I have a novel that I have been “working” on off and on for months now. I have gotten real apathetic about finishing up chapter 12 and then continuing to finish it. I need some help to feel better about writing. I don’t exactly have writers block. I know I can write when I want to, I just haven’t felt like completing the first novel.
Unless you have a contract to fulfill or an advance to work off: if you don’t feel like writing, then don’t.
That was fast and exactly not what I am looking for. I want to finish it but am not motivated in doing so.
I’m not a professional writer, but your situation is setting off some warning bells in the creative side of my mind.
I’ve written one fiction manuscript, and I’ve started another; I’ve also written some short stories and essays. In my vastly limited experience, the most difficult part of the writing process is setting up your little world within the story. Creating the characters, creating the situations in which they interact, setting the scenes – all that is tough to do. You’re basically building the framework of the story.
Once the framework is created, though, it’s easy for me to get lost in the story and just fly along, writing merrily. Occasionally I’ll get stuck, and have writer’s block, but mostly it’s a matter of jumping on the story and trying not to fall off as the characters take over.
In those instances when that didn’t happen, when the story itself didn’t motivate me, I knew something was wrong. In my opinion, you write a story or a book for yourself; if it’s not entertaining you, it probably won’t entertain anybody else, either.
Maybe just taking a few days off will let you recharge the creative batteries. If that doesn’t work, you might want to try to figure out why the story doesn’t interest you.
You mentioned finishing chapter 12 – how close to the end of the book do you think you are?
I am about half way through. There are 26 chapters written in my outline but I find that I leave things out and make new chapters as needed so it will probably be closer to 32 chapters when completed (roughly 75k words). I have outlines for 2 other book size chunks but the half way should have the ability to be read as a stand alone. If I ever try to market it, I would put all three together and have it as a single very large volume. When I read it, it is interesting but I am inherently lazy. When I do it I enjoy it but am very easily distracted. Maybe if I gave up the SDMB for a month or so I will finish it. As it is now, I spend entirely too much time here.
I will explain a little how I write. I first conceptualize the world (this is a fantasy based piece) and the main characters. I write little excerpts about things that make the characters individuals and think about what type of circumstances that they would shine in. Then after that, I write an outline. I start with the first chapter and last chapter then fill in the rest so it makes logical sequential sense for the characters to arrive at the last chapter. I don’t necessarily keep it going like a quest (aka the Hobbit where the characters jump from one situation to another and eventually get things done) but that is a crutch I use. I also try to keep character development going so the characters seem to grow. When I talk about the story, I get very excited but I still can’t seem to finish it.
The only other thing I can recommend is setting a writing schedule. My first agent, Oscar Collier (God rest his soul) strongly believed in this. Set a time every day when you write, and all you do is write. Do it when you feel the most creative – firt thing in the morning, or late at night, or whenever. Have a goal of three pages of clean copy per day.
If you’re inherently lazy (as am I), that’s about the only way you’ll finish it. Once you get accustomed to your schedule, it will be easier to write.
I recall some famous author (although I can’t remember who) used to wake up every morning and put a revolver to his head. He’d say to himself “You’re going to write today, aren’t you?” and threaten to pull the trigger if he didn’t. So don’t feel that you’re alone – us creative types sometimes take a bit of a jump-start to keep going on projects.
Hmmm the revolver idea sounds promising but if I kept one close enough to bed I would probably have a bloody accident. 
I guess I haven’t really tried to write on a schedule before. I typically always felt creative either in middle of the day or late at night. I guess I will give that one a try.
Write something (short and) completely different. Not just different from your current project; if possible, write something of a sort you have never written before, whether in style, content or both. It will take your writing thoughts in other directions, and hopefully will give you a fresh approach when you return to the project at hand.
I’ll write the roughest draft possible (superfluous adjectives and Said Bookisms galore) just as long as it gets the story to where it needs to be, then rewrite it once I’m finished. Love the polishing, but sometimes hate the initial writing. This works best if you have a fairly detailed outline.
Plus, as others have said, keep many pieces going at once. While you work on one, the subconscious may be working on the other.
Sir Rhosis
A creative writing professor gave me a great piece of advice once. He said two things:
(1) Write for an hour a day. If you stare at a blank piece of paper, stare at it for an hour a day.
(2) Take something with a distinctive sense to it: the feel of a favorite shirt, the smell of an apple core, anything (I suggest smell). Just before you sit down for your daily hour, put on that shirt or smell that apple core or whatever it is, but do that if and only if you’re about to start writing. Pretty soon, your brain will start to remember that that sense means it’s creativity time and it will help you get in “writing mode.”
Of course, I’m not a published writer, so my advice means squat. But I did find that it helped me be more productive in creating the forgettable drivel I thought was Joycean literature.
Write everyday.
If you can’t write on your novel, write about something else/anything else.
Write chapters out of order.
I second this idea. I often do the same thing with varying degrees of success.
I’ve also had a lot of luck with taking a break from writing for a few days and reading one or two good books. Reading good writing seems to jumpstart my own brain. I try to steer clear of the same genre I am writing in, however.
Here are some hints that work for me:
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Read something in the genre you are writing. I find that if I stop reading other thngs similar to what I’m writing, I lose the inspiration to write.
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Get off the Straight Dope board. I write so much on here that often I lose the desire to write anything else. A two or three day absence from this place really helps with the desire to write other stuff.
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If you’re writing fiction, break the book down into small, bite-sized scenes, and write one at a time. Any large task can be daunting if you just think of it as a whole. For instance, I’m building out my basement, and I stalled out on it a few months ago and haven’t done anything since. Every time I think about doing some work in the basement, the enormity of the entire task depresses me and I wind up doing nothing. Instead, the right attitude is to think about tasks that can be done in a short period of time. I’m not building out a basement, I’m building a door frame. That’s it. The next day, I’m building a frame around a duct. That sort of thing.
So picture a scene that’s coming up later in the book, that’s short enough to write in one sitting. A conversation between characters, a description of a building, whatever. Write that.
Some writers can just sit down and write a book from beginning to end. If you’ve got writer’s block, I suggest writing the entire outline for your book in something like Microsoft Word’s outline mode. Figure out the entire plot, and block out each scene. Create an outline entry for each scene, and leave it blank (except for the stuff you’ve already written). Then build your book like a big jigsaw puzzle, one scene at a time. You don’t have to write in order - movies aren’t filmed in order.
If you do that, then when you have writer’s block trying to write a certain scene, you’re not stuck until you figure it out. Pick another scene in your outline, and write that one.
Also, use another section in your outline for research, and if you’re blocked writing, go look at your research tasks that are still undone, and do one of them. The research can be anything from studying actual topics that you want to write about, to studying about writing itself. If you’ve got a long, expository scene you want to write, your research could be reading other writers who are very good at that type of writing, and making notes about how they do what they do. The process of doing that will make you a better writer, and may also break you out of your writer’s block.
Another thing I’ve started doing is keeping a ‘fragment log’. Did you ever have a little flash of inspiration about something while you’re driving or watching TV, or doing something else other than writing? Maybe something unrelated to anything your’e writing at the time - an emotion at looking at a mountain, or an interesting thought about the driver in front of you, or whatever? Write it down. Put it in a ‘fragment log’, and keep it. When you have writer’s block, read through it. Keep only excellent stuff - if you’re reading it and see some observation you made a year ago which seems banal now, delete it. Eventually, this can become a ‘toolbox’ you can use to create background characters, descriptions of scenes, etc.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for all the input. I think getting off the SDMB temporarily would be the thing that works the best. Maybe if I use it as a reward when I finish a chapter I will be significantly more productive. But not yet. I want to procrastinate a little more today here at work. 
But if I don’t do anything at home tonight I won’t be seeing you guys tomorrow.
^^^If this is what it takes, then as strange as it may seem. . . I hope not to be seeing you around as much.
Best,
Sir Rhosis
I didn’t quite finish a chapter but I got it a good deal underway and thus have treated myself to some SDMB. Now that work has slowed down for the day I will go back to writing in it a little. When I get a little farther along I will be looking for some people to read and comment on it. Maybe after the characters get to chapter 15 (in the outline it may actually be closer to 18 by the time I get there LOL) because that is a pivotal point and about 3/4 of the way through the story.
I have 2 other “books” to write in the series but when it is all said and done, I will combine them into one gigantic book that will be hopefully around 210,000-300,000 words long.
A belated bit of advice:
I find that writing away from the computer, using an old-fashioned fountainn pen does allow me to write more thoughtfully. The greedy blinking of the cursor tends to hypnotize me into a inspirationless mode.
Furthermore I’ve found it helpful at times to write in a diary. The advantage is that you are describing scenes but do not have to think up anything; after a while I find that describing reality becomes boring and the desire to write imagined events comes alive again.
YMMV of course.
Oh, just seen your new post. Hadn’t previewed since I didn’t expect a guy with writers’ block to suddenly post before me. Glad to see that you’re back on the track.
Actually I should do the same as you do: taking a bit of time off SDMB and use it as a treat or reward after more productive labor. Do you have any advice to end my SDMB addiction? 
I have no advice to end the SDMB addiction. On a plus note, I finished off what was the last bit of chapter 12 and am now on the first page of chapter 13. 30K words so far. I was stuck at around 25K words for way too long.
I typically surf the SDMB until I have seen everything then start jumping forums when I have free time at work. However, I found that I am more productive with my writing in that free time if after I have seen everything I want to look at here that I go directly back to it but that generally doesn’t work because I like to procrastinate too much.