BlackHeart Biohazards

Great question, anon! The answer is– it depends.

If I know what I want to/am supposed to write next, but I’m having trouble motivating myself to write my strategy is:

• get up and do something physical. Take a walk. Do a chore.
• afterward, sit down and put words on the page. It doesn’t matter what words. I type a sentence. And then I type another sentence.
• If I can’t get something going after physically writing two sentences, then I give myself the day off, and try again tomorrow.

If I’m motivated to write, but I don’t know what part comes next or don’t know how to solve a writing problem

• The water cure! I take a shower, or do the dishes. The water is *probably* not strictly necessary. This is mostly the same strategy as “doing something physical” above, but I’m admittedly a little superstitious about the water part.
• Basically just take yourself away from the page, and put yourself in a setting where you are busy, but your mind is free to wander and work on the task of writing. Don’t turn on a radio, podcast or tv.
• If the water cure doesn’t work, the next step is a rubber duck. Find someone– a rubber duck, an action figure, a wall, or a patient and understanding friend and start explaining the story to them. It doesn’t matter if they actually answer you or not, it’s just about verbalizing the problem.
• If the water cure and the rubber duck have both been attempted and I still don’t know what comes next, I give myself the day off and try again tomorrow.

If I’m not motivated to write and I don’t know what to write, then I give myself the day off and try again tomorrow.

But the trying again tomorrow part is important.

You have to sit down and try to write every day. You have to open the document, and make the attempt.

You can give yourself as many days off as you need– and you should give yourself as many days off as you need– but you also have to actually keep making the attempt.