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I started writing a fantasy novel 2 and a half years ago, but I've never been able to consistently work on it for more than two months at the most. My longest break was about half a year without working on it. I've gotten to 75,000 words, but can't help but feel it would be done already if I just exercised a little discipline and stopped taking such absurdly long breaks. It's not that I want to, I just find that there's always a point where I run out of steam. Like I burn out all my creative juice in short spurts of a few weeks and then I have to walk away from it for a while. Does anyone else do this? Maybe you have your own obnoxious writing habits you'd like to kick?

Yeah. Honestly, so what? It's not like we're writing on a dead line with publication around the corner. Write when you feel like writing. Don't write when you don't feel like writing. You can always force yourself to write (and indeed breaking the 50k word barrier often requires it), but if you just really don't feel like it and writing is simply something you do for fun, then why beat yourself up over

Of course if you ever want to be published, it could get in the way. When it comes to writing a book out, authors typically have all the time in the world unless they're under a contract or publishing deal. You can finish your book before pushing for its publication, and if it gets picked up the deadline is really about getting all your editing done. However editing is very very boring. It's really important in cleaning up a work, but it's just so boring. If you often take long breaks just writing it out, effective editing may be a significant problem (but hey, this is at least part of what editors are for!)

Personally, I have a nasty habit of injecting really pointless questions into my prose. What is this? Who is that? I think I picked the habit up from years of reading manga/watch anime, where those kinds of stupid questions are typical. I often don't notice it until doing a rewrite.

If I hit a wall writing new stuff, that is when a switch into editing mode and go back over what I have written previously, mostly to clean up the language and make it more efficient/effective. However, I also have terrible typos and punctuation/grammar to fix too.

Usually by the time I have done editing, it has put a bit of juice back in the tank to create again.

I've had this exact same thing myself. Yes, I do have other things to do, and my writing is a hobby, but even so, it's something unique to the writing itself, that I just run out of steam; and yet ideas keep percolating all the time, so it isn't like I switch off from the idea of writing, it's just actually sitting down and producing something seems like too much effort?!?! And it isn't even the case that I can't stand the thought of tying out several thousand words in one go, sometimes I just don't have it in me to write a few sentences, I don't know, it's weird.

What I would like to be able to do is plan a story through thoroughly but the story seems to just pop into my head at odd moments and then adds to itself as I write, so I have a bit of a mental block when it comes to planning a story out in full and I find that pretty annoying.

 Gogsnik wrote:
I have a bit of a mental block when it comes to planning a story out in full and I find that pretty annoying.

I have the opposite problem; I can easily take an idea and run with it, planning how any sequels would happen, any prequels, or any compilations of short stories based on aspects of the world I start immediately fleshing out. It sounds great until I start overthinking literally everything. I spend so much time trying to make sure every aspect is ironclad, closing any perceptible loopholes that perhaps one person in one million might ever discover, and otherwise trying to iron out any perceived flaws that I eventually reach a point where I decide an idea is completely unworkable because of XYZ, before I've even started writing it. It doesn't matter how many people try and tell me that the vast majority of readers won't catch any minor issues, because I know they're there, and to me they shine like suns--how could anybody not see what's wrong? They must be stupid if they don't. Etc.

Where most people I've talked to about writing seem to struggle with fleshing things out or not knowing how to proceed, I struggle with being able to ever actually start writing; I know exactly how to proceed, where everything is going, and every single thing that could possibly be wrong with it, so why bother?

 Easy E wrote:
If I hit a wall writing new stuff, that is when a switch into editing mode and go back over what I have written previously, mostly to clean up the language and make it more efficient/effective. However, I also have terrible typos and punctuation/grammar to fix too.

Usually by the time I have done editing, it has put a bit of juice back in the tank to create again.

This is pretty good advice. Listen to this man.

 Easy E wrote:
If I hit a wall writing new stuff, that is when a switch into editing mode and go back over what I have written previously, mostly to clean up the language and make it more efficient/effective. [snip] Usually by the time I have done editing, it has put a bit of juice back in the tank to create again.

This is great advice and has worked for me in the past. As with Easy E, when I am going over typos, or even awkwardly worded sentences, I begin to remember ideas I wanted to explore when I was originally writing that section or entirely new ideas come to me and the juices start flowing.

Something that helped me was to keep a journal or some sort, even if it is just a pad of paper, so you can jot down the random ideas that pop into your head when you are on down-time from writing. My ideas usually came while I was in the shower, so I kept a journal outside of the bathroom handy and it helped me retain more than a few good ideas that may have otherwise been forgotten.

Also, try not to fight your writing "style" and by that I mean the quirks that crop up during your writing process. One of my biggest idiosyncrasies while writing is that I literally have to get up from the computer and walk around or pace every so often. This is especially true when I am "on a roll" and generating workable material. For some reason the movement helps me mentally process where I am going with that particular bit of writing. I used to think it was just procrastination ("Oh, that was a good sentence but now I need a drink of water") but eventually I realized that for whatever reason the movement and temporary distraction helped focus my mind.

creeping-deth87, if you feel that the long breaks are detrimental to your writing perhaps try allotting a specific amount of time on a regular basis (daily, every other day, etc.) and sit down and write. Even if you don't feel like it, and even if nothing but cliched trash comes out of your fingertips for a while, just do it. Sometimes you have to fight through the tedium to find the threads of story that are hiding in plain sight. I've had to do that too, and a deadline helps focus you, but I find it is the lack of deadlines that can really cause problems because you are only accountable to yourself and its easy to find reasons not to sit down and write.

Personally--and I realise I seem to be a bit of an edge case--I find that starting something else when I hit a wall with one project to be the best thing for me. My fantasy thing is bumming me out? Let's move on to that sci-fi idea I've had floating around, or even just a casual, mindless fan-fic.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that has a writing problem lol. Thanks for all of the ideas and thoughts guys, I'm going to give them a shot.