How do I write again?

TeaNinja

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I used to write a lot but really lost my motivation and imagination once college started. And every time I try to get back, I just don’t know what to write. Then, sometimes I go back to read my stories for remembrance and just cringe at what I wrote. Now, I don’t even know how to continue my story.

But what’s fucking me over is that I really, really want to write. Write fun stuff again.

People still message me so I know people want me to write again too. I even said I was going to come back.

But I’m scared to disappoint readers and myself. Scared that I don’t know how to write fun again.
 

KiraMinoru

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Jun 22, 2020
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I used to write a lot but really lost my motivation and imagination once college started. And every time I try to get back, I just don’t know what to write. Then, sometimes I go back to read my stories for remembrance and just cringe at what I wrote. Now, I don’t even know how to continue my story.

But what’s fucking me over is that I really, really want to write. Write fun stuff again.

People still message me so I know people want me to write again too. I even said I was going to come back.

But I’m scared to disappoint readers and myself. Scared that I don’t know how to write fun again.
Just write a different story without caring how it turns out. No point forcing yourself to write something you aren’t confident in writing. If in the future you regain the spark to pick up where you left off, then great, do it. If not, then just write whatever you feel like.
 

K5Rakitan

Level 34 👪 💍 Pronouns: she/whore ♀
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It's OK to take a break and come back if you are overwhelmed. I took a break in 2015 when my boyfriend died, and I got back into writing in 2019. Now I have a baby, so I'm taking another break.
 

Viator

Wandering Moon that conceals the tide
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I used to write a lot but really lost my motivation and imagination once college started. And every time I try to get back, I just don’t know what to write. Then, sometimes I go back to read my stories for remembrance and just cringe at what I wrote. Now, I don’t even know how to continue my story.

But what’s fucking me over is that I really, really want to write. Write fun stuff again.

People still message me so I know people want me to write again too. I even said I was going to come back.

But I’m scared to disappoint readers and myself. Scared that I don’t know how to write fun again.
It sounds as if you might be having the same kind of issue I once did, if I am reading between the lines correctly. I am a poet by nature; I have been writing them all my life. When I attended college I had a professor who had very strong ideas about how to write poetry "correctly." Taking those classes near ruined my poetic muse for a number of years. I had to deprogram myself from a lot of ideas that doing assignments in that class imprinted in me. My style of writing did change, and to a degree that will happen naturally no matter what, but I had to force myself to write and break the ideas that stunted my creativity. I firmly believe college can teach you the form of things, but if you are not careful it is the killer of the artistic soul. Too many ideas of what you are "supposed to do" get left behind. Work at it. It won't be easy, as every artist is their own worst critic. But ask yourself what habits and criticisms you learned that don't serve you and throw them out! I hope you can find your new style and voice again, with the song of the muse.
 
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Reisinling

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I used to write a lot but really lost my motivation and imagination once college started. And every time I try to get back, I just don’t know what to write. Then, sometimes I go back to read my stories for remembrance and just cringe at what I wrote. Now, I don’t even know how to continue my story.

But what’s fucking me over is that I really, really want to write. Write fun stuff again.

People still message me so I know people want me to write again too. I even said I was going to come back.

But I’m scared to disappoint readers and myself. Scared that I don’t know how to write fun again.
Find a discord group that will ask you everyday to write with them. Then write 300 words a day. Then when you get enough for a chapter publish it. The first chapter is the worst, after you get back into writing you will be fine.
 

ArcadiaBlade

I'm a Lazy Writer, So What?
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Inspiration doesn't come out of thin air. Always be confident that you can spark the ideas in your head into words and create a story you want.

I mostly have so many stories I abandoned due to how I lack the progress to proceed to anyone of them but I didn't care as long as I want to write.

It is what you want to do, the only way you can bring your creativity back. Do not be afraid of people being disappointed in not being good enough as long as you have fun at what you do. An artist always find creating something to be challenging and fun, an animator to bring their ideas to life and a writer being able to print their mind into words.

As long as you want it to be, you can always try and fail again, getting better each failure to improve yourself. The only demotivating thing is you, yourself giving up and not doing anything at all instead of what you want to do.
 

Temple

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I used to write a lot but really lost my motivation and imagination once college started. And every time I try to get back, I just don’t know what to write. Then, sometimes I go back to read my stories for remembrance and just cringe at what I wrote. Now, I don’t even know how to continue my story.

But what’s fucking me over is that I really, really want to write. Write fun stuff again.

People still message me so I know people want me to write again too. I even said I was going to come back.

But I’m scared to disappoint readers and myself. Scared that I don’t know how to write fun again.
Writing a different story was suggested, although I don't think you want to do that since you're also thinking of your readers. On the other hand, you're having problems continuing your current story. My suggestion is somewhere between writing a new story while continuing your old one: reboot it. Startover and promise your readers it's going to be a new and improved version. Can fix the parts you cringed at while being free to add new things or just direct the story in a different direction. This is probably the choice that will least affect your readers if continuing the story is off the table.
 

Underload

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Write shorts. Write about an ants journey back home. Write where the clouds are going. Write about your day. Write.
 

Cipiteca396

🌺🌑🐉🪶 Anxiety Overdrive
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Read.

Read stories you like and let that influence how you write. That will help you learn to 'write fun again'.

As for actually writing, make a copy of your old story and butcher it. Keep what you like, rewrite the shit. Or, do that and write a new story at the same time. To keep yourself from getting bored.
 
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SakeVision

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Read some stories, watch some anime, play some games, and brainstorm a lot. And then you will think "this is predictable, it would be cooler if the protagonist did what my speculah said instead" or "it would be more exciting if the plot took that direction instead! or "these characters are all tropes, is there no originality left in the world!?". Eventually, you get so frustrated that you will write it yourself instead of relying on inept writers delivering disappointing plotlines and character development patterns, you will write it right, if only for yourself, even if no one else reads it!
 

JMMatheis

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Maybe my experience with this will help.

I am back up and running for little over a year now, after I had a 12 year vacuum of writing and reading. Nothing but writing very occasional notes (in a notebook). The whole time, I thought I wanted to write again, but I never could really get back into it. I read my old work once or twice in that time, but I did not add to it.

When I started back up again, I took the story that I last worked on and used it as notes, like a framework. It was cringe, it was too fast. I really liked the premise though. I looked at what I wanted to keep and planned around it.

Don't be afraid of trying to be the same as you were, be who you are now. Write what feels right to you. As a reader our tastes change and develop, it is the same as a writer.

I fully agree with SakeVision's view, it was precisely THAT situation that led to me opening that old work and tearing into it.

I was watching between 2 and 4 hours of anime a night, hacked Steins Gate, blew through the entirety of the Monogatari series, among many others. It was strangely the first season of DanMachi that did it. I stopped watching in the middle of an episode. Found the soundtrack of it, put it on repeat, opened the old documents and have not stopped since.

The only other driving force for me was a question: Where is the rest?

I write for myself. I write what I want to read. And if everything works out, other people will like it too (hopefully!). My primary audience is myself. If someone comes up with a great observation, I might take it on, or not. The readers will want to see your vision of your story. As a reader that is what I find enticing, not knowing what is coming next. Watching as events unfold on the pages, being along for the ride.

Good Luck!
 
Joined
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0. Take a long walk. There is almost nothing better for your mind or body.
1. Write whatever occurs to you, even if it's incomplete, not chronological, or even currently part of your plot. Who knows what you'll need later? (Same reason you NEVER erase when doing math. If you think something is wrong cross it out, but Do Not Erase!).
2. Write things that make you feel. If you're writing can't even give you the feels, it's Boring.
3. Don't fear the time-skip. I (as a reader) don't care about every second of your character's life or thought, and you don't need to write it.
4. Take long walks. There is almost nothing better for your body or mind.
5. Pursue another creative hobby, like programming or photography.
6. Get sleep, and write down your dreams (if you can, mine are a bit too complex to commit to paper in more than the most cursory fashion.)
7. Dissociate portions of your personality and build the fragements into your MC's (including villians), and listen to what they tell you.
8. Walk for a while. There is almost nothing better for you.

Good Luck!
 

Reisinling

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I find spite to be a great motivator. Read something mildly successful that's crap, and that you could write better. Then prove it.
literally the reason I'm here. Read a few novels that were super popular on NU, couldn't believe this crap is so popular, now I'm motivating other people the same way :D
 
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