Writers can't maintain momentum after bursts of writing

“Yesterday, I managed to write thousands of words. They kept pouring out of my fingertips, and I couldn't stop writing because I was so enraptured. Today, I have stared at my computer screen for two hours and thought of nothing. submitted by /u/justalostgirlidk [link] [comments]”

“Okay, this might be a weird one, but I'm just trying to see if anyone has similar experiences, and what they do about it if so. Basically, I have times where I'll want to write, and be very proud of my work. Usually it lasts a couple weeks. I'll be incredibly motivated, passionate, and thoughtful(if I do say so myself) in my writing, and when I'm in this "passion mode" I can sit down and bang out a well-received fanfic chapter or one shot in one sitting that I'll go”

“I know, I know this is a crazy big ask, but I really want to write even for a little bit. So, how do I motivate myself to write when dealing with these problems? I am going to the doctors to get help, but in the mean time what do I do. I could read books during the time I am not writing. Though I still need to write something because I miss writing. I plan on writing short stories to help relieve my boredom. I don't know if asking this was the smart thing to do. I should be taking it easy an”

“Does anyone else have moments or weeks where they can write for hours at a time, ideas flowing through, then one day it’s completely gone? I find myself writing maybe 3 or 4 drafts for a potential novel idea , and then i get bored of it and want to write something else. Then, it happens with that potential story. And then the next. Aaaand then the next… It’s a cycle of motivation, ideas, writing, boredom, and hitting a brick wall. No urge to continue any of them. How in the world do I overcome t”

“Every day it's the same. I'm on the bus, in the shower, walking to get coffee, and my brain is writing. Dialogue, scenes, whole chapters unspooling perfectly. I hear the rhythm of the sentences. I see the characters move. I know exactly how it should go. Then I sit down at my desk, open the document, and it all disappears. The words that felt so alive an hour ago are gone. What's left is a blank page and a vague memory of something that felt important. I've been doing this for ye”

“Maybe there's others out there who have it worser than me but I don't know - I can only write over 1000 words if I'm given about 2 hours of silence. Mainly because I like my writing to look polished early on even though the editing phase exist. I want to know if anyone out there also faces a similar issue or has advice to tackle this issue. submitted by /u/OssieChannie [link] [comments]”

“Hi! I (22F) have been writing since I was a child. I used to write in my notebooks as a little kid for hours and hours every day and Ive always dreamt of becoming an author, and I still do. Ive also always loved reading. However, it has become impossible for me to read books because… for example, today I started reading a book and my brain does something when I read where it kicks into overdrive and I think of an idea and get extremely motivated and then HAVE to start writing about whatever it i”

“There's a woman in my writing group who finished a 90,000-word draft in four months. Four months. She has a job. She has two kids. She posts about it casually, like it's nothing, like it's just what she does on Tuesday nights. Meanwhile, I've been stuck on one sentence since Monday. One sentence. It's not even an important sentence — it's the second line of a new chapter. I've rewritten it thirty times. I've changed the verb, the rhythm, the order of the clauses,”

“I was at my desk writing. I paused to to think of the next conversation and I LOST IT IN THE TIME IT TOOK ME TO LOOK BACK AT THE SCREEN. It was PERFECT TOO. Why do our brains do this!?!? submitted by /u/CyborgHeart1245 [link] [comments]”

“Just my current scenario as I need help. I'm in school, get new homework everyday. I really have wanted to write a idea that's been in my head since before summer. It changed alot until I settled with something: 2099 Chronicles: The last human And here I am now. Weekends is when I free myself to write but one thing is clear to me. How much words a day? I would like to finish by 2027 at least 1st draft (any ideas to finish before 2027 would be good) but 2 days freed is small. I am writing”

“So today I wanted to write. I'm on chapter 60-something, and I was determined to be like, “I am getting this done.” So I was writing, everything was going great, and then I changed something that was big enough that I needed to add it to my story bible. So I opened my Story Bible and now I'm stuck organizing and changing stuff. I asked a few other subreddits about this, but honestly, this seems like the place that makes the most sense. While reorganizing everything, I discovered that I h”

“I need to know how you do it. I have started nearly 100 chapter ones and completed them. But then every time I move on to the next story. The thought of staying in a world that I’m building with my characters for as long as I’d need to write an entire novel genuinely starts to trigger major avoidance. My personal record has been 40,000 words. I would write every day until I got a job. That has been taking all my time. I feel like I’m making excuses but I haven’t opened the file up for 2 months.”

“This has happened four times now. I wake up at 2 AM with an idea that feels urgent — not like a normal idea, but like something I'll lose forever if I don't write it down immediately. So I stumble to my desk, half-asleep, and type like a man possessed for an hour. Then I go back to bed. In the morning, I open the document and find scenes I don't recognize. They're good. Better than my daytime writing. Sharper dialogue, more vivid descriptions, choices I would never make conscious”

“That's the perfect way to put it, momentum dying. You start with intent, then you're 40 tabs deep checking what's already ranking and somewhere in there the will to actually write just evaporates. Cutting that part down was honestly more valuable than any writing speed improvement could've been.”

“Dear all, Some 15 hours ago I submitted my thesis, five years in the making, one whole year of which was fully dedicated to writing. The last five weeks or so have been all manic writing and rewriting and very little sleep. Especially over the past two weeks I have accrued what can only be described as a Massive Sleep Debt™️. I have not felt like this in years. But somehow I cannot sleep. Whenever I close my eyes I see my computer screen, and it's like I'm looking for–and finding!–mistak”

“I seem to really try controlling the start to the point they miss the mark. I refuse to edit because it has to get worse before it’s going to get better. Is there a practice to find the flow a little better but somewhat contained so I am working the other way around (tightening up instead of loosening) submitted by /u/Winter_Jasmine465 [link] [comments]”

“Yo, I've been writing a gritty adventure story for a couple of months now (crossed 34chapters🔥🤧) After writing my raw drafts I would use tools that would solely polish my technical writing I've already written, but then found a disadvantage recently💔 The tools would make the writing technically "correct" but not with that natural human writing that I've read on pro books. So i wanted to know if there are ways or tips to develop my own sentence rhythm to write naturally a”

“So, I got to sleep really late, and woke up really early and just before I went to sleep, the flood gates opened, and after I woke up an hour later, the flood gates opened again. I wrote all of it down as soon as possible (thankfully nothing was lost), but how do I keep the moment through the other times of the day where I'm not half-lucid and delirious? submitted by /u/KoboldKhaos [link] [comments]”