# Is it normal to get bored with writing something you didn't think about too much?



## sunaynaprasad (Feb 26, 2013)

Since I finished my novel, I decided to write another one, which is actually the sequel to the one I've been working on. Because I don't really have a plot yet, it's boring. I have my MC started off with a goal and there's also a major conflict, but I don't know where the story will take me. Perhaps I should experiment with different plots before I move on, right?


----------



## shadowwalker (Feb 26, 2013)

Not knowing where the story will take me is where I find the fun of writing. But if the writing is boring you, and you already know the goal and major conflict (which is basically your plot), you may need to go back and do some rewriting/revising so it isn't boring. Or step back completely and let the ideas simmer a while longer.


----------



## moderan (Feb 26, 2013)

Zzzzzzzzzz.


----------



## Deleted member 49710 (Feb 26, 2013)

sunaynaprasad said:


> Since I finished my novel, I decided to write another one, which is actually the sequel to the one I've been working on. Because I don't really have a plot yet, it's boring. I have my MC started off with a goal and there's also a major conflict, but I don't know where the story will take me. Perhaps I should experiment with different plots before I move on, right?


No, I don't think it's normal to be bored with your own ideas. If you are, you should quite certainly try to come up with an idea that excites you. There's no point in writing something that you find boring from the outset.

From what you've said in other threads, it sounds like you're writing a book with the same main character as the last one, doing similar things. I'd suggest trying to do something completely different.


----------



## sunaynaprasad (Feb 26, 2013)

I've actually found an exciting idea for the beginning, which I'm having fun with. 



> From what you've said in other threads, it sounds like you're writing a book with the same main character as the last one, doing similar things. I'd suggest trying to do something completely different.


 Quoted by Iasm

What do you mean?


----------



## seigfried007 (Feb 26, 2013)

Yes, it's normal to get bored. Keep working up another idea.


Try to figure out the consequences of the the end of the last novel, just for starters. If he's king of the world now, there will be other problems with him having reached his goal. 

1. The goal was the magic cure-all he thought it would be. The goal was lackluster after all. Being King o' the World is tough and not much fun. 

2. Someone is trying to destroy his hard earned victory from beneath or beside. New antagonist time! Jealous friend envies hero's victory and fame. Girlfriend pissed off about how much time hero spends with 'important heads of state' after becoming King o' the World. 

3. Some completely new and seemingly non-related threat emerges. Natural disasters, invaders from the south, alien invasion, plague of locust, whatever.


----------



## Staff Deployment (Feb 27, 2013)

I would agree with shadowwalker. Writing about some new characters in new situations might spark your imagination.

However, feeling not totally entertained with your writing isn't a bad thing. If you overcome it, it is very encouraging and makes it easier in the future to beat writer's block.


----------



## Lewdog (Feb 27, 2013)

Before I write anything, I've usually got the entire plot worked out in my head.  I'm wondering how you could sit down and start to write without any idea where your story is going.


----------



## shadowwalker (Feb 27, 2013)

Lewdog said:


> Before I write anything, I've usually got the entire plot worked out in my head.  I'm wondering how you could sit down and start to write without any idea where your story is going.



Lots of writers do this. But that's another discussion (see pantsers/outliners)


----------



## sunaynaprasad (Feb 27, 2013)

Well now I'm having fun with my first chapter. It's a scary scene and something happened to my MC. She'll try to figure out why it has been caused.


----------



## Sam (Feb 27, 2013)

I don't find it normal to become bored. In all honesty I've never been bored a day in my life, and certainly not in regards to writing.


----------



## moderan (Feb 27, 2013)

I dunno, Sam. I've been bored. But this is just more "look, ma, I'm writing something" gabble that's keeping someone from being productive. That said, I think it is normal to have some ennui regarding the course of one's manuscript, especially if you're working long-form. But then you've never laid any claim to being normal. I laid the skeleton for my 17th last night. Necromancy might work in this case as it's a horror piece, with ghosts and ghoulies and long-leggity beasties. How 'bout you?


----------



## Terry D (Feb 27, 2013)

If you are bored writing your book I don't see how the reader can be excited by reading it.


----------



## moderan (Feb 27, 2013)

Good point. But I think there is a time when the _process_ becomes a little stultifying. One can't "Chandler" out of everything.


----------



## JosephB (Feb 27, 2013)

That I might get bored with writing has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not the content is boring. I just get bored doing any one thing for too long. That's just the way I am. I get excited about ideas -- the execution -- sometimes not so much.


----------



## Sam (Feb 27, 2013)

moderan said:


> I dunno, Sam. I've been bored. But this is just more "look, ma, I'm writing something" gabble that's keeping someone from being productive. That said, I think it is normal to have some ennui regarding the course of one's manuscript, especially if you're working long-form. But then you've never laid any claim to being normal. I laid the skeleton for my 17th last night. Necromancy might work in this case as it's a horror piece, with ghosts and ghoulies and long-leggity beasties. How 'bout you?



125,000 into my 13th; already know what the 14th holds in store.

I've never been bored. I don't know what to tell you.  I see Farcebook statuses (SO BORED!!!) and I wonder what's wrong with these people. They're too busy watching reality TV and reading gossip mags. Read a novel. Go back to school. Learn how to play guitar. Learn how to cook. Do a workout. Play with your pet. 

To be honest, there aren't enough hours in the day for all the things I have to do/want to do. As for writing: Yes, there are times when I wish I could just write 'THE END' and be done with it. Not through boredom, mind you, but because most of my day consists of some form of writing: academic, creative, editorial. It's inevitable that if you do something often enough you'll become sick of it.


----------



## Bruno Spatola (Feb 27, 2013)

When it's going how I want it to, I'm never bored. When it's not . . . well. Not riveting, is it?


----------



## moderan (Feb 27, 2013)

Sam said:


> 125,000 into my 13th; already know what the 14th holds in store.
> 
> I've never been bored. I don't know what to tell you.  I see Farcebook statuses (SO BORED!!!) and I wonder what's wrong with these people. They're too busy watching reality TV and reading gossip mags. Read a novel. Go back to school. Learn how to play guitar. Learn how to cook. Do a workout. Play with your pet.
> 
> To be honest, there aren't enough hours in the day for all the things I have to do/want to do. As for writing: Yes, there are times when I wish I could just write 'THE END' and be done with it. Not through boredom, mind you, but because most of my day consists of some form of writing: academic, creative, editorial. It's inevitable that if you do something often enough you'll become sick of it.


Ah, you need better facebook friends, my friend. My fb feed is a trip. I rarely see anything that mundane. Most of it's memes, but even those have their moments, as long as they don't feature Grumpy Cat or Batman slapping Robin.
Now, you have to admit that, if you spent your days reading gossip mags and watching reality tv, you'd be bored too. It's simple lack of imagination that gets people that way. I could probably play with a cardboard box and have a good time. Of course, it'd be an origami tesseract when I was done, but hey! We all have our shortcomings.


----------



## Foxee (Feb 27, 2013)

If I find myself out in the weeds because I didn't know where I was shooting for I can get bogged down and bored. I consider this a danger signal because I've tried powering through that (NaNoWriMo a couple of years ago) and even though I made it to the 50,000 word goal the finished 50,000 words wasn't something I really cared about and I don't really even now want to go back and read it. I agree with Terry, if the writer is bored there's a decent chance that the reader will be, too.

Thus, though I have fought it tooth and nail, I have begun planning (loosely, too much planning stifles me) so that I know what I'm shooting for at several points through the plot. I try to have a better than average idea of how it might end and I leave my options open, I don't want to be so bound by my pre-planning that I can't let things take a more exciting turn. As a result, this year's NaNoWriMo attempt, though incomplete by the time limit, is something that I am looking forward to going back over and pursuing. Now my biggest challenge is that I let myself be drawn away by other ideas and pursuits.

I wish I could tell you that this is expert advice but I'm still dinking along, trying to get manuscript one done. I can finish a short story or a flash fiction, no problem, but a finished novel so far eludes me so take my words for what they are: free as air.


----------



## Thx (Feb 27, 2013)

It seems to me that a sequel is really the second half of a single story... large maybe, but single none the less.

So, I would have had the notes and almost all of it worked out along with the first half.

Why does someone follow-up with a sequel, just because the first was successful? (Like they do in Hollywood, lol? )

That just doesn't seem like enough reason for a sequel, it really needs to _complete_ the previous novel instead of seeming like an afterthought.

Thx


----------



## Staff Deployment (Feb 28, 2013)

Thanks, thx!
Say hi to George Lucas for me. Is it 11:38am yet?

[video=youtube_share;FWkJ86JqlPA]http://youtu.be/FWkJ86JqlPA[/video]

(All potential interpretations have now been covered.)


----------



## Thx (Mar 3, 2013)

Staff Deployment said:


> Thanks, thx!
> Say hi to George Lucas for me. Is it 11:38am yet?
> 
> [video=youtube_share;FWkJ86JqlPA]http://youtu.be/FWkJ86JqlPA[/video]
> ...



Yes, my screen name is short for THX1138, but if "Thx" isn't taken at the forum already I just use the shortened.

My friend Steve Hatch and I saw the movie in a theater back in the day. 

He had seen it before and told me everyone was bald, even the women and there was a lot of "white" in the movie.

I have to admit, it was some years later until I felt I understood the movie, it really all hinges on that last shot.

I remember an old man behind us getting up and storming out with wife in tow, "This is just a bunch of crap!"

Oh, btw... I did send a manuscript to Lucas and they sent it back unread of course with the note from the legal dept.

Thx1138


----------



## sunaynaprasad (Apr 22, 2013)

@Iasm  If you mean the last book being _Alyssa's African Adventures_, I will tell you that this main character of my current book in the publishing process is _not _the same main character. About the ideas, only a few are similar ideas (the two MC's sharing the same first name, really long blonde hair, and being orphaned at age 7). If you were to read my two books, you'd find too many differences for it to be similar and too many differences about the MC's for them to be the same character. They are two different characters from two different novels, unrelated to each other. I even mentioned in that thread that _From Frights to Flaws_ is not a rewrite of _Alyssa's African Adventures_​.


----------



## BryanJ62 (Apr 22, 2013)

You might want to take a step back for a moment. If there is no interest in your writing the reader will pick it up. I have to enjoy who I am writing about otherwise why bother. Try to remember why you wrote the first one. What made you interested in these characters in the first place. Rediscover them and if they still bore you that might be a sign to take a break and move on to another idea.


----------



## jayelle_cochran (Apr 24, 2013)

I think this happens to everyone at one point or another.  I had the same problem with a lot of stories that I started.  I got bored.  Perhaps you should look at what it is about the writing that's boring you.  Perhaps you need to change things up a bit.  Have the next book be from another POV or perhaps your plot needs something extra or something changed.  Perhaps it's just that you feel like you've already explored your main character to the point where you are just plain done with him/her.  If so, then try and find a way to make the character more interesting to you.  Include something new for you, and the readers, to learn about the character(s).

Perhaps you just need to walk away for a while.  You can try to put the WIP out of sight for a week or two and then go back to it with fresh eyes.  Perhaps something will jump out at you that you weren't aware of before.  It might give you an eureka moment where you realize what was holding you back.  

Another thing to consider is that you might be thinking too hard about the first novel.  Look at this as a completely different book where the main character already has a clear history.  Look at the previous novel as part of the character's history.  This is a completely and new story for him/her.  Make it that.  It could be that you're having trouble because you're feeling stale about the story itself.  So, make it a new story and don't think of it as a continuation of the original one (even though that's exactly what it is).

*hugs*
Jayelle


----------



## JosephB (Apr 24, 2013)

I get bored easily anyway. I'm in advertising -- and I'm partly conditioned from work -- where the idea is the fun part, but the execution can be somewhat tedious. After a few years, I've earned a spot where I come up with the ideas and other people mostly carry them out. That doesn't work with writing unless you're James Patterson. I guess not too surprisingly, he was in the same business.


----------



## sunaynaprasad (Apr 24, 2013)

Jayelle Cochran  Do you mean the sequel I'm writing? I've already gotten a few chapters in and it's no longer boring.


----------



## namesake (Apr 24, 2013)

Other than what I have that is a constant goal because of my conditions; here are my cents worth of advice. If a writer is writing something, it's usually their personality that will carry on in the piece. If it doesn't serve the make-up of the person then I think something can be go awfully wrong in the writing process. Maybe the characters had something on their mind they wanted to  say, the theme, and how the story adds up. However, I think getting bored is normal. With premise being something that has to engross the reader. Sometimes I've read people have sagging middles in novels. The answer is a little harder. More like, list of the most common problems why it might not be working. It's hard to believe a writer would be bored with their work even when a vet, so I kind of echoe that line of thinking(echelon?). For example, here are the most common line of manuscript mistakes. However if vets have problems I wouldn't know how to satiate anyone with my answer.


----------



## jayelle_cochran (Apr 24, 2013)

sunaynaprasad said:


> Jayelle Cochran  Do you mean the sequel I'm writing? I've already gotten a few chapters in and it's no longer boring.



I didn't know that you had moved passed the point where you were bored.    Nevermind then.  lol  I guess I was late to the party.

*hugs*
Jayelle


----------



## BryanJ62 (Apr 24, 2013)

JosephB said:


> I get bored easily anyway. -- where the idea is the fun part, but the execution can be somewhat tedious.



That was me for years. Sometimes it takes a while. For me it took about a decade before I was able to settle down and create a story from an idea. This is hard work. It's kind of like being in a relationship. And lets face it, relationships aren't for everyone. On the bright side continue to write down ideas for stories. Years from now you might be glad you did. I know I am.


----------



## JosephB (Apr 25, 2013)

BryanJ62 said:


> That was me for years. Sometimes it takes a while. For me it took about a decade before I was able to settle down and create a story from an idea. This is hard work. It's kind of like being in a relationship. And lets face it, relationships aren't for everyone. On the bright side continue to write down ideas for stories. Years from now you might be glad you did. I know I am.



I write complete stories from ideas all the time. With the exception of a  few false starts, I pretty much did that right off the bat. That I get  bored easily doesn't mean I can't follow through. To me, writing is just coming up with a succession of ideas anyway -- so I get excited  about it during the execution too. A good simile or a sharp little bit of dialog or a few good lines of poetic description are all fuel for the fire. I just have a lot of other interests and responsibilities -- and I'm easily distracted by squirrels and shiny objects.


----------



## BryanJ62 (Apr 25, 2013)

JosephB said:


> .......and I'm easily distracted by squirrels and shiny objects.



Hey look, a puppy!!!! hahaha.....I know exactly where you're coming from.   :welcoming:


----------



## Staff Deployment (Apr 25, 2013)

Yes, make fun of attention-deficit disorder, a legitimate ailment. That's _real_ matur-tles whoa. Turtles over there. Oh, and a rock.

(see it's funny because of the hypocritical subversion of expectations)


----------



## JosephB (Apr 25, 2013)

Well, in my case it's self-deprecating. I've been diagnosed with ADD more than once by doctors -- and practically every teacher I ever had. They all wanted to put me on drugs, but my mom wouldn't allow it. More recently I was on Strattera for a while, but I've developed other ways to deal with it. I actually have a job where it works out fine -- I usually have a fair number of things going on -- all with tight deadlines. My wife's the one who really suffers most -- but she's learned to live with it more or less. You know, through sickness (kind of) and health etc. etc.


----------



## OTOReviewer (Apr 30, 2013)

I just can't understand any writer getting bored with their writing.  If you are bored with your subject matter, then perhaps you should re-think what you are doing.

In the business of writing sequels to a book, before I write the first book, I write synopses of all the books (maybe two sequels or even more, eg one detective character in more than one book, or a character that appears in a children's book which is serialised, and so on).

So I know exactly where I'm heading before I write even the first word of the first book.  The excitement for me begins when I write because then the story just takes me in avenues I hadn't foreseen but which I find inspiring.  Naturally, I update my synopses for the second and subsequent book in the same series in light of how my first book pans out eventually.


----------



## sunaynaprasad (Apr 30, 2013)

I like that idea. I have some ideas for my future books. Perhaps, I should write synopsis'.


----------



## Sam (Apr 30, 2013)

Just for the record, it's 'synopses'. 

Knowing where I was going never worked for me as a cure for boredom. In fact, not knowing where any of my work will lead is the reason why writing has never become a chore to me. There's always a surprise in every chapter.


----------



## Altan (May 6, 2013)

sunaynaprasad said:


> Since I finished my novel, I decided to write another one, which is actually the sequel to the one I've been working on. Because I don't really have a plot yet, it's boring. I have my MC started off with a goal and there's also a major conflict, but I don't know where the story will take me. Perhaps I should experiment with different plots before I move on, right?



Oh yeah, of course: I started writing my first novel when I was angry about something (never write when you're angry, just don't) or another.
Because I didn't plan it out that well, the writer's block was a lot worse and at times the book became a chore to write.

Personally, I think it came out okay, but it wasn't easy at times.


----------



## Srand-us (May 8, 2013)

i am nearly always bored with writing, but then, I am bored almost all the time (AADD). My son is the same, he must be massively stimulated all the time. I have read that Stephen King writes every day whether he feels like it or not. I try to do the same. The author of _Writing Young Adult Fiction for Dummies says_ that inspiration can't be forced, it is spontaneous. If I waited for inspiration to strike before writing, I'd never get anything done. Sometimes, when I really get into the story, I get excited and ideas come like hail out of the sky. Most of the time, though, I just plug along. I am so easily distracted that I must outline everything, right down to the tiny bits, and can only work on one small item at a time. At length I gave up fiction and turned to non-fiction, which doesn't bore me. This has served me well, writing for the Net. But I still love my fiction!   ](*,)


----------



## Folcro (May 8, 2013)

The first thing one needs to ask themself is why they are bored, which you have already done. It's often and completely natural for uncertainty to yield "boredom," especially if this is a sequel to a work you have put a lot of time into. For me, I can get to a point where I don't know in which direction I want this complicated plot to go, and just get tired of stressing over it. But when something does come, things open up. What I usually do is pick up a book, a movie, a game, or maybe watch a show, and look for ideas. The tiniest of things, like the simple act of someone not trusting someone else but allowing them to help out of lack of options. The simplest things can make you realize that the answer was right there all along, and the block preventing your story from going forward is gone.


----------



## mblank (May 8, 2013)

I like to write lots of random scenes involving one or more of my characters that aren't intended to go into the end product just to see what they say and do and what interesting conflicts pop up.  It's a good way to jump start your ideas and explore possible plot lines without committing.


----------

