Creative burnouts during plotting

Discussion in 'Author Discussions' started by AneeChan, Sep 12, 2021.

  1. AneeChan

    AneeChan Well-Known Member

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    Can someone pls give me tips on how to overcome this? After long hours of plotting when you're just too tired to think about anything or feel scared to touch your brainstorming session again, how do you recover your vigor? Or is vigor and inspiration a necessity in long term plotting? How many hours are ideal in terms of plotting your novel and for a person with a short attention span how much time would you suggest is the best? Thank you in advance!!
     
  2. Xian Piete

    Xian Piete Author of many mediocre stories

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    Not everyone has the same process. There is no standard.
     
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  3. AneeChan

    AneeChan Well-Known Member

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    Ik but something someone recommends might work out for me which was the point of the post:blobsweat_2: All that matters is that it works for me
     
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  4. Gandire Alea

    Gandire Alea [Wicked Awesome Translator]

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    Do something else for a while. Only focusing on one thing can make it feel stale and like there is nothing left for it
     
  5. meliori

    meliori [in a dark tunnel seeing light from afar]

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    Read materials related to what you're writing? Or other stories with similar plot, similar kind of characters, etc. If you stopped because you just faced a plot point you can't quite sort out, that might help give you more ideas
     
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2021
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  6. AneeChan

    AneeChan Well-Known Member

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    Oh man this is quite detrimental in my case because my inspirations are often drawn from what I read and reading something similar would just result in a procrastination/a complete drop of the project because of how impressionable I am. Anything similar like this? Thank you for replying!! Adios!!:blobmelt:

    I have issues with consistency, is there a method that'd generate ideas despite continuously working on the story? Because time off would mean time off for a lifetime in my case becauseof how notoriously distraction prone I am. Thank you for replying :bloblove:
     
  7. meliori

    meliori [in a dark tunnel seeing light from afar]

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    Aw, that's quite the same problem I have as well :blobrofl: but if you're not really chased by a tight deadline, isn't it okay to go slowly? Reading one book that gives you one inspiration might be worth it. I only ever write short stories though, but my best ones are those I wrote for a long period of time.

    What about writing up scenes you can already conjure up in your mind? Even if the plot isn't complete yet, you can piece it together later. See if it can spark up some additional ideas.

    Or write short stories to fill up the time and take you away for a while from your current story. Inspiration can't really be forced sometimes, it can come in the most untimely moments
     
  8. Gandire Alea

    Gandire Alea [Wicked Awesome Translator]

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    In that case, the only thing I can think of is try working on a different part of the novel. You might end up changing what you write when you get to that point of the novel though
     
  9. Resinling

    Resinling Member

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    Don't plot everything at once. Create general plot for the first two months of chapters, with some hints of the "big" plot, it shouldn't be more then 2 pages long. After that expand it as you write. Plotting everything at the beginning is likely to make the act of writing boring craftsmanship, instead of artistic fulfillment. Also, with time your ideas for the story will grow and evolve, so you are unlikely to follow a detailed plan anyways.
     
  10. Dun Dun Dun

    Dun Dun Dun New Member

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    I usually start on a few different stories and they lead me to ideas for my other ones.

    I usually don't finish my other stories I just start them as a collection.