Feeling Lazy but Want to Write? Here Are Ways to Kick Yourself into Gear!

Feeling really lazy but want to get down to business and start writing? Here are some tips and tricks that I use to cure that lazy-bug!

Tip 1: Decide what time of day you are most productive.

This may sound strange, but in my personal experience, I have specific times of the day when I am more inspired to write — for example: at night before you go to bed, or early in the morning when you've just woken up. Those times are my personal favorites. Some of my best works have actually come from a dream I had during the night, which I wrote about as soon as I woke up.

Tip 2: Set aside a day for writing.

Sometimes, even when you don't feel like writing, you still have to! Think of writing like working out, just with less physical activity involved. Instead of exercising your muscles, though, you're exercising your brain and imagination! If you get out of the habit of it, starting up again will be a lot harder. Believe me — “I’ll get to it tomorrow” usually turns into multiple “tomorrows” and it never seems to get here, does it?

Tip 3: Environment

I'm a big believer in your environment having a big impact on your writing. Sometimes, I try to write in bed and end up falling asleep or getting distracted with Facebook or YouTube. Why? I'm relaxed! Of course, I'm conditioned to fall asleep when I'm all warm and cozy, wrapped in a blanket. As much as it may pain you to get out of bed, try sitting at a desk or table and writing. If you want to, even take the blanket with you! I promise it works! I was laying in be one day getting ready to write, didn't feeling very motivated and at a loss for ideas, but I forced myself out of bed and to my desk. I ended up having ideas flow out of me and wrote for hours on end. Try it — it really works!

Tip 4: Writers' Block

Oh, writers' block — the worst enemy of every book writer. We’ve all had it. As a matter of fact, I struggled with it on this very post, so it seemed to be a good idea to include how to cure it. Writers' block can make you feel very frustrated and want to give up writing forever, and while it may seem like the end of the world, I swear it isn’t. Sometimes, it may be a good idea to walk away from your story and put it down for a day or two. No matter how much that may contradict Tip 2, sometimes it’s something that you have to do. But that doesn’t mean you need to forget about writing all together! If you have any other stories that you are working on, maybe it would be a good idea to pick those up and give your brain a rest on the previous one. You could come back with a whole new, fresh outlook on your other story. Another good thing to do would be to pick up a book! What a better way to get inspiration than from an already written, and published, story? I don’t mean to plagiarize somebody’s hard work of course, but honestly I do some of my best writing when I am reading a book the same time I am writing one. It may be another crazy tip, but I could be reading a totally different genre from what I am writing, and still get inspired when I come back to my story!

Tip 5: Just do it.

Honestly, the best way to get good at anything is obviously to practice, and practice often. You will get better and you will cure your laziness! If you truly enjoy writing, you should have lots of fun while doing it! Writing should not feel like a chore. However, if you want to make a career out of it... it's going to feel like work. That's the point. Writing is not easy. If you write without a schedule and write just casually whenever you feel like it, you won't make much of a job out of it and you'll be writing just for fun, which isn't a bad thing, either! But, if you put in the hours and the work just like you would at a 9-5 job, you will see a reward and an improvement in your skills. I promise.