Writers fatigue

Kazza

Kazza

Experienced
So, I'm struggling a bit to write atm. I feel like when I start a new story my keyboard is almost a blur, new chapters almost writing themselves. After a while however, writing new chapters feel's almost like a chore.

I've been trying to commit to my latest story, publishing at least a chapter or two per week, but I feel like my writing speed is slowing down considerably. I don't think it is writers block. I have around 170 chapters published so far and solid plans for at least triple that, but finding the time and motivation to write is becoming more and more difficult.

I think a lack of goals may be partly to blame. Usually, my aim is to get whatever story I am working on to SOTW which I achieved in the first week and so the next lofty goal is to get into the top 10 stories list I guess?

I wish the site had top stories by category or something as my story is somewhat niche and because it's private and I'm writing it all myself, it is probably too small to ever be able to compete with the site's top stories...

Do any authors have any tips for committing to a long story?

Is this very common amongst the CHYOA community?
 
Fatigue is a natural part of the writing process. I've put out in excess of 900 chapters this year and honestly, I've had days when I can smash out 4 or 5 chapters like it's nothing and others where I can't put one out.

Tips for long term commitment:

-Have multiple stories/branches to work on. I find that this helps me keep active if I'm not feeling a story at the moment. This also gives you more options on what you want to write. I can go from writing kinky fuckery on Taming the Dom, to romantic stuff on School Drop Off, or a hasty sexual escapade on Morgan's Lunch Break.
-Set reasonable goals. I'm not talking reaching the Top 10 stories of all time, but more realistic. For example, I have a goal of getting Taming the Dom to 5000 total likes before the month is over.
-Don't force it. At best you're going to get frustrated, and at worse, you're going to publish a chapter that's sub-par.
-Go for a walk. Sometimes dropping all the 'noise' helps the creative flow.
-Even doing something else for a few minutes can be helpful. Playing video games, watching Youtube etc.
-Remember you don't owe anyone anything. It might be narcissistic to say so, but 99% of the people here are writing on CHYOA because they enjoy it, and aren't getting paid a dime.
 
900 chapters! Good work! And thanks for the tips! I think I have this start over mentality that I'm trying my best to shake off so I can finish at least one of my stories.
 
Is this very common amongst the CHYOA community?

I'd say yes. I think every CHYOA writer goes through the stages of first trying to write because they were inspired, getting good feedback and then using that to fuel them to an inspiration well and writing a shit ton after that and then becoming jaded as you write more and it starts to feel like work. I mean authors who are extremely dedicated and can constantly pump out stuff is pretty far and few between and I highly respect them for that. To echo what Ben said, this is just mostly for fun.

This might be unpopular to say but if writing is not fun, then don't force yourself or stress yourself over doing it. Unless you have a patreon (and that's rare for writers here to have a large patreon subscriber base) where you have supporters who are expecting things from you, you don't really owe anyone anything. I have no issue with abandoning threads and stories if I don't find writing it any fun.
 
Yeah, I think it's common. For me, the important thing is engaging different parts of your brain. Setting reasonable writing goals and switching out storylines or changing up style helps a lot as far as continuing to produce.

...that being said, I do worry sometimes that the chapter I write end up being subpar. There's often not a lot of comments for stories, so if you're counting on lots and lots of feedback to keep you excited about something, your enthusiasm might burn out quickly. Instead, focus on writing the story that you want to write, the scenes and interactions that hit your buttons, before writing for other people.

Unless you're getting paid, in which case you force your muse to wear a gimp suit and live in a box.
 
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