How to Write When … You’re Bored With What You’re Writing

How to Write When … You’re Bored With What You’re Writing

Title Image: How to Write When ... You're Bored With What You're Writing


Do you ever feel bored with what you’re writing?

As a freelancer, I’d love to say that I’m always 100% enthusiastic about every single topic I write on – but the truth is that some topics are just more interesting than others! Even things I love to write about (like blogging) can seem a bit boring when I’m writing a piece that’s quite similar to 10 other pieces I’ve written in the past. And some writing is frankly uninteresting.

Perhaps you’re freelancing, or working on a homework assignment, or even writing something that you usually enjoy … but that you’re feeling bored of right now.

It can be hard to focus on writing even when you’re engaged, but when you’re bored, it might feel like distractions are almost irresistible. And that’s if you even manage to sit down and write in the first place: just dragging yourself to your computer can be tough if you know you’ve got an hour or two of dull writing ahead.

So what can you do to keep writing? Well, the first thing I’d suggest is to consider…
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Internal Conflict: Six Types of Internal Conflict (With Examples)

Internal Conflict: Six Types of Internal Conflict (With Examples)

Title image: Internal Conflict: Six Types of Internal Conflict (With Examples)

The links to books in this post are Amazon affiliate links. That means that if you buy any of the books after going through my link, Amazon gives me a little bit of money. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but it does help me with the costs of running the Aliventures blog.

Stories are built on conflict. Without any conflict, there’s not really any story. If Jane Doe gets everything she wanted, without any difficulties, and lives happily ever after, then that’s lovely for Jane, but not very interesting to read about!

When it comes to conflict, it’s easy to get how external conflict works. Perhaps Jane Doe wants a promotion … but a colleague is also going for the same role (character vs character conflict). Then, Jane’s late to work because the bus was cancelled and she had to walk through a snowstorm (character vs environment conflict) … and now her laptop won’t start (character vs technology conflict).

Those are types of conflict that you could see taking place.

But what about the conflict that only takes place inside Jane’s head? The self-doubt – is she really suited to the role? The moral dilemma – should she try to undermine the colleague who also wants the promotion? Those can be just as important a part of the story. And they’re both types of internal conflict.

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About

I’m Ali Luke, and I live in Leeds in the UK with my husband and two children. Aliventures is where I help you master the art, craft and business of writing.

Start Here

If you’re new, welcome! These posts are good ones to start with:

Can You Call Yourself a “Writer” if You’re Not Currently Writing? 

The Three Stages of Editing (and Nine Handy Do-it-Yourself Tips)

What to Do When Your Writing Goals Seem a Long Way Off

If you’d like more suggestions, head to the “Start Here” page:

Archives

Want to see all the posts on Aliventures?

Just head on over to the Archive:

My Novels

My contemporary fantasy trilogy is available from Amazon. The books follow on from one another, so read Lycopolis before the others.

You can buy or sample them on your local Amazon, or read all three FREE in Kindle Unlimited.

Aliventures Summer Break 2023 – 10 Posts to Catch Up On

Aliventures Summer Break 2023 – 10 Posts to Catch Up On

It’s summer here in the UK … not that you’d know it to look out of the window! We seem to have had even more rain than usual recently. As usual, I’m taking a few weeks off from blogging over the summer: I’ll be posting again from mid-September. In the meantime, you...

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How Long Does it Take to Write 1000 Words?

How Long Does it Take to Write 1000 Words?

This post was first published in April 2020 and updated in May 2023. Whether you’re working on a novel, blog post, academic essay, or any other big project, it’s really helpful to know roughly how long it takes to write 1000 words. Maybe it’s your daily target for...

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