How do you write when you're not in the mood?

That is a good tip and one that I occasionally use. Disengaging and walking away from writing is the key for me, until I feel the mood return.

 

When I am not in mood then I just relax and do what I like and then come back and start writing as that time I feel fresh and new. So yes this works for me

 

Thank you for your post Captain Obvious. I'll bet that I could point out 30 posts just like yours on this thread. (including one or two that I've written)
While I do appreciate and respect all posts made on here, it would be nice to read something original or helpful, no use merely parroting what others have written......Or failing that, something that would move the topic along.

 

Sorry but really I didn't checked other reply's I just saw the main thread's content and I wrote what I do. It is my only post on the thread and whatever I have posted till now 90% was HQ and helpful I guess as I am not here to troll. I hope you understand

Regards

 

Thank you and if you have any other ideas on how to write when you're not in the mood, please feel free to post them.
It's a rather long but interesting thread. If you ever have some spare time do read it. There are some really ingenious and novel tricks, and tips that have been posted here.

 

I have been writing since past few years. It has also been a great experience for me to write.
It is true, that sometime you are unable to write as you are not in mood. I never compromise on ignoring my sleep timings, and definitely takes 7hrs sleep in night time. Early to bed and early to rise is the best policy. Second, i stop writing when i feel, i am getting out of mood. I always prioritize my topics, and always first attempt those topics which require more research and i have less knowledge for it.

What i feel that mood turns off and on with your energy levels. As you start loosing energy, you will feel change in mood. Therefore, "MOOD IS DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO YOUR ENERGY LEVEL".

 

That is a good point and fundamentally I do agree with you but...When I used to write full time I often went without sleep in an attempt to make deadlines. When I lack sleep I become emotional and some of my best work was created as I then wrote from the heart, as opposed to writing from the head.

 

I take a walk, or a nap, or both. I might call a friend or talk to one of my children for a while. Of course, we all have to be disciplined when it's time to go back to work again.

 

What works for me is engaging my mind elsewhere. For example when I needed to get into the mood of writing my research paper at university, I would hang out on forums and look for thought-provoking discussions and spend some time talking with other people. That would get me into the mood of writing and arguing and thinking, which would immediately allow me to quickly start writing what I needed to write for university. It's been my go to writing-motivation method ever since.
Listening to some relaxing music or reading some good writing sometimes helps too.

 

@gambler53
Talking to a friend can get those creative juices flowing.
@YJunK
Talking to other people gives us a different perspective on things, which writers require in order to produce creative content. If we were to stay in our own little worlds, we would quickly become myopic in our thinking.

 

I find these tips great for being creative and finding the "open mode".



Scott

 

Not sure if this has been said but when I'm not feeling creative I just go out and change my atmosphere and come back to my desk and everything seems to come much easier. I don't know about you guys...

 

@s.molinari
Thanks for the video, one can't go wrong with John Cleese.
@MisterCasual
A change of atmosphere or adjusting your surroundings, is indeed a good method in retrieving the mood to write.

 

Yup. You are right about that. I also didn't know up until that point, that he did such eloquent (and funny) speeches to basically teach others. But he does.

Scott

 

@Spoiltdiva
That's exactly it, you just said it better! Writing is difficult, and having someone to talk to about it is always very nice.

 

I agree and while I no longer write full time for a living, writing is still very much a part of what I do.
When I become burnt out and lack motivation I call up or visit my auntie who does write full time. Her words and mindset always seem to recharge my intellectual batteries. And once again I'll find myself in the mood to write, works every time.

 

When I'm not in the mood to write, watch a motivational video. Or I start to rewrite some text, so just to be implemented in the writing and focus on something. Then he goes over the hill and you can create a really cool articles.

 

There are times when I am reminded of the fact that I am ESL. Now where I'm weak in regards to the English language is in expressions. I have always experienced difficulties with them. This "over the hill" bit simply doesn't compute, and when I ran it through Google Translate smoke started pouring out the sides of my PC. So...can you please tell me what the heck you meant?

 

I honestly find myself less in the mood lately.

I've been looking into web development and getting back into programming. I've never honestly tried Freelancing as a web developer but I used to be pretty good at it. I had a very firm grasp on CSS, to the point where I could make it do anything I wanted it to do.

Writing has some harsh realities that a lot of people don't realize about it. Unless you have a strong backbone of clients that pay a decent amount, you're constantly floating around, trying to find more and more work to do. It's not a way to live life or to support yourself. It's very much possible to earn six figures as a Freelance writer, but the reality is, the majority of people make anything from $0 to $1,000 a month and that's if they're very lucky.

When it comes to web development, you're working with companies that have the budget to afford a website. Especially local companies, they usually don't question a mid or high five figure price range, they know it's costly.
When it comes to content development, the majority of clients want you to deliver well researched content for a penny or less per word. Every once in a while, some bulk work comes up and a lot of them never come through due to their budget or for whatever reason.

I'm honestly not sure what I'm going to focus on, but I'm just getting burnt out on writing as a whole and am looking into a career change into possibly web development. I'm far more motivated to develop code than I am to churn out someone's cheap content that's expected to rival a sales letter from Frank Kern for pennies.

 

Point well taken, some of us do get to the point where we are no longer in the mood to write. It does happen and I can relate. I was there for awhile but made some changes, and thankfully rediscovered my passion.