Losing Motivation

Hi all, it's been a while since I stopped by.

I have a question. I started a story on FFN, it's 42 chapters long so far. It was really my first story written solo (I had role-played with other people for a couple of years before). There's some corny stuff in there that I had tossed in because I was running out of ideas, so I'm not completely happy with the story. Should I just retire it? I don't have any motivation to finish it anymore and I've run out of ideas. I'm currently working on another fanfic that is taking up more of my time and creativity, as well. I don't like forcing myself to continue a story.

You can always rewrite it!

You've obviously spent a lot of time on this story, so I think that it would be a shame to scrap it completely. What I'd do is I'd put it away for a few weeks, or a few months, and not think about it. Then I'd come back and start doing a rewrite. You should then be able to look at it afresh. This way, you can use your break time to work on your new story.

I agree with the above. Rewrite. Not right away, though. Give yourself some time to think. Comeback to it in a week or a month, and I'll bet you'll have a fresh perspective. It's entirely your decision, but my advice is to take some time off, and then try a rewrite.

when i realized that my first draft was awful, i took about six months off from it and did a whole lot of tinking and writing. i started keeping a notebook with descriptions of my characters' personalities, hopes and dreams. i wrote out the major plot twists. i asked myself questions and answered them on paper. overall, it really helped me sort out the confusion i had in the first draft.

hope that helps!

OK, thanks for the responses. I haven't written more to that story for a long time--6 months--but I've decided to put it on hold until I feel more motivated to write on it.

You seem pretty attatched to it, so why not take a little break from it and then go back and rewrite it? I mean, work on some other stuff, or just take a little writing break if you think that'll help. If you take a break and find that it still doesn't interest you, just put it on the shelf for now. You never know when inspiration might strike again, or it might not, and that's cool, too.

What type is it? What fiction is it a fan of? I'd suggest taking a break and letting it compost in your mind for a bit. You might find some new angles.

It seems you have put a lot of hard work into it. I wouldn't just completely stop writing it. What I think you should do is just put it away for a little bit and not think about it. Then pull it out when you want too and just reread it and you could generate some new ideas for it.