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Regardless of how passionate one is about writing, it can remain a taxing endeavor. Often, what stops their craft is their loss of motivation to write.

Authors can either have an influx of ideas or a terrible dry spell of motivation.

Similar circumstances happen to everyone but in their own unique ways. Regardless of which field they fall into, people experience bouts of ups and downs. Life is comparable to a rollercoaster. Hence, nobody is expected to go through their days in linearity, of equalized intensity and sentiment. Instead, there will be times when things go north in as much as they can go south. There will be moments of victory, as equal to losses and suffering.

What Happens When Authors Hit A Slump?

For others, they can easily sit out days when they feel out of it.

When they feel at a loss for motivation to write, the almost mechanical instinct kicks in, and they go about their routines subconsciously. They have repeatedly executed patterns that allow them to do their work through autopilot. Although this means they won’t be in touch with their work, this gets them through their days. To these individuals, being low on drive doesn’t influence their work as much.

However, to authors who bank their careers on their minds’ wellness, this can be a problem.

The slump – as what they’d like to call it.

The period feels like a brick wall void of imagination or creativity and is high enough that there’s no looking past it. When authors fall into this slump, their motivation to write gets sucked out of them, and they’re left with the never-ending desire to stare off into the distance. Losing this motivation can make it feel like authors have been cheated out of their passion. It can even feel like they’ve been dishonest about what they like doing. They begin to question their love and capabilities.

However, this experience is typical and can be countered with effort.

What Should They Do When They Lose Their Motivation To Write?

Every author goes through this phase of losing every motivation to write. Instead of looking at the world and seeing it brimming with ideas, everything begins to lose color and feel bleak. Suddenly, they’re thrust into a sphere lacking creativity, and they begin to grapple, desperate to find a way out.

While some authors can go days juggling multiple novels, some can easily be burnt out. This doesn’t mean both should be compared, with one being deemed superior. This means that authors have different thresholds to what they’re comfortable working on and the pace they’re working with.

Jill S Flateland, author of Until We Meet Again, is among those working with more fuel to produce pieces continuously. A Colorado Gold Contest 2014 finalist author, she has mastered creating excellent stories and writing without losing the motivation to write. Above all, she has learned to pace her writing to avoid feeling overwhelmed despite working on several projects.

How does she do it?

Acknowledge It, But Don’t Exacerbate

Authors who lose motivation to write often jump to the worst scenarios. They won’t associate it with laziness or simply the lack of ideas. Instead, they may think they’ve lost passion for their craft. This is when it teeters into dangerous territories. Passion wanes, but this doesn’t automatically mean authors should stop producing their stories.

While there will be days when they lose their motivation to write, this shouldn’t be taken as a signal to stop altogether. Instead, this only means it’s time to switch up processes and routines. What gets authors to regain the motivations they’ve lost is by writing again.

Don’t Stick To Chronology

Although the sequence is vital to every story, the process doesn’t always have to follow this linearity. When authors find themselves stuck with a particular scene, they can skip it and write another. This doesn’t mean they can leave blanks throughout the story. Instead, this allows them to write more without the pressure of working on scenes they feel lost over.

With this method, their creative juices are never still. They’re constantly in the work, producing more narratives and progress for their book. If they have more than a single novel, they can even jump from one story to another. But in doing so, they must also ensure they won’t get things mixed up.

Break The Product Up To Smaller Pieces

Often, the reason why authors lose their motivation to write is because they’re overwhelmed. They picture the final product and how far they are from it, which intimidates them even to continue. Instead of being driven by the bigger picture, they get swamped with the needed work.

To address this pressure, authors can break the significant goal into smaller, more attainable ones. They can avoid thinking of the final product and consider the smaller steps they must take. Creating an outline can help with this. It allows authors to break their massive pieces into smaller goals, whether to finish writing specific scenes or crafting the necessary elements.

Overall, a lot of authors can quickly lose motivation to write. But what they do afterward is what matters most. They can put their pens down and never look back at the process they’ve created, associating this loss with the lack of capability. Or, they can continue pushing by changing their perspectives and methods, rewiring the brain to view writing as a completely new task.