Managing Motivation

[noeinan]

Wondering if anyone has some techniques to help generate motivation for writing your vn? I'm not primarily a writer-- though I did enjoy creative writing back in high school, I haven't written much (fiction) in years and I guess due to insecurity I'm having a hard time motivating myself to start writing again.

So! Anything you all do to get yourselves out of a writing funk? Fun writing exercises? Good books? Other solutions? Thanks in advanced!

[Timberduck]

The trick is to get a piece of paper and pen and write what ever you want and not change a thing unless you found something way better, While watching Archer , or any case any tv cartoon and show and grab inspiration from things you hear while watching and writing.

[Taleweaver]

To quote Douglas Adams: Writing is easy. You only need to stare at a piece of blank paper until a drop of blood forms on your forehead.

And yeah, reading a lot is a good prerequisite for writing.

[noeinan]

I've been an avid reader all my life, though I've had a bit less time to read the past year. I'm also pretty good at editing-- but I suppose it's more difficult for me to come up with my own material. I can plan stories, characters, worlds, plot twists, etc. It's the actual writing and scripting that gets me down.

And sadly it feels sometimes like I'll pull up a new word document and just stare at it forever, haha. I think more in scenes, animated or comics, but have a hard time describing it in words. Maybe it's because I'm primarily an artist, so I keep thinking of drawing it instead. :/

[Flowers from Nowhere]

Just sit down and write. Do a little every day if you can. Some of it will be terrible. Accept that. The more you do it the better you'll get.

[Ophelia]

Hm, are you maybe forcing yourself to write something specific? You can just write whatever to get you going and can just switch to stuff you "need" to write after you have already the drive.
For example, don't try and force yourself to write the very first scene or some "foundation building" scenes. You can do them later. Start maybe with an interesting moment between the characters, which doesn't even need to be a part of your script. Just start writing something. Like... your characters are in a plane, are getting bored and start talking to each other. What would they talk about?
Or, if you think in scenes, try describing it. It doesn't need to be in script form, just write a paragraph or two about the scene. It doesn't need to be perfect. It doesn't even need to be good! Just write whatever pops into your head, however silly it may seem to you. But I find that once I start writing it will be much more easier to keep going. And there isn't really a need to force yourself, or rather, you can't really force yourself. Better write about something silly instead of not writing at all and just staring at the document.

[Cith]

I second 'Flowers from Nowhere' when they said to just write. You can get stuck on a scene for days, weeks, months or years until you actively sit and down and try to work through it by writing.

Also, try writing a VN without planning. Some people will plan a story but then find they have no inspiration to write it. Some people can only write on the fly with minimal planning. I remember being stuck, paralysed for many years without writing anything because I planned everything out beforehand. I found out later I can't write like that. Each writer has their own style, my technique to get some characters and stick them in scenes together. I then run with the idea for a while, with the writing usually being terrible (but that's what editing is for), then later on I'll see a plot start to develop, then a while further I'll get a fair idea of where the novel's headed. I've just begun a new novella which started from a writing challenge issued on a forum. I ran with a scene which was just random gags shoved together. At the end, I realised I hadn't written a scene at all, so I stuck an ominous song in and some foreboding (thus qualifying it as a scene,) which took on a life of its own and now it has morphed into some kind of supernatural horror/comedy thing.

So, before giving up on writing, get a blank piece of paper, form a few characters in your head, and write anything that comes to mind down. Keep writing and don't stop. Just see what develops.