I seem to have lost my motivation to write Clockworks and Cogs. I loved this story when it was a short story. Adored it. Those two days I spent in a flurry of words (almost 8200) were sheer enjoyment just for the pleasure of telling a story.
Now that I'm adapting that short story into a novel, I've fallen out of love with it. I have no motivation or desire to open the document each day. When I do open it, the file sits there, taunting me. It's there when I finally close down solitaire with the intention of returning to it.
It sits there when I get back from folding that next load of laundry. It's there, but the motivation muse has gone on permanent vacation it seems.
It doesn't help that I'm tired all the time from school and the crazy hours I keep these days. But I'm desperately seeking a temp muse to replace the vacationing one. The ideas are there, sort of, but the motivation isn't.
Has this ever happened to you? How do you find the motivation when your muse has gone on permanent vacation to Mount Everest's summit?
Sometimes I can find motivation in music, or through a movie or even a good book, but sometimes taking a break from it really helps. I hope you can get back in the groove soon :)
ReplyDeleteI wrote about something similar today, about going with your gut when something doesn't feel right. Maybe the story was meant to be a short story, or maybe now is not the time to adapt it. Wait, I'm demotivating you...read a really good book!
ReplyDeleteIt may just be that particular story was meant to be a short story. Sometimes we can't change a thing's nature. You could trudge through it and maybe it will be different when you just focus it out, but then again, you might find that it's okay to let it just be a short story. Sometimes when I'm stuck, I write something totally different--just to get out of the funk. Wishing you luck!
ReplyDeleteI think some stories are meant to be a short story. I'm a fan of short fiction, and it is an art to be able to write shorts. I'd say congratulate yourself on how well you've already done on this piece! Taking a break from a piece for a couple of weeks at least can be helpful too. And a great walk...
ReplyDeleteI don't know that I have any advice. Just give it time. Maybe the motivation will come, or maybe you'll decide to work on another story. Don't get too discouraged. Slumps happen. You'll get out of it eventually.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I revise something I like. Other times I focus on catching up on reading and blogging. Getting rest helps. It will come back, maybe not on this one story. But I know you're super motivated and have lots of projects. Don't be too hard on yourself. You're working and going to school too.
ReplyDeleteMy most recently published short story began as a novel, much like yours.
ReplyDelete10k words into it I flopped dead on the deck because the tide rolled out and there weren't no other place to swim.
I satisfied myself with a short story -- a VERY short story, compared to the 10k I had written -- and shelved it.
I may come back to it later. No sense getting too hung up on it, there are so many other things to write!
- Eric
My muse went on vacation to Hawaii for about a year. Basically what I did was write anyways, even if I wasn't inspired. Just write as much as you can squeeze out of your brain, and you can always edit it and fix it later when your muse comes back if you absolutely hate it.
ReplyDeleteFor me it took starting a new story idea for NaNoWriMo this year for my muse to return and for me to be inspired again. Perhaps a chance of proverbial scene would be good. I spent about two weeks outlining my new project, and now I'm getting great ideas for the novel I'd had writer's block on for almost two years.