Discover in this post …

• what not to do when your story starts to feel dull.

• how to pinpoint the real reason behind your mid-draft slump.

• practical strategies to reignite your excitement and move forward with confidence.

Mid-Book Burnout Ain't Cool

As a book coach, I get to hear about writers’ problems all day.

And I love it.

Don’t get me wrong—I don’t love that writers have problems. I don’t delight in their suffering. I’m not a monster.

But I do love helping writers work through any issues that come up for them as they draft their manuscript.

If you’ve written a novel or you’re currently writing one, you know that the question is not if you will experience hardships along the way … but when. And one of the most common issues my clients encounter (which typically hits around halfway through their first draft) is this:

“I feel bored and unmotivated when I think about working on my story. Help!”

If you’ve felt this way yourself, you know what it’s like to be obsessed with your plot and characters one moment and indifferent about them the next. It’s frustrating because you suddenly start to question everything.

• Am I writing in the right direction? Telling the right story?

• Is there something inherently wrong with my plot?

• Do I need to switch gears?

• Should I have switched gears 100 pages ago?

• Shouldn’t this still feel fun?

Thank goodness there are ways to avoid the “mid-book burnout”—or at least decrease the amount of time and energy you spend in this undesirable place.

Here are my best tips to help you meet this “meh” head-on so you can move forward in your story and finish your draft! 

Don't Do This

If your excitement about your story has decreased, the worst thing you can do is leap to a conclusion and take action around that conclusion.

• Example: “I feel bored every time I think about my story. That means my ideas must be terrible. I’m going to scrap this entire thing and write something new.”

Consider all the literature that would never have made it to the shelves if writers listened to that little voice that told them their story wasn’t worth continuing.

Think of your absolute favorite novel, one that has heavily influenced you in some way. Imagine if the author had gotten stuck somewhere in the middle and had left their unfinished manuscript to collect dust over time.

How would your life be different without that story in the world?

It’s easy for us to think less of ourselves than we do of those famous authors. But every one of those big-name writers began the same way—with an unfinished draft that they completed only by pushing past their roadblocks.

So if you know deep within you that your story is worth telling, and that it’s simply a matter of getting it from your head to the page with some amount of accuracy, don’t give up on your story as a whole! Build your skill as a writer by learning how to tell your story effectively, and press forward rather than questioning your endeavor as a whole.

*As a disclaimer, in rare cases, putting the story down and working on something new might be the solution to your problem, but I can tell you from experience that this usually isn’t the case. Typically, writers who give in to “shiny object syndrome” and turn to their new idea end up following the exact same pattern with that idea: beginning with excitement, then losing momentum and questioning their new story all over again by the time they arrive at the middle. So don’t assume that working on something new is your solution … because it usually isn’t.

Clarity for the Win

What should you do first, then, if the solution to your boredom isn’t to set your story aside and work on something else?

First and foremost, I recommend getting clear on what the problem actually is.

It sounds simple, but that’s the beauty of it. Ask yourself, What’s really going on right now? 

Proposing this question will kick your brain into gear and will give you the opportunity to dig into what’s happening behind the scenes when you’re feeling bored with your story.

Most of the time, there are two possibilities:

1. You’re bored with your story because there’s something wrong with the story itself.

2. You’re bored with your story because there’s something wrong with the way you’re approaching your draft.

Let’s start with the second possibility, which can often be a quick fix. 

Remember, you’re asking your brain, What’s really going on right now?

Don’t settle for answers like “I’m stuck” or “I just don’t feel like writing.” That’s part of the problem, and we’re already aware of that.

Go deeper and ask yourself why you feel this way. Here’s the exact question you can ask yourself to learn more about the problem:

What am I thinking every time I sit down to write?

Here are two common thoughts that sneak into writers’ minds when they’re just not feeling the love for their story. Identify which fits you better, and try out the solutions I propose.

THOUGHT #1 - “I’m so easily distracted when I try to write! I hate feeling this way. But it would just be so much more fun to watch YouTube videos, Facebook reels, or that new episode of The Last of Us.”

SOLUTION - Ask your brain, “How can I make my writing more fun?”

Then jot down all the ideas that occur to you. Here are ways my clients have made their writing more fun in the past:

• Rewarding themselves with something desirable if they meet their daily or weekly goal (a special drink or dessert, a visit to the bookstore, a movie night, a trip out to eat, etc.)

• Switching locations to a “fun” place—writing outside, or at a favorite coffee shop, or in a newly established workstation in the house

• Turning your writing into a game—if you beat your roadblocks and accomplish some writing for the day, you get points! (And when you get enough points, you can “level up,” and at the end of the game you win a prize.)

• Writing out of order by skipping to a scene you’ve been excited about from the start (This can work wonders to renew your excitement. Many writers have scenes they’ve been imagining for months or even years.) 

Now you have some solutions if you’re someone who feels the root cause of the issue is the temptation of life’s many distractions.

But maybe that’s not you. Maybe your issue is something else entirely:

THOUGHT #2 - “Writing feels hard right now. It’s straight-up difficult for me to string words together in a coherent way.”

SOLUTION - Ask your brain, “How can I make my writing feel easier?”

Again, record all the ideas that occur to you. Here are some of my favorite methods you can try:

• Do a writing sprint on your own. Set a timer for twenty-five minutes, tell your brain, “That’s easy. I can write for twenty-five minutes, no pressure and no problem,” and go for it! You’ll be surprised by how often your brain responds by saying, “I’m in the zone now. Let’s keep going!” after the timer goes off.

• Do a writing sprint with other writers. Sometimes writing feels difficult because it’s a solitary endeavor. Having others hold you accountable and write alongside you can make writing feel less heavy and more doable.

• Break down your overall task into manageable chunks. If your overall task seems complex or nebulous, such as “Solve this plot problem I’ve been trying to fix for forever,” alter it to simple steps (Step 1 - Remind myself of the exact problem and why it’s a problem; Step 2 - Make a list of 10 possible solutions and reserve all judgment; Step 3 - Choose my favorite solution and add it to my outline).

• Change your writing goal. Sometimes we put too much pressure on ourselves (“I’m going to write 10,000 words per day this week, including weekends”), and that’s why plowing forward feels next to impossible. Make sure your goal fits both your personality and your schedule (for example, “I’m going to write for 30 minutes per day this week, one session before work and one on my lunch break”) and increase your time or word count goal at your own pace.

I’ve given you some ideas regarding how to proceed when the problem stems from the way you’re approaching your draft. But what if the problem is bigger than that—what if something is wrong with the manuscript itself?

What to Do When Your Story Is the Problem

First, keep in mind that something will always be “wrong” in the first draft stage. First drafts aren’t perfect, so don’t try to convince yourself that yours should be.

But there’s a difference between a subplot that feels slightly off and the heart of the story veering off course. To determine whether your manuscript has normal first-draft issues or needs a full overhaul, make a note of your story’s problems and ask yourself, “Are these items I can address in revisions, or is there no way to fix them without writing an entirely new story?”

If you’re unsure what your story’s problems are, but something just doesn’t feel right, here’s what I recommend:

THOUGHT #3 - “Something isn’t sitting right with me in my story.”

SOLUTION - Ask your brain, “What’s misaligned in my story?”

Here are some ways you can figure out the answer to this question:

• Pinpoint the exact moment your story seems to veer off course. Then work backward to identify the plot points or character development that led to that moment. Jot down anything that doesn’t feel true to your vision.

• Talk it over with a friend, critique partner, or book coach. Some of my clients process best when they’re able to discuss their ideas with me out loud. The answer is often inside their head already—they just need help teasing it out.

• Go back to the basics. Ask yourself questions like …

1. “Is my story still about a character who wants something and what they do to get it? Or have I gone down a rabbit hole and lost focus on my premise?”

2. “Is my antagonist playing a vital role throughout the whole story rather than just in the end? Do they have a clear motivation, and is my protagonist strongly affected by the antagonist’s actions?”

3. “Is my protagonist changing over the course of the story, or are they the same now as they always were?”

• Consider how connected you feel to your characters. If you no longer feel emotionally invested because you don’t fully understand your protagonist, you’ll want to dive deeper into their backstory, flaws, perspectives, and goals. After all, if you’re not rooting for your own characters, don’t expect readers to do so. (And speaking of developing a strong cast, you might want to check out a prior post I wrote on crafting a compelling character.)

Summing Up

As a reminder, two possibilities typically arise when you feel bored with your story:

1. There’s something wrong with the story itself.

2. There’s something wrong with the way you’re approaching your draft.

If it’s the second issue, identify the main thought that occurs to you when you sit down to write:

• If your thought is “I’m distracted and everything else around me seems more fun,” ask your brain, “How can I make my writing more fun?”

• If, on the other hand, your thought is closer to “Writing feels so difficult right now,” ask your brain, “How can I make my writing feel easier?”

If it’s the first issue (something feels wrong with your story itself), ask yourself, “What’s misaligned in my story?” 

Then choose from the strategies outlined above to get clear on what’s not working—or devise your own methods!

I’ve heard plenty of experts say there’s no “secret” to writing. I know what they mean, and I agree that waving a magic wand won’t fix all your writing problems. But I’d argue there is a secret of sorts: Writing is all about tricking your brain. The writers who figure this out and find strategies and solutions that work for them are the ones who cross the finish line—and you can be one of them. If this post helped you move closer to your personal writing goals, email me anytime at [email protected] and let me know where you’re stuck or where you’re shining.

Do you want to learn how to write a story that makes your target readers stand up and cheer? If you’d like support from A to Z (from brainstorming to drafting to revising to publication), book a Discovery Call with me to see if you’re a good fit to join my book coaching program, Fantasy Footsteps: Road to Publication. And if you haven’t done so already, grab your Free Guide on how to hook readers from your story’s start!