Lack of Muse?

[Vaughn Logan]

Hey guys,

So what do you all do to get some muse? I've tried listening to some music (sometimes helps, other times detracts), or go for a run /work out (but then im usually tired or just hungry afterwards).

So what do you guys do? It seems like it's really just a hit and a miss. Either you have muse, or you don't. I don't know. If you guys have something that works, please feel free to share it with the rest of us lol

[Hazel 'Hobbs' Yeung]

I don't believe in lack of muse, only lack of self-discipline. When I don't feel like writing I sit my ass down and write anyway. If it comes naturally, then great. If not, then the writing process, no matter how shoddy you think it is, becomes habit. And hey, a post's a post, right? I learned a long time ago that writing 1000+ word posts every time quickly becomes exhausting and makes you feel obliged to keep up to a standard instead of worrying about the punctuality of the post itself. I've gone months between replying before trying to maintain length instead of actually keeping the thread going.

I realise that this is more difficult to keep up to with RPs, where it's all just for fun. If writing seems like a chore all the time, then it's probably best to leave or take a hiatus. But I've noticed that when writing books, essays, etc. making yourself write will help make up word count or advance the plot anyway, and if you don't like the outcome you can always edit later.

TL;DR: Quit whinging and get those words down.

[Vaughn Logan]

LOL, nicely put. Yeah I usually do just sit myself down and go for it, no matter what happens to spew onto the paper. Thanks for your input Hobbs

[Evelyn van Buren]

I agree with Hobbs in that sometimes, there is really nothing you can do to feel inspired, but you gotta write anyway. At the same time, the posts I've written during these phases make me cringe and I can't bear to post them.

A thing that usually helps me is mentally visualizing the scene sort of like a movie (this is greatly helped by game OST-type soundtracks). Then I mentally play out different scenarios and go for the one that interests me.

[Vaughn Logan]

Aug 26, 2012 7:16:05 GMT -5 Evelyn van Buren said:

A thing that usually helps me is mentally visualizing the scene sort of like a movie (this is greatly helped by game OST-type soundtracks). Then I mentally play out different scenarios and go for the one that interests me.

Totally agree with this! I do this as well. Sometimes I can't find OST's that just work haha.

[murdock]

I disagree with Hobbs, there is a "muse" as in there is inspiration, just like there is lack of self-discipline, and you shouldn't throw out posts if you're not in the mood for it because most times those posts lack quality compared to what you usually do and since when is lack of quality a good thing? I'd rather have a thread that took long to finish than a gutter of words being punched out every half an hour. As in what I do, music mostly.

[Hazel 'Hobbs' Yeung]

I just think "lack of inspiration" can usually be boiled down to having no ideas, a "can't be arsed" attitude, or both. I can understand if somebody doesn't have the motivation to do the actual writing bit itself, but the content of the writing, the brainchild, is in the writer. And it always is, it's just a matter of having the time and effort to get it out. I think that if you don't know what to write or how to write it, then maybe you chose the wrong subject.

I reckon that if you don't write whenever you don't fancy it, you'll never get out of whatever rut you're stuck in. Motivation usually doesn't just magically show up, at least not in my experience. I keep my desire to write going by keeping the juices flowing.

Besides, it's RPing, it doesn't have to be top-quality. It's nice if it is, of course, but if you add an OOC note briefly explaining, then the other player's going to understand. I think it's better to write something you don't like than to write nothing at all because otherwise you just end up languishing in "I-don't-feel-like-it"-ville. And if you wait too long then the thread dries up, whereas if you post promptly, albeit a little badly, the other person at least has the chance to give you a reply post with something you can work better with.

[❂ S K Y E ❂]

I actually agree with Hobbs. I've found that not wanting to post and then choosing not to leads to less posting. You get into the habit of not posting because you don't have the muse for it. And I've found that the moment I sit myself down and start posting, I get muse after a hundred words in. I think it's easier to just do it than to try to motivate yourself.