: How do I overcome a lack of motivation to write at home? Late October I decided to take the plunge and attempt NaNoWriMo. I haven't done much writing in some time and thought it would be

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I have that same problem.

I can spend an entire week writing entire scenes or even chapters in my mind. Typically, it happens when I can't stop and write (eg. I'm driving, cooking, etc). Typically, I go over the scene/chapter in my mind from beginning to end, over and over, each time perfecting something. Sometimes, I can get half an hour to jot down the ideas, some specific dialogues that must be just so, phrases.

Then comes the weekend, when I finally have some good hours to bestow to that neglected scene/chapter... and I can't write a single word. It's like my brain shuts down and can't be bothered to go over the excitement of the original idea. I really do feel like my brain just doesn't feel like making the effort.

Very often it happens because, quite frankly, I'm tired and the adrenaline that kept me running through the week is gone. My body and mind just want to switch off and relax.

What to do? For my sanity, just accept it and take a nap. When I wake up later on, I may be able to get in the flow and write. If I'm really exhausted, I drum into myself that I'm not wasting time, I'm recovering in order to write better later on.

Sometimes, it's not that I'm tired, but... do you remember having that homework that you didn't want to do so you would bribe yourself: work on this for half an hour then you can get yourself a one hour break doing what you really want? It's something like that. My brain was working hard on something and now that it is done, it has decided it deserves a break and switches off.

What to do? I can force myself to get up and vacuum clean. For some reason, that usually gets my creative mind running. Don't ask why. Another physical activity that doesn't need any real thought into it will probably have the same effect. It's not easy to force myself to do this, though, especially because I'm on a lazy state of mind.

I can also let myself fall back onto my bed and close my eyes as if to take a nap. Because I'm not tired, I won't go to sleep; but because my brain is lazy, it'll start wandering about. I then try to capture the last scene I wrote and start lazily going through what could happen next. Very often, I start getting excited about the new scene or dialogue and end up feeling the urge to get up and write it down. Of course it can take half an hour or two hours (and yes, I sometimes kind of slip a bit into sleep here and there, but I don't get fast asleep and the brain does tend to get crazily creative).

In conclusion, if you still have this problem, try to find out exactly why you have it. Then either go with the flow and embrace the laziness (temporarily) or slowly change it. I wouldn't advise to confront your laziness head on as it is my experience it won't work. It'll make you feel frustrated and angry instead, and will make it even harder to write.

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The answers I find most useful for productive writing times are also the answers to other writing maladies:

Routine, routine, routine. Set up a schedule to write at the same time everyday. Try to follow the same routine not just with scheduling, but with whatever little rituals work for you (I sit down with a cup of coffee in the same place, start my pomodoro time, fire up my editor, and go.
Draft, don't edit. Just charge ahead. Some people use a typewriter mode so they basically can't go backward. I don't find I need that...it's just a mindset. You can edit later. I try to just let it flow, diversions and what seems immediately like a bad sentence or idea. Approach the drafting like brainstorming!
Don't work in silence. I need white noise of some kind, not silence. I write in a coffee shop (no beret), which works well. For a long time I used a program like Ambiance on my iPhone to use nature sounds like rain on a tent, etc.
If on-computer distractions are an issue, use some kind of full screen editor and maybe software that locks down your internet, etc. so you aren't tempted by Farmville or email or whatever.
I mentioned my pomodoro timer...which helps with my operative principle that I need disciplined breaks to let my subconscious work.

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I am new to writing as well. I can relate to lack of motivation. I've had the motivational issue pop up in other areas as well but I think they relate. Here's what I mean. I have always, always wanted to have a horse and enjoy training and working with it. Now, in my forties, I have two horses. Yet oddly, I feel a block. You would think that the idea of working with them would fill me with joy. The feeling registers as a lack of interest, a dull lack of motivation or enthusiasm. Slowly unpack it and i find an old identity rooted in some very negative experiences and messages. The joy IS still in there somewhere but so are some other things. As always when attempting something that takes a certain amount of belief in one's abilty to achieve success in some way, negative voices, old feelings and beliefs intervene and fight to "hold the floor" in my life.I don't think, though, that these negative things introduce themselves and say " Hi, I'm not really rooted in truth or reality but I'm here to use old past things to mess you up". Its not obvious what the general feeling of malaise is. Its a no brainer when we ask ourselves " Why don't I want to do the dishes, change the transmission in zero below weather or go to the doctor for a hemmorhoid operation? But when its something you love or really want to do, it seems insane that you'd hold back from doing it. I would suggest, without getting too deep into navel gazing, that you check and see if there are any beliefs or past voices that attack your attempt to go in a chosen direction in case something like that is part of the resistance you feel. Sometimes feeling undeserving or unworthy of success is enough to put a stop to that alive, free flow of creativity.

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I don't like having pending tasks (I use Outlook for them), so a good way I found to motivate myself (for doing anything actually) is adding tasks to it.

Before doing anything else I try to complete these tasks.

Adding tasks for writing at least a few paragraph (to start) would be a good way to accomplish it.

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There are a lot of different ways you can overcome a lack of motivation, here are a few that I've come up with.

Write somewhere outside of your usual places. This can be a coffee shop or a home office, but it has to be the sort of place you don't do other things at. The idea is to take you out of the familiar places where you can fall back into the usual patterns. This shouldn't be the sort of place (or computer if you can afford it) that you use to play games or watch TV. It's a place for writing, and you go there to write.
Schedule a block of time. Sometimes just writing an hour everyday can help. It's worked for me when I've been in a longer slump.
Goal and Rewards. This is a simple one, how much do you want to write every day/week? Set the goal for that and then set your reward for meeting that goal. Not only are your bribing yourself you're setting a deadline.
Or another take on the same idea, Competition. Last year another writer friend of mine and I entered into a deal. The first person to miss their weekly writing goal before the end of the year had to by the other a DVD boxset of their choice. At the time we were both sipping all over the place. For the next six months neither one of us missed our goals... so neither one of us got a boxset. Well, the word count was more important.

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If I have other things on my mind, I force myself to write two sentences before getting up from the computer/writing desk/typewriter. At least half the time, two sentences is enough to get me into some sort of rhythm.

Also, I do a variation of the 10/2/5 rule (work/write 10 minutes, do something anything else for two, repeat 5 times to total an hour, take a bio or other break). Mine's 12/3/4 -- same concept, just adjusted to the fact that I take a minute or two to "reset" sometimes when changing tasks. It really does help.

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Get away. Sometimes its easier to go somewhere where you can't have your normal distractions. Parks, Coffeeshops, etc, are fine and dandy but if they're in city, or have WiFi, it can be too easy to get distracted.

Rent a cabin in the middle of nowhere or a hotel room, and leave your cell phone, laptop, at home, and essentially give yourself nothing to do but write.

Also, airplane flights.

I tend to get a lot of work done on flights, and also have heard of one writer who used to go to the airport and buy a cheapest, long-distance round-trip ticket he could find. Something like fly from LA to South Carolina and back. It'd essentially give him 16 hours where he couldn't be bothered.

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I've learned to write when I feel like writing, as in leave other stuff as much as you can and just write. Let it flow, then go back and clean up later.

When I can't write I go take care of stuff that needs to be done.

If I need to write (daily piece due here), I often head to a Starbucks or Borders, by myself, but in a change of environment. If I need headphones, I take them, but having some away time helps me focus.

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I find this a lot with projects I work on, and not necessarily just novels. I have this problem when starting software projects, websites, pretty much anything creative. Usually, the problem I have, is that I just don't know where to start, and that is because I don't have a plan.

If I sit down and properly think about what I am trying to achieve in the next hour, afternoon, evening, whatever, I actually find I can knock out a few pages, chapters, because I have a reference point to work from.

By not having a plan, I distract myself with other things, until something comes to me that I can rush off and write down. But, with a plan, I know what I need to do next, and I just get it done.

So, whilst a change of scenery may help you, or indeed other focusing techniques, if you don't know what you need to do next, you will find new inventive ways to procrastinate. And when I say plan, I don't mean, write 1000 words tonight. I mean

develop character A
build subplot B
introduce the unexpected twist

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Change of scene is good, I think.

Maybe a park?

(I have the same problem, though it's more about being too busy at home with family/housework. I write on the train too.)

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