished manuscript of your story . . . but know that if you give this challenge a try, if you sit down every day and write, you will not only discover how you block yourself but you will also see how many excuses you have for NOT writing that really are only excuses.

In the meantime, keep jotting notes in your notebook, read Writing Down the Bones, and have FUN!

There are some great answers already given here, so I will only offer a trick I use. I outline my stories pretty much from start to finish, and somewhere in the middle of that I get to writing complete paragraphs in the outline. Once that starts, I move off of the outline and get to writing. That may jump start you if you give it a try.

I also make a graph/table showing the characters down the left hand side and the time line across the top. I then fill in the boxes with brief descriptions of the action/developments/clues as they occur in the story. It helps me to keep everything organized, and reviewing that table lets me ask if a character is doing anything out of sequence or something that just doesn't make sense.

One my website (this is free) I've posted the slides from a writing workshop I presented last year entitled "The Brute Force & Ignorance Approach" which takes a story from the basic idea all the way through to the end. It is available for free on my website (www.vincenthoneil.com) under the "For Writers" section.

Finally, your writing is your writing and your creative technique is your creative technique. What I just mentioned works for me, but if it doesn't work for you then feel free to disregard.

You have started the right way. Now sit down with those notes and a highlighter or two and see if you can't connect some of those thoughts. Try writing very simple short stories based on those thoughts and ideas. Even if they are only fragments. As you read these first tiny writings, start to visualize some of them as longer pieces. Eventually one or two might stand out in your mind as something to write about.

From there, work on a strong outline and good detailed character studies. Do any research you need to have at your fingertips for the story.

Then use that outline and those studies and turn them into a more substantial work. Pax- C

I have a book called So you want to write a novel by Lou Willett Stanek and it is an awesome read and it tells you how to keep motivated. But I will say one thing, if you don't have the drive to even start it then maybe writing isn't for you. Or maybe you could get a ghostwriter. You should always carry a pad around with you. An idea can pop up at any moment. At work, a funeral, something your husband say, something your wife says, something your kids do...anytime.

You have a great habit for writing down your ideas. To change all this into a story all you need to do, is well, sounds cheesy , but write from expirience. Make the characters real, write what you know, and probles characters had might have been problems you had. If you do this, it will turn great.

Sweetie, don't get me wrong, but if you don't have a story that you actually feel is worth telling, then there's no point writing something. A story will develop within your mind, not on paper. So if you have a good story, the words will flow all by themselves.

Good luck!

if you know what your stories about and you're struggling to start it off with a hook, skip the hook and start at whatever point you feel comfortable with. write as though all the back story the reader already knows, it'll make the writing less of a pain. when you're done you can go back and write the beginning.

If you're not naturally motivated, then guess what? Nothing will help you.

Only write when you're NATURALLY motivated.

Don't go AGAINST your mind/body. You wont help any. You can't. Your mind is TELLING YOU, don't sit down! Don't write, I'm bored, get up! SO DO THAT. Don't work against it.

Character development. Start detailing your characters. Make them come to life for you, so their story must be told.

try writing it for someone. Like your wife or GF or even your mother. It should keep you into it.