The Writers Block Thread

Discussion in 'General Writing' started by Sapphire, Sep 21, 2006.

  1. Phil Mitchell

    Phil Mitchell Banned Contributor

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    The problem with that is it's going to be a very long time before you see any reward. Meaning if you write highly considered really good stuff early, the brain gets its chemical reward early. And so its motivated to seek it out again. If you're only going to see that good writing at the back end of editing, which will be alot of work and take a long time with this method, the mind is going to seek out quicker rewards than that. Like video games , internet, tv and so on. Ultimately the cure for boredom is the rush when you're truly on point with writing.
     
  2. D.Q.

    D.Q. New Member

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    [QUOTE=", I just lose motivation .[/QUOTE]

    Happens at times. But it comes naturally to me. Something just clicks while I go around normally in my day. Sitting and focusing on what to write doesn;t usually work for me.
     
  3. Thomas Babel

    Thomas Babel Member

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    I would also argue that if you're looking to write a longer length piece, it's rather like exercise where you can only do a bit at a time at first, but the more you do it the easier it becomes. With that in mind, I think it's important just to always relax and write as much as you can each time you do it, even if it's a couple of sentences. When you're tired... rest. You'll get tired less and less.
     
  4. Thomas Babel

    Thomas Babel Member

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    Another revelation of mine is that it's perfectly okay to RUMINATE. Stretch out the moments in your book. Talk about feelings, talk about motivations. Explain things to the reader. Re-explain them when appropriate. It's not a movie, it's a book.

    (Of course, it's best if you explain things from the point of view of the character). If you're writing fiction, it's a gigantic lie. Support the lie. Ruminate... then fill in all the blanks so the reader begins to believe you.
     
    Last edited: Feb 25, 2017
  5. Thomas Babel

    Thomas Babel Member

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    Sorry to go on, but I just had another thought!

    The way I've spoken in certitudes in my posts on this thread have at least had the QUALITY of sage advice, when really I'm the one learning these principles by putting them into words. It's for the same reason that critiquing written pieces helps YOU just as much as it helps the author. As I go, I'm explaining things TO MYSELF as I write.

    So reverse the roles there. Humanity writes its epic saga daily. Critique it.

    You talk about motivation, but I think what you're really talking about is inspiration. There is no deeper well for that.
     
    Last edited: Feb 25, 2017
  6. making tracks

    making tracks Active Member

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    Sometimes when I am feeling stumped I spend an evening or two reading back over things I've written in the past. Even if they weren't that good it makes me remember what I liked about writing them and they may have been ideas I originally gave up on that I feel inspired to try again. Good luck to you!
     
  7. Lone_Wolf

    Lone_Wolf Banned

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    I'm a poet who is trying to write a novel. Bit of backstory: My novel is inspired by true, personal experiences regarding depression, the paranormal, unrequited love and other heavy topics. It's a real bright and happy story, let me tell ya :D

    I wrote out an outline of the story, wrote down so many notes, wrote out the crucial parts of the story. I got all these ideas and whatnot, and yet I just can't write it out, because of my severe creative anxiety. I've always been horrible at writing stories, because my grammar sucks; I lack the knowledge on how to properly write a novel, and I have a habit of being too straight-forward in my stories and not narrate the setting or just other little details in my stories. I'm not sure how I can expand things in my story in order to make my chapters longer and such.

    I really could use some help and advice. Maybe have a mentor. This urge to write mixed with the severe lack of confidence is agony!
     
  8. izzybot

    izzybot (unspecified) Contributor

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    I have pretty bad creative anxiety too, but the only thing that's ever really helped me is just accepting that I'm not going to like what I've written and powering through :oops: There's always editing.

    You can read craft books and writing blogs for tips, but I learned to write primarily by just reading a ton. It's much easier when you're a kid/teenager and have free time, but learning to read critically will speed it up. Don't just passively absorb stories - take note of details, always wonder why the writer did this this way, what it they accomplished with that detail. Dissect movies and shows and story-heavy games or whatever it is you're into, as well.

    When it comes to actually writing the damn thing, remind yourself that done is better than perfect. Everything is going to be a learning experience and there will always be time for another draft. I'm slogging through the climax of my wip right now, after about three days of putting it off because I hated every word I tried to add to it, but it's more important that I get some words out there. I could've had it finished by now if I hadn't been locked up by the ol' anxiety, and I'd much rather - three days from now - be looking at ways I can improve what I've got than still be stuck at the same place.

    One of the guiding things for my writing is the concept of failing faster. Because it's not going to be great at first - it might not be good at all. It might be a flop. But you'll have grown from doing it, and if you can look at it and know "This didn't work", then you can figure out why, and the second iteration won't have as many of those problem. But you have to get it done.
     
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  9. Lone_Wolf

    Lone_Wolf Banned

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    Guess so. I tried expanding the first chapter, but it ended up discouraging me more, because the beginning is dull and I have no idea how to make it more interesting :\
     
  10. izzybot

    izzybot (unspecified) Contributor

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    The rule I've given myself, which I think has helped me get through my current wip, is to not look back and edit. Editing is always discouraging. Once something's done, it's done, and you have to move onto the next scene/chapter. I let myself reread the last bit of what I wrote in the last session to reorient myself before I get back into it, but never more than that - and honestly, if you know it's going to bum you out, I'd skip even that much. You can worry about fixing up the earlier parts once it's done.

    What I've done is sit down every time with a goal - "This session, I'm going to get to [plot point]" - and written until I got there no matter how crap the way there was. I'm literally procrastinating on my second-to-last chapter right now and I know once it's done I'm going to have hell editing especially the first two-thirds of this thing, but right now I just have to focus on my next session goal, and that's getting to the end. Goals help because you always get some progress, and no matter how bad you feel about it you can go "Yeah, it fuckin' sucks, but it was 100w or 1000w or however many that I didn't have done before". You're not bashing your head against the same thing for days and days berating yourself for not making it work.

    Fuck it if it's not interesting. You did it. That's rad. Picking it back up and getting more words in is all you have to do.
     
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  11. Shadowfax

    Shadowfax Contributor Contributor

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    YES!!!

    P.G.Wodehouse used to write a page, stick it to the wall of his room at a height which reflected how good he thought it was; then re-write it to a (literally!) higher level. When the pages were all at the ceiling, he considered it done. That was in the days of writing novels, long before computers and word processors.

    1/ Accept that your first draft will be dire. (Especially so if, as you admit, your grammar sucks) Another member of this forum used to say that the first million words are your apprenticeship.
    2/ Be prepared to axe great swathes of your text; that description of the MC that you laboured so long over is probably unnecessary; all the reader needs to know is that it's a he; it doesn't matter whether he's got ginger hair and his hobbies include taxidermy.
    3/ Be prepared to axe the first chapter, because the story probably doesn't start there anyway; it's just back-story that you can work in later (Don't give us a blow-by-blow of his unhappy childhood, just mention in chapter two that he was happy now, not like when his mother used to tie him up and throw darts at him)
    4/ Be prepared to change things because you've had a better idea on the way through, or after you've finished, or at any time before publication (and some authors even continue to edit their work from one edition of the book to the next!)
     
  12. izzybot

    izzybot (unspecified) Contributor

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    Big second to this. A large part of the editing I'm going to have to do for my thing is just tidying up the earlier parts from before I'd really figured out how the world worked. The stuff I came up with later on contradicted earlier information, but it's much better, and I didn't have to be beholden to the shoddy placeholder crap I came up with initially. "There's always time for editing" has become my mantra. That time just isn't when you're still in the middle of writing! Scribble down the changes you know need to be made and catch the rest later.
     
  13. rincewind31

    rincewind31 Active Member

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    A good way to get your creative juices flowing and actually get yourself writing, is to think of a really good movie you watched recently. The, when you've got one, write out the first few scenes as they happened. Not as it would happen in a script but as it would be if it was a book.
    It might seem crass but because you don't have to be creative with the actual story - although you can if you want - it'll give you a chance to actually focus on just writing. Try it.

    Also, if you think you're beginning is dull then it's not your beginning. Your beginning is further along the page or the story when the you stop finding it dull.

    But the best thing you can do is worry about everything later and just write, and read, and write, and read. And stop bloody procrastinating ;)
     
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  14. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    I don't disagree with the other ideas, but also - you can learn grammar, you know. There are books on grammar, with exercises and all the rest of it. Just because your grammar sucks now doesn't mean it will always suck.
     
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  15. Rosacrvx

    Rosacrvx Contributor Contributor

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    ^^
    This!
     
  16. Simpson17866

    Simpson17866 Contributor Contributor

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    Welcome to the site!
    I would recommend studying grammar, but I would recommend a way to make it fun:

    People don't speak in technically correct grammar unless they are specific types of people, and neither will realistic characters. Obviously don't go overboard on writing characters with bad grammar, but try to pick certain rules that some of your characters will break, but that others of your characters won't ;)

    I have a guy in my Doctor Who fanfiction doesn't use relative pronouns if I can help it. It's not something he decided to do, he doesn't even notice he's doing it: skipping relative pronouns is just naturally the way he thinks.

    Compare: I have a guy in my Doctor Who fanfiction who doesn't use relative pronouns if I can help it. It's not something that he decided to do, he doesn't even notice that he's doing it: skipping relative pronouns is just naturally the way that he thinks.
    The fact that the lead protagonist in my Urban Fantasy WIP uses more technically correct grammar is an explicit contrast to the fact that my first-person peripheral narrator's grammar is more casual:

    Narrator: "Boss, we gonna do [this]?"
    MC: "No, we're going to do [something else]."​

    The two most important ways of learning this are:

    1) Google as many "how to write a novel" sites as you possibly can. Different sites will give different answers because different writers need to write in different ways, and you need to look at as many as possible before you'll have the context to understand which methods work best for you and which ones don't

    2) Read as many books as possible, and pay specific attention to what the author is doing everywhere

    This is not always the Either/Or that a lot of people – even here on this site – make it out to be.

    How have your favorite novels narrated the setting and just other little details ;)
     
  17. Lone_Wolf

    Lone_Wolf Banned

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    I decided to challenge myself to write down a scene, every day, or at least try to ;)
     
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  18. Simpson17866

    Simpson17866 Contributor Contributor

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    Here's a thought: it occurs to me that I write summaries a lot more quickly (words/hour) than I write narratives.

    Maybe you could write a couple hundred words about the story that you want to write – just to get your fingers typing and your brain thinking about the story – then see how much text you can get started on the narrative itself?
     
  19. Lone_Wolf

    Lone_Wolf Banned

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    Honestly, that won't work for me. I'm actually losing hope about this story. People tell me to just write and write, but even that's hard for me. I can't write out random notes just like that. I tried to write out my story more, but I noticed some errors, and that would cause me to start a character introduction over again, and that frustrated me. Maybe I'll just write them as short stories instead
     
  20. Homewriting

    Homewriting New Member

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    I have writers block a lot of the time. I kind of get the same way when I feel my writing is getting to "Samey". So I often take breaks.

    But I also get anxiety too when a creative story I had an idea and outline for never seem to end up how I want ti to be.

    The best thing I can suggest as someone who built a career off of it is to just relax, maybe work on another project, and tackle this project thats giving you anxiety at a later date when the inspiration strikes. Thats generally what I do.
     
  21. Shadowfax

    Shadowfax Contributor Contributor

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    Try making them Flash Fiction instead. And then fleshing them out.

    1/ MC arrives home to find a stranger having a shower; beats him to death, then shoots his girl-friend. Police turn up and lock him up.

    Wait! What if he doesn't ACTUALLY beat the guy to death, just a bit bloodied and knocked-out? And he doesn't ACTUALLY shoot his girl-friend, he actually misses? Then, when he dumps the guy, it's on the mud-flats on a tidal stretch?

    So, re-write the beating scene, and the shooting the girl-friend scene. Oh, and re-write the bit about him driving home in his Porsche, because the boot's not big enough to take a corpse, and Google sporty cars the HAVE got a big enough boot...and change the splash when the body lands in the water...and let's crank up the pressure by finding something to set the local villains after him...and have his business in trouble for some pettifogging breach of Lambeth Council's Health and Safety Directives...

    Or, you could just make notes about the changes to the earlier scenes and barrel on with what's going to happen now that the police are after him.
     
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  22. Lone_Wolf

    Lone_Wolf Banned

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    I've been trying to write each chapter as a short story, in script-form instead. So far so good, too
     
  23. Arcadeus

    Arcadeus Senior Member

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    I tend to write 2-3 different beginnings and endings and decide between them.
     
  24. ILaughAtTrailers

    ILaughAtTrailers Active Member

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    Like I just know it won't be good enough to be published and that it's not interesting enough. It's pretty dull and typical in how it goes and it feels like it's more of a skeleton of a story in how boring it is.

    It's just I feel when I finish it it's at most only going to be like 30k-40k words long which I don't feel is worth editing or continuing work on past the first draft.

    Any thoughts on this? Should I keep writing it just for practice? I've never completed a first draft of anything so maybe this'll just be a good start for my other works.
     
  25. Apollypopping

    Apollypopping Member

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    I would get it to a second draft kind of stage, if not complete, just for the practice.

    Also if you're not going to try and publish it, you have the freedom of making whatever you want, real. MC grows a second head named Coral who wants a vodka shot? do it. See where it takes you.
     

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