The thing I’ve been struggling with most recently in my writing has been finding motivation. I’ve actually had more ideas running around – not a plethora of them, but some at least. Certainly nothing I’d share – they are fragmented enough that they wouldn’t be more than a scene here and there – but still, it’s been ideas.
However, I struggle to find the motivation to actually write them. To carve time (even fifteen minutes) out of my day to write. It isn’t that I don’t have that time, I have binge-watched my way through Stargate Atlantis in the past few weeks, so clearly I have at least a little time to spare (not all of that has been just watching, there is plenty of time when I’ve also been doing other projects at the same time which don’t take as much of my focused attention).
Lacking motivation doesn’t always mean I lack desire. I do want to write. I miss the feeling I used to have when I could let a story flow through me, from the world around me onto the page. I even miss the struggle that comes with trying to wrangle an uncooperative character, the challenge of finding links within the story and creating a plot that makes sense. Hell, I even miss the tediousness of working through a draft, realizing the places where the story needs work and finding the way through rewrited.
It clearly isn’t desire to write I lack. But the motivation.
To be honest, I do know why I lack the motivation. At least, parts of it. In my instance it has to do with some medical issues which have caused my energy to be seriously low, and a shuffling of antidepressants that has left me, at the moment, in a space of having to fight to find the motivation to do anything. I know that, as I continue to push myself, as I continue to find answers to my health questions, I will continue to find this motivation challenge to be less and less of an insurmountable mountain.
But, looking beyond the current issues, I want to find ways to help push myself when the motivation is lacking and I don’t have as clear an idea as to why. Because I know there are times when I have to push myself to write. It’s just a natural part of being a writer (as far as I have seen).
I don’t want advice, per se. But I am curious what others have found works for them when they find themselves in a place where motivation is lacking. How do you pull yourself to do that thing you know you ultimately want to do, when you aren’t wanting to do it in the moment? Or do you let it rest? Step away for however long it takes until you want to do it again? I’m curious your experience.
Eclectic Alli 
I tend to find that my sense of energy leaves me a lot of the time. I have writing related things that I want to do, but sometimes it’s easier to focus on the things that don’t involve reaching into myself and putting part of my worldview, my moral belief system, my sense of humour down on paper for the world to see. Sometimes it is easier to be passive and watch TV or a film, rather than engaging in the creative process myself. Trust me, you’re not alone!
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That’s a huge part of it, the passiveness and ease of watching TV over the energy it does take to put thoughts on the page. Even though it is something that fuels me, it also requires energy.
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