Tips for being less lazy?

sunandshadow said:

Why would anyone want to make a choice to write if the situation is as you describe???

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Sorry if it's not what you were hoping to hear, but it's true. I would think most writers are aware of this or will become aware quite quickly because it's the truth. It's great to have writer dreams. I think we all hold onto those, but the odds are stacked against us. I would guess that there are more aspiring writers than people making a living off of their fiction. Here's the thing. The ones that make it work very hard and practice all the time. And even the best writers have works that no one wanted to publish or they publish a book that not many people want to read. This stuff happens. There are no guarantees. But if you read and write a lot, you will get better.

Maybe you haven't given this writer thing a fair shot yet. I don't know if it's because you don't really want to write or you don't want to invest your time into something that might not have a big return. This is where the choice thing I mentioned earlier comes into play. Do you really want to write?

After a long career as a journalist, I switched to more creative writing, but I took a break first. There was a good year where I didn't write. I chose not to write (with the exception of the occasional magazine piece). I didn't really want to write anything so I didn't. Then I started reading a lot. The reading made me want to give fiction a go. In the last few years, I have written over 100 short stories and about a third of a book. Is any of it going to go anywhere? I have no idea, but I am trying to give it my best shot.

If you want to write there is nothing stopping you, but you have to know there is a lot of rejection that comes with writing. And it is a crazy competitive business. Your competition is not only aspiring writers, but it is also the successful writers, too. It takes practice and time to get better, and many people give up. I know that I've felt like what's the point at times. But I'm not looking to be rich or famous. I just want to tell a few good stories.

What RKarina is wondering (and I do too) is that it is not laziness but lack of desire that is the root. I don't like treadmill. If I don't go to gym to run on the treadmill, it is because I don't like it, not because I am lazy. I like Yoga. If I don't go to gym to do my Yoga classes, it is because I'm lazy, not because lack of desire. Can you see the difference?

I myself don't see any reason to force myself to do anything I don't particular enjoy, especially if that something is painful, frustrating, and worse, has zero financial incentive.

As to plot structure books.... I think they are fun to read, to see how other people try to complicate simple things, but ultimately you learn how to plot from reading the books you love, not the how-to books. If you want to get your excitement, stay away from them. Nobody gets excited reading manuals. They get excited reading fun stuff, like great fictions.

sunandshadow said:

There are parts of writing I like and parts I don't like. Mainly, I like the design parts (the big picture) and don't like the development parts (the details). I love when ideas are flowing and hate when I'm stuck. If I could actually find a co-writer who had similar taste to me, I'd like co-writing, but I've had no success at making that happen. The problem is, I can't do just the parts I like.

Heh, I actually do tend to get excited reading about fiction theory and at one point I had ambitions of writing a fiction theory book or syllabus; but I realize that's the scholar in me, it's not a common interest and has nothing to do with enjoying reading fiction. But as far as studying plot in actual novels, I'm terrible at that. If I'm enjoying the story, I'm too immersed in it to analyze the plot structure as it goes along. I've had some success analyzing a book I've already read at least twice, but I don't usually re-read, so there aren't too many of those. On the other hand I've always been the kind of teacher's pet who loves school because I learn easily from lectures and textbooks.

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Do you like movies? Maybe you can study and analyze movies and become a movie critic?

It sounds like you enjoy theories and school. Do you like school subjects? Maybe you can be a teacher or professor of something?

Maybe a news journalist? A article writer? Copywriter? (Whatever they're called?)

Just throwing things out there.

If not, maybe you're feeling down or something.

Oh, have you done any writing? I know I've seen some of your planning and ideas. How far have you gotten on a story before you got stuck? Maybe you need to get unstuck? Maybe you're not feeling confident in your writing?

Writing, like many things in life, especially creative things, require lots of time, dedication, and discipline. And, just like with art (which I've somewhat experienced doing), there will be times when you get stuck and want to give up. But if you want to be a published writer, you have to put in the effort. You have to be willing to roll with the punches (and rejections). Like anything else in life, I guess.

Even if I'll never be a published author at this rate (because I'm scatterbrained and tend to restart multiple stories at once), I still write because I enjoy it for myself. I just can't stop thinking about my stories, so I write a little bit every few days, like I'm writing a journal/diary. I'm going through some emotional times myself, since I have recently been let go of a part-time job, and I have depression from time to time, so I have to find a way to get help and get, er, stablized in my life so I can feel good enough to do fun stuff again. I'm still writing bits and pieces. (Problem is, it's spread out over a few stories, not just one. So I need to get myself to focus.)

I also lost interest in some hobbies I used to do a lot, such as sketching and doodling. I used to love doing art. I recently got into some casual painting classes--just for fun and relaxation, not for creating a career out of it. It helped me whenever I paint. I feel happy and more willing to do more creative stuff. I'm thinking of getting into dancing or sports.

Maybe you're going through something yourself?

You mention you like museums? You said you don't like travelling (or travelling alone). Do you have a library? Maybe check out some nonfiction topics to get you interested. Check the internet and look at photos or something.

You said you liked gardening. But there are times when it makes you sad, like with the bugs and stuff like that. Well, that's part of life. Life is full of ups and downs, and you just got to get up that hill (metaphorically speaking).

I don't know where you live, but keeping a garden alive may be hard work in some areas, especially if there's frost or really hot summers. If the garden dies, can't you try planting it again? Maybe you need some tips from wherever you get your gardening stuff on how to make the garden last longer? Pick out a few different types of plants. One of them is bound to last, right? Maybe you'll find your favorite plant. Maybe there's a gardening club?

Join an activity or club. Maybe try a new hobby? Maybe you can make some new friends who share the same hobbies and interests as you. Or, maybe you'll just find a friend to have fun with?

Do you have any pets? (Do you like animals?)

Maybe exercise? Sometimes taking a walk or doing a physical activity can clear the brain.

I think maybe you're thinking too negatively about things (and I say this as a bit of a pessimist myself, lol). Especially some things that may be out of your control (like the bugs). Try focusing on the positives. Try thinking of alternative solutions instead of giving up.

I don't know if you're still in school or not, so I don't know how much free time you have. If you had free time, what would you like to spend time doing? Make a list (mental or otherwise) of a few top things you would like to do during your free time. Take steps to do those things (or to make them happen if they require planning).

Take things one step at a time. I think you're expecting too much from little things, or you're looking too far ahead. Take smaller steps. Find something to do, do it for a little bit, then relax and then try something else. Repeat. Try a few new things. You're bound to find something to like.

If not, maybe you need to think why. Also look to see if there are other factors in your life that is stopping you. Are you stopping yourself? Why? Maybe you need to get some help?

I hope you'll at least try a few things to start. Don't make excuses; don't be scared. Keep at it. If you fail, get up and try again. Look for solutions, step by step, on how to do something. If you want to garden, buy seeds and do it. If you want, in the meantime (while you're waiting for your garden to grow), search for something else to do. Then find a way to do it. Look for local resources or online resources. It may take effort to find something. But do something to keep your mind busy.

Could it really hurt to try?

Like I'm learning, sometimes you gotta help yourself in life. Find out what's stopping you, and try to remove those obstacles, one by one. Is it your lack of confidence? Are you feeling down? Is there something stressful going on in your life?

What can you do about what's stopping you? What do you want to do?

Good luck.

sunandshadow, a reader has the luxury of reading for pleasure. They read, submerged in the stories, entertained, and that is it. A writer must go a step forward. They read, entertained, and they must then analyze what they read. For example, Harry Potter. I read it, was entertained, then I started to pick it apart, mainly to understand how Rowling built the story - how one scene led to another, how she sprinkled humor where needed, and how the intensity built through the chapters and books. You learn this by reading the actual books, not by reading theories.

If you don't want to do this kind of work, you don't want to be a writer. That is at all not a bad thing, you know. I hated to be a writer - I'd rather just read. But I found myself unable to resist the urge to construct and reconstruct the books I love, and something in me screamed at me that if I don't write down the stories, I hurt physically. And that is why if nothing is screaming at me, I just relax and be happy. I have no desire forcing myself to write.

Also, you have spent a lot of energies explaining why you can't do something - more energies than if you were just do it. All the detailed exposition in your posts are the "development" you said you were unable to do. I don't know what it is, self sabotage maybe? But think about it. Your issue is deeper than just "lazy."

So if I'm reading you correctly, you write as a hobby rather than as a career goal?

If that's true and you're not particularly interested in publishing and what motivates you is having an audience that's hungry for your writing, have you considered:

• Writing fan fiction? You could write a long piece that you publish in chapters. You normally get feedback on each chapter, so that would be ongoing praise and encouragement to continue. Or you could post complete, short pieces to the same effect.
• Writing an original serial story on WattPad or a similar site? It would be good practice and a fine hobby and you would still get feedback and readers.
• Narrative Role Playing (where you post back and forth with other writers, each holding a particular character viewpoint, to develop a shared story)? Those usually move quickly and don't require a lot of time investment, but it's still fun and creative and there is, literally, a real live person desperately waiting on your contribution.

sunandshadow said:

What am I passionate about? Design. (Design for a computer game, novel, anime, or graphic novel, though I like other kinds of design too.) What makes me really UNhappy? Putting my heart into a design that will never be brought to life because I can neither make myself develop it nor pay someone else to. I can't even find a teammate with similar taste to mine so we could play at designing together.

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You could also build a narrative RP. Again, it's hobby only and not for pay, but if you build it, they will come. You design the premise of your RP and create some stock characters and locations (the world building basically) and advertise it. Other people come and populate your world and start writing with you (and they take on and develop a lot of the plotting as they go).

RKarina said:

Some are actually struggling with depression. When a person cant find anything that excites them, when they have no passion, when there is nothing that makes them happy, I'd strongly suggest it might be time to sit down and seriously evaluate life

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I second this thought.

I'm unclear on whether you mean that you have difficulty finding things you are excited about doing but would be excited about them if you found them or you mean you "have lost interest in things you previously found enjoyable." The latter would indicate, maybe, depression rather than laziness. I know when I go through bouts of depression, almost anything I used to do for fun seems really boring and I get antsy. I keep thinking that if I could just find the "fun" thing, then I could get out of my funk, but it doesn't happen. So I'd question that path and make sure it you're not having emotional difficulties that some professional guidance (or just self awareness) could help you with.

gettingby said:

It would seem to me that if you haven't written in years, maybe you don't really want to write. If you wanted to do it, you would. We all have to make a choice to write. And your feeling that there isn't a built in audience ready to love your work is on point. There is no such thing waiting for any of us. This is hard work with no guarantees. The big thing to keep in mind is that it takes a lot of time and practice to get better at writing. If you don't want to put in the time, knowing that you might not be good enough yet, you will never get there. And even the best writers don't just write because they want praise. With writing, you are never going to please everyone and sometimes hard work doesn't pay off immediately or at all.

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sunandshadow said:

Why would anyone want to make a choice to write if the situation is as you describe???

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I keep writing despite feeling pretty much just like you do at various points. I slog through, even though this solo writing feels a bit like a drag, because I want to have a career in it. I'd enjoy writing "as a job" better than anything else I'd ever do as a job. But it's work, just like my day job is, so sometimes, I have to make myself do it.

I'm like you in that I don't write for myself. I don't feel like my writing actually lives until it's been shared. I stare blankly at people who suggest you write things and then put them in the drawer. That "write for yourself" advice is completely lost on me. I don't "sacrifice my vision" at every opportunity, but I do always have my target audience in mind as I write. "Which way should I go with this scene? What would I expect my readers to prefer?"—that sort of thinking. In part, it's a marketing decision. I want a career eventually, so I'm careful to consider saleability. Then again, I've never been very good about writing in a vacuum, so I still write fan fiction and I hope to self publish at some point if I do end up doing this full time so I can continue to get feedback and have an audience during the slower trade publishing schedule.

For perspective, I also don't have any "overwhelming urge to write" or feel like I'll implode or that the voices in my head won't stop yelling until I've written. I love my creations and they're important to me, but I don't hold to the idea that you have to feel it in your very soul to be considered a real writer.

LJackson said:

I myself don't see any reason to force myself to do anything I don't particular enjoy, especially if that something is painful, frustrating, and worse, has zero financial incentive.

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On the other hand, I'm really overweight and unhealthy. I need to lose weight, but to do so, I have to diet. I don't like to diet. It is uncomfortable and dissatisfying to me, especially in the first couple of months before a metabolic change kicks in. And yet, I have to force myself to do something I don't want to do for my own good if I want to meet my goals.

That's just to say, I wouldn't necessarily focus on the definition of what "laziness" means with regards to desire or lack there of. What you want to do and what you need to do aren't always black and white.

heza said:

On the other hand, I'm really overweight and unhealthy. I need to lose weight, but to do so, I have to diet. I don't like to diet. It is uncomfortable and dissatisfying to me, especially in the first couple of months before a metabolic change kicks in. And yet, I have to force myself to do something I don't want to do for my own good if I want to meet my goals.

That's just to say, I wouldn't necessarily focus on the definition of what "laziness" means with regards to desire or lack there of. What you want to do and what you need to do aren't always black and white.

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But not wanting to write is nowhere near "unhealthy," unlike your dieting example. Not wanting to write, and force yourself to? That is weird. Writing is not an obligation. It is a desire. Unlike not wanting to diet, not wanting to write is not going to kill you. So, Don't want to write? Don't. Want to write? Do. It is simple.

LJackson said:

But not wanting to write is nowhere near "unhealthy," unlike your dieting example. Not wanting to write, and force yourself to? That is weird. Writing is not an obligation. It is a desire. Unlike not wanting to diet, not wanting to write is not going to kill you. So, Don't want to write? Don't. Want to write? Do. It is simple.

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Well, it depends on your perspective. What I want is to be healthy, right? But I hate dieting. The goal and the means to meet the goal are not the same thing. So, even though I hate dieting (and dieting can be unhealthy), I still force myself to do something I hate in order to meet my goal. It doesn't matter whether meeting my goal is a life or death situation. It's simply: "Do I want my goal strongly enough to make myself perform the means to meet my goal?" Similarly, I want a writing career. Sometimes, I don't like the minutia involved in practicing writing or revising drafts or editing. If there was no "goal" to be met other than writing for the writing itself, I might very well stop pursuing it because in and of itself the writing/revising/etc is sometimes uncomfortable or boring. But I do have a goal that I desire and forcing myself through the minutia or boredom or other discomfort is necessary to meet that goal. If it makes more sense, you could consider that my current profession is stressful for me and stress is a killer, so switching careers will benefit my health in the long run, much like dieting.

But perspective and individual goals vs. dislike of means can muddy the waters. Focusing on the semantics of that particular discussion could be confusing if your perspective on it differs from mine. That's all I wanted to point out.

That and the fact that not everyone enjoys every aspect of the writing process in the same way. Some people hate drafting and love revision. Some people love drafting and revising is like pulling teeth. So just "desiring to write" isn't necessarily going to get you through all of the process without prodding yourself some through the parts you don't like. Basically, we're all different.

I don't know, Heza. Based on your post, I'd say that you love writing. You may not like certain aspects of writing, but you are also passionate about it. I love riding. I have suffered serious injures from riding. To date, my left side is permanently weaker than the right side, and I have permanent nerve pain from left side. Every time I step into the saddle I know there is a chance that I may get seriously injured again. Still, I ride, because that is what I love.

This is what we do with passions. We love something enough to tolerate the minor irritations.

This is the feeling I don't get from OP. What I got from his posts are, he loves design. He picked writing as the venue to express his love of design. I don't get that he loves writing, at all. Notice how detailed he expresses "why" he cannot write? He said he did not want to do detailed "development" because he loved the overall design, not the detailed of writing. And yet, he had no issues writing the details of "why." This is not someone who loves to write but struggles to do well. This is someone who tries to find a way out. Not loving to write, plus little chance of getting rewards of any kind, I don't see why anyone should continue to do something he/she does not love.

LJackson said:

I don't know, Heza. Based on your post, I'd say that you love writing. You may not like certain aspects of writing, but you are also passionate about it. I love riding. I have suffered serious injures from riding. To date, my left side is permanently weaker than the right side, and I have permanent nerve pain from left side. Every time I step into the saddle I know there is a chance that I may get seriously injured again. Still, I ride, because that is what I love.

This is what we do with passions. We love something enough to tolerate the minor irritations.

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Ah, but I am passionate about rich, decadent desserts and yet must give them up (temporarily) to meet my goal of losing weight and getting healthy. In this case, desire for the goal outweighs the love of something else.

But you are correct that I do love writing—perhaps not all parts of it, but I do love having written. I never meant to imply I don't like writing; I said I hate dieting. And I really do loathe it.

By your post, I understood you to be questioning sunandshadow's desire to write and that, to you, not wanting to write is a simple reason to stop writing. But other writers' situations, goals, psychology, and motivations might be different from yours. No single solution or way of thinking is one-size-fits-all, especially with writers, whose motivations and feelings about their writing can be myriad.

Not loving to write, plus little chance of getting rewards of any kind, I don't see why anyone should continue to do something he/she does not love.

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*shrug* Why do people stay in bad marriages? People do all sorts of things for all sorts of reasons. Basically, even if writing is not your passion, and yet you continue to attempt it, you are getting some sort of reward out of it. If you weren't, you'd just walk away with no angst about the decision. Sunandshadow is obviously reluctant to leave it altogether, so I think the wisest course of action is to identify what the reward is in this case and try to find the venue where writing is most likely to produce that reward.

Carrie Lyn said:

I just call it procrastination or letting myself get distracted by other things. Sometimes I have found that it helps to do something completely out of the box. I would think that this might be possible with art too. If you paint, maybe grab some clay and try to sculpt something.

Again, take that with a grain of salt, because even though I do these things I still suffer from the 'not-writing' (maybe lazy) illness.

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You are so much like me. I dare to say here and now out loud, that if the text doesn't come, I may start my copying stuff (I copy interesting articles from magazines through re - typing) or then I grab my knitting and check, what knitting debts I may have. It helps to move the mind away from the trouble that worries me.

sunandshadow said:

I don't particularly care about publishing or money. A few devoted and active fans would be plenty, and worth far more to me than selling 10k copies and never hearing from anyone who bought one. Personally I wish I could learn more about plotting and structure, because if I could master that then the whole process of writing would be much less effortful and painful, and thus the fun might actually outweigh the costs. Unfortunately I've run out of books about plot structure that I haven't read yet.

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You're so much like me. When I write a plot, it's absolutely miserable, so that no English talking person wants to read a word of it.

sunandshadow said:

I took a day or two to think about this, and I'm pretty sure I'm not clinically depressed. Being wary or pessimistic due to previous bad experiences like some mistreated alley cat is different from depression. But I regularly have creative urges - just today I was thinking about the possibility of a fantasy world where giant coral took the place of trees, and people cut it into bricks to build houses. I mainly get frustrated when I try to push forward from ideas to trying to flesh those ideas out into a novel or game. The kind of feeling like when you are trying to build a piece of furniture and it just won't go together and you want to smack it with a hammer screaming, "Work, dammit!"

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It's fine to worldbuild, but you need to think about characters and a story to go with the world.

You need to take that seed of an idea and take the time, effort, and dedication to make it grow. (Also, think about how the worldbuilding would affect the story.)

Ok, say you did have a fantasy world with coral. What would make it any different than cutting down regular trees? (Why bother making regular trees into coral trees, is what I would be asking myself.) Is this an underwater society? Ok, who lives in this kind of society? Mermaids, water spirits or something? Ok, now which merperson should I focus on? What's his/her deal? What does he/she want in life? What's his/her personality like and flaws? What's stopping him/her? Or...maybe something happens and he/she has to stop it or solve a problem. Maybe her neighbors are running out of coral because someone's chopping down too many of them. Or maybe other merfolk are being captured like fish by the humans. And so on...

sunandshadow said:

Teaching, I enjoy, and I tried applying for a teaching job once, but they pretty much wanted either a master's degree or some kind of fame/creative accomplishments.

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Maybe get a part-time job or something to pay for courses to get a Master's degree?

sunandshadow said:

I've tried teaching volunteer classes over the internet several times, but it seems no one is willing to do homework for a class they aren't paying for, or threatened into working at by their parents or consequences like detention. :/

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Ok...are these online paid positions that teachers courses that kids have to take? Or just extracurricular courses (that you volunteer to teach, and not get paid for)?

What kind of courses are these?

Maybe you need to figure out new techniques or find subjects/topics that kids would be interested in? Or, you know, do the job and not care what kids think? (There will always be kids that will be bored, rebellious, have bad days, hate certain subjects, etc. It's not always a judgement on you. Like trying to please all readers. You can't please everyone in life.)

There are some online schooling programs out there. Maybe you need to keep trying to find a position for one?

sunandshadow said:

Journalism, well it really doesn't make me feel the same creative fulfillment that game design and writing fiction do, but I was actually just offered a job writing articles about MMOs, I'm thinking about taking it though I suspect I'll be really tired of it in a few months. It does seem like I'll get feedback from an existing pool of readers, though I bet a lot of it will be negative, because the community of MMO fans tends to enjoy arguing more than mutual admiration and virtual hugs. I don't see journalism or text-book writing as a long-term solution, but it's interesting enough to do for a while.

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Ok...so journalism is not creative enough for you. Even game journalism?

Ok, maybe you need to do research on how game design jobs work or something. Maybe you need to expand your knowledge and gain some skills to become one, or you know, create a game, to show off your knowledge? Maybe you need to find out how to be a game story writer. Research on how to become one. You either need to create a game on your own, gain more skills, or you know, find out how to work with others. A game, like any other product (like a novel), takes time, effort, and dedication/self-discipline.

Like most things in life.

I think you're finding excuses and being pessimistic. Try being more open to solutions, and then keep trying until something clicks.
(Or get into a better mental state, first. Maybe professional help?)

I don't know what else to say. If you don't want to write, don't write. If you don't want to create a game, then don't. If you don't want to do journalism, then don't. If you don't want to teach, then don't. Either force yourself to do something, or find something that you feel is worth doing.

BTW, for games, there are pre-made game engines, so you don't have to code an entire engine from scratch. Some I've used in the past are: Ren'py Visual novel engine (for visual novels), Adventure Game Studio (for 2D point-and-click games mostly), RPG Maker (for making JRPGs, mostly), and GameMaker Studio (for a variety of 2D games in general, but this is my least favorite of the engines, even though it may require less coding).

I highly reccomend RPG Maker, especially if you want to just screw around and get some ideas out. A few of my novels have been made into games with the engine (unfinished) but it helped me plan out some of my ideas better. I find working with all kinds of media can help my writing. Also, they just announced RPG Maker MV in Famitsu Magazine...

I've had author friends who don't "feel the muse" and stop writing for years at a time, and then suddenly feel inspired to do it, so they start again. However, if you want to make money off your writing, that isn't the best approach.

My approach is to seclude myself and start typing whatever comes to mind until I have a certain number of words written. I repeat it day after day, refusing to type the same sentence twice. Eventually, I start writing stories again.

Another approach I take is to study about the history, background, and topics I like writing about. That often gets the creativity flowing again.

Oh man. I hate being lazy. My room's been a mess for months, but I'm too lazy to clean it. Actually, that's half the story. Whenever I go to clean it, I get this headache and need to stop. Or I get antsy.

My laziness is always the result of being in one place for too long or getting too comfortable. I always find moving around and switching environments helps

It took me 7 years to write 7,000 words in my book. I've now written 19k in less than a month. The answer? Writing 500 words a day, every day. It has become a habit and something I look forward to. I used to be where you are. And then I made a commitment to try every day and that has made all the difference.

I don't think about the past (all the years I wasted, not writing) or the future (will it sell? blah blah). And just write today.

Procrastinate yesterday.

caw

sunandshadow said:

At some point, without noticing, I subconsciously decided that being creative was just too much work for too little fun and too little positive feedbacknothing seems with the effort of doing, besides reading or sometimes playing a video game. So I want to know, how do other people not have this problem?

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I do have this problem. Obviously I occasionally get over it, and have three books published, and short stories in anthologies, almost everything I've written has been accepted by paying publishers, but I've written very little because of the daydreaminess and disorganization that comes with having ADHD. There's a book about ADHD called "You mean I'm not lazy, stupid, and crazy?" So I can't really answer your question.

However I do want to advise you that if it's not fun, then it's not going to be a good book. You need to find the fun, for it to be a piece of work that others will enjoy. You don't want to be writing any boring parts, so it should all be fun. You have to find the fun.

For me a lot of the laziness is also chronic insomnia, so that I feel too tired to do much, but I'm finally been prescribed sleeping pills for it. (I was denied them in the past by doctors who didn't believe in them) So I'm hopeful of improvement. However I'm suffering from extreme grief because of something very terrible that happened at New Year, so I could use that as an excuse not to write, but I'm going to try not to do that any more.

gingerwoman said:

...
However I do want to advise you that if it's not fun, then it's not going to be a good book. You need to find the fun, for it to be a piece of work that others will enjoy. You don't want to be writing any boring parts, so it should all be fun. You have to find the fun.

...

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I think this is so true. Whenever I look back at something I've written, I know exactly how I was feeling at the time I wrote it. If we're struggling or uninspired or just going for our daily word count, or whatever, I think you can see it right there on the page...and of course the reader will see it or sense it, too, even if they won't be able to name it.

As far as being less lazy, if you want to write OP, you'll have to find the joy in it, your joy in it--you'll have to find something that gives you a rush or a buzz or your lack of enthusiasm will show on the page. Maybe this is something, with all the other lessons/rules/dos and don'ts that we all have to remember to remember. But, but then, once you do, it comes down to taking that first step. We are creatures of habit. All we're doing every day of our lives is creating habits. whether we are conscious of it or not. So, if you're going to be creating habits anyway, might as well create a good one...take that first step and the next step will follow, or you'll leave yourself fighting for your balance on one foot. You'll begin to feel worse when you don't write than when you do. And that's when you will write. As it is now, for you it's the other way around. Only something wrong with that of course, if you want to write.

Oh well I was just reading L A Witt's writing book, and she says the opposite of what I said earlier. She said some bits of a story you want to tell may feel like dentistry in the telling, and that doesn't mean they'll be bad, so I guess it varies. She's has a great deal more books published than I do, so...