Poll of the Day > I have no idea how anyone writes stories nowadays

(+) Yeah! (+)

Discipline? It's 2019, what even is that?

The internet has pretty much destroyed my attention span.

I can put in a good 30 minutes of focused effort. Then everything crashes and it just becomes painful. Caffeine helps though.

I think most people type them these days...
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You can work a few chunks at a time. There's no rule that you have to marathon 10 hour writing sessions. At least I think.

dedbus posted...

You can work a few chunks at a time. There's no rule that you have to marathon 10 hour writing sessions. At least I think.

Some people have deadlines to keep lol

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as someone who has written novel-length works: i consider 500-750 words to be an exceptionally good writing day and i usually do not write that much in a day. i also have days where i don't write at all. beating yourself up over it is the least productive thing you can do and it doesn't necessarily produce good writing either
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tbh, just due to all of the distractions and so forth, I can't imagine writing any fiction of real length. Even when I've gone about short stories, if I somehow get distracted partway through that's the end. These days I can't even stay distracted, I just distracted by something else and then something else.
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You mostly need to be disciplined about it and do a little each day. If you do 100 words each day, in a year you'll have 36,500 words.

I think the hardest part is incorporating the writing time into your regular life. I try to write a little each day during lunch and during downtime at work, but even then, that's hard to do. Downtime at work is the best time for me to write. I'm starting to think I need to stay later at work to write too, because once I get home, I just want to rest.
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NeoSioType posted...

Discipline? It's 2019, what even is that?

The internet has pretty much destroyed my attention span.

I can put in a good 30 minutes of focused effort. Then everything crashes and it just becomes painful. Caffeine helps though.

Aaantlion posted...

tbh, just due to all of the distractions and so forth, I can't imagine writing any fiction of real length. Even when I've gone about short stories, if I somehow get distracted partway through that's the end. These days I can't even stay distracted, I just distracted by something else and then something else.

You guys need your ADD diagnosed.
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I still see plenty of people writing stuff.
https://www.fanfiction.net
https://www.fictionpress.com
Other places as well, but I mostly find stuff on FF.net myself.
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they just take from multiple other stories, like christopher paolini did with the eragon series.

bonus points if you can only get published so soon because your parents start their own publishing company after you get turned down from other companies.
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My cousin did the poem a day thing for a year... even published it.
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Everything in life is something you can improve on. That includes how long you can focus on something in one block of time. I'm sure you could get to 45 minutes with some good practice. You don't even want to ever work for more than 60 minutes straight without at least a 10 minute break if you want to maintain a better level effectiveness. Of course, YMMV, but I think it's doable for you to bump that time up, TC.

Scheduling is important, even if it is just like 30 minutes of work, 5 minutes of break, 30 minutes work, etc
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GanglyKhan posted...

I think it's doable for you to bump that time up, TC.

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bulbinking posted...

dedbus posted...

You can work a few chunks at a time. There's no rule that you have to marathon 10 hour writing sessions. At least I think.

Some people have deadlines to keep lol

And if those deadlines are requiring 10-hour writing days, they're very much going to hurt the quality of the finished product. Creativity very much does not thrive under excessive pressure.
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All work and no play makes Jack a dull bog.
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Like other people have said, it takes discipline.

Another motivator is that rewarding feeling you get at the end of the day knowing you got another page or two under your belt.

Maybe it will take some action on your part. Turn off your phone, and don't turn it back on until you're done. Try and choose a time of day where you're least likely to get interrupted. Who knows what else works for you...but you?

You don't necessarily have to write a ton every day. Just make progress.

All I know is that everyone needs to find and make use of a creative outlet. It develops you as a person, and gives you something to feel good about at the end of the day. Doesn't really matter what that is as long as it makes you feel satisfied. It's worth putting in time and effort. Trust me on this.
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Discipline is a hentai that came out a few years ago. It was pretty good.

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NeoSioType posted...

Discipline? It's 2019, what even is that?

The internet has pretty much destroyed my attention span.

I can put in a good 30 minutes of focused effort. Then everything crashes and it just becomes painful. Caffeine helps though.

I mean what you're describing sounds like ADHD.
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The problem with writing erotica is that you have to stop every other page for a wank.
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Firewerx posted...

The problem with writing erotica is that you have to stop every other page for a wank.

Just wank while writing...
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