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Working through lulls in the writing process

Depression can be a great sap to your inspiration. The good news is that from depression you can get some of your greatest writing. Take advantage of your depression and write about it. By simply expressing it on the page you will find your writing comes easily and much like exercising (which is another option to beat depression) the endorphins you generate by successfully writing anything can lift your depression and bring back your inspiration.

Motivation Everyone has goals, even if they have not vocalized those goals. It is by having goals that you are able to face each day. You believe that the day to follow will be better than the day before it. However, sometimes we forget what is important to us, we loose sense of our motivation and with that loss goes our inspiration. Take the time to write out your goals. Reaffirm them within yourself. Remember to set goals you know you can achieve and give them a time limit.

Story Finally, you could find the reason for your lack of inspiration comes directly from your story. If no other reason seems to be causing your inspiration troubles look closely at your story. Get to know your characters again and be sure they are who they need to be. Make sure your plot makes sense and that you have not missed anything important. Study every aspect of your story for something that is lacking or misplaced. It could be something simple or it could be something more complex, either way, when you discover what that something is you should find your inspiration comes flooding back and you are once again off on tangent, reworking the difficulties and proceeding.

The Wall The Wall is not a physical object but a mental one; however, it is just as impeding to your progress as an actual wall might be. When faced with The Wall you may want to give up completely. It is very important that you do not give up at this point. If you cannot fathom any other cause for your lack of inspiration the only other option is to keep writing. Take no concern for the words you write, they all may seem terrible. Write them down and forget about them, you can always come back later when you edit, but do not stop writing. Tell yourself, just ten more minutes, or just 200 more words. Once you have passed the point you should find that the quality of writing you produce behind it proves the best yet and wonder why you ever considered stopping.

Writing can sometimes feel like the hardest job in the world. It is one of the easiest to give up, particularly when you are very new to the idea of it as a career or treat it only as a hobby. When you find yourself facing these difficult times you may find it helps to reflect on those times when you were flowing and loving every minute of it. Relive the feeling, take yourself back to those times, and remember why you write and why you love it. The lack of inspiration can feel like the darkest winter night, overbearing and oppressive. It is not however the end of your writing unless you allow it to be.

Learn more about this author, Rebecca Laffar-Smith.
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