- I watch TV too much - expectations that are too high - skills that are too low - english isn't my mother tongue - I end upgetting frustrated that I'm not good enough and it slows down my writing a lot. So far I've managed to write only once longer than for an hour...
Thanks for the advice! I managed to write something a couple of days ago. I could actually pull off plot-stuff and dialogue, but I'm struggling to convey the emotions of the character. Whatever I put there to show how she feels about the fates of five people resting on her delinquent pirate shoulders feels crappy. Oh well.
I read an interview once with a writer who had suffered a block while working on a novel. He said he finally got around it by writing his story in the style of those old Dick and Jane readers kids learned from in first grade. ("See Spot run. 'Run, Spot, run!'" - remember those?) It worked. He managed to get the bones of his story down in that style - it gave him something to revise. He said, "Through Dick and Jane I outflanked art." I probably mentioned that earlier in this thread, but nobody ever goes back and reads older posts, do they? DO THEY?
Does anyone else think to compare writer's block to driving into a ditch, in which case we'd liken slamming one's foot onto the pedal to a writer persisting on a passage even when he begins to feel lost? Maybe the best cure for writer's block is to prevent it by the first place, by stopping whenever you hit a road block, take a quick step back, and then move forward at a different angle. Also, I'm starting to find that the best way to maintain my "oomph" for a particular story is not to think about it too much when I'm doing things besides writing. Not driving? Turn off your engine and save some gas. This does take some discipline.
That's what I do. It's very effective. I pretty much never get writer's block anymore, because I have so many things going at once that I can just switch to something else, preferably something that I don't expect anyone else to ever see, and fool around there until I figure out what to do with the blocked story. Usually, it's delete-the-last-two-thousand-words-and-go-from-there. It sucks, but it always ends up better. Writing in the dark with the screen turned off helps sometimes, too. If you can't see what you're writing, it helps break your need for it to be good.
Huh? Wha...? Glug... Wow. I've never thought of this before. Maybe this can work for some people. I don't think so for me, though. My need for it to be good is the reason I write. If I didn't need it to be good, I wouldn't bother trying.
My feelings precisely. I also have plenty of ideas and I love to work on those by making notes and mind maps about how I'm going to write it once I write the actual text. But the second I actually do begin to work on the real text, I freeze. All I write turns into utter bullshit either right away or in 10 minutes after, and I realize that it's not good at all. I suck when it comes to grammar ( no matter what language it is ) and especially with tenses. It's very much possible that it's all in my head, but on the other hand I've never received a feedback from anyone that says nothing about my 'incorrect grammar with tenses'. So it really is hard for me to get started with the actual novels. Still, from time to time I force myself to begin typing and usually I manage to pull together about 100-200 words, which is pathetic, but still something. Luckily I have enough faith in my story that I still haven't given up on it and hopefully someday I can unblock my writer's block completely.
That's the spirit Good news though, I think I'm back on the horse. Well, it's kind of like I had kicked off the irons and the horse is bucking around, but somehow I manage to hold on... we've written quite a lot with T, and I'm stressing less about the quality right now, yay!
When people have writers block I usually recommend them to stop writing and that would include to stop thinking about writing. I know many people who do follow this advice but they desperately go out to either travel or to just walk around the park to get their ideas flowing and to get inspired somehow. This does work for some however most people are so focused on getting back on track that it becomes a pressure to write rather than the hobby that they once had. Therefore I truly recommend something like yoga maybe or anything that can clear the mind because starting to write fresh new material on a fresh blank page requires a fresh blank mind.
If you love it, you won't stay blocked for long. And it's also a matter of forming a routine, which sometimes means forcing yourself to sit down and at least try to come up with something. But once the routine sets in, it's as natural as drinking a cup of coffee in the morning.
Finally I am out of writers block, but now into that phase of trying to put the pencil point to paper. I guess I need more inspiration and motivation. (Took me a second to figure out the word motivation). I finally figured out how to re-start my story that would achieve what I want for the future. Thank you time and thank you dreams!
Hey, live2write, great to see you back! I've been wondering what's happening to your Amber character and that very interesting situation and setting you were creating a while back. That story still sticks with me.
Here are some ideas that I use when I have writer's block on a certain chapter of a book: Go to another chapter that I do have an idea about Take a walk sometimes getting away from the writing and clearing my head inspires me about what to do next. Talk to someone about what I am writing, I have a family member who is also a writer so we constantly throw ideas at each other. We also role play sometimes, with playing characters, this can be fun and also inspiring. Sit down quietly in a room gathering your thoughts, or do some housework all the while thinking about the plot. I have been amazed at how this inspires me as well when I'm stuck on a scene. These are just some ideas that have worked for me in the past, quite effectively. So, I can highly recommend them to anyone with writer's block.
This has saved me from writer's block 100 times over. I can't tell you how rewarding this can be. It not only pulls you out of the block but allows you to better see the story and how it should develop. I used to think that I couldn't write chapters out of order until I tried and it's changed my world.
I usually encounter writer's block when I'm not passionate about my characters or the conflict in my story is weak, so I usually get rid of it by working more with my characters. I write as much as I can about my characters' goals, methods of problem solving, worldview, attitudes, and morality. Then I try to find to match up the differences so I can see what the biggest, deepest differences between two characters are, and find a situation that allows the characters to discover these differences in each other. Usually works pretty well. I've identified several other causes of writer's block though, and I'm discussing how to eliminate them on my blog.
I do relate to your observations Mallegory but I had to smile - that looks remarkably like Ganesh that you have beside you in your avatar and he is the remover of all obstacles! In response to your problem I find that I either like what I have written at once and it needs only a few revisions and improvements or I lose heart and start to doubt myself. I can´t seem to get it right and it is very frustrating when you can see the scene in your head but just can't capture it as you want it. I think I am better with journalistc pieces and very short stories but the ideas for the novel length stories are there. I just find that I write with enthusiasm and enjoyment and don´t seem aware till I reread whether I am going to love it or hate it!
The title you put to this thread describes me very well, Mallory. Sometimes it's not necessarily just how it reads, but the pace at which it reads. I'll write a suspenseful, emotion-filled conversation between two characters. In my head it feels that the conversation happens over several minutes, but when I read it back, it starts and ends rather quickly in comparison.
When that happens to me, it's always because it's a really image-heavy scene, and I'm just not that good at imagery. Introspection and action are fine, but imagery...? It gets boring so fast. But it's so beautiful in my head! Thus, many of my stories have small interludes that are written as comic scripts. I re-do them as prose during the editing process, but starting them as comic scripts lets me get the imagery down so I can move on without losing it. By the time I come back, the overwhelming need to get it right has gone away, so I'm not stressing and ruining my own efforts anymore. It... usually works.
Hey everybody, this is my first post here, it's a pleasure to meet you all! Back at school, i was great at writing short stories and poems etc, to the extent that i was considered one of the strongest story writers in the school. Since leaving school, i have attempted several times to actually write a full novel, with the purpose of having it published. However, i have a huge problem with writing too quickly. I often get a great idea and a wave of inspiration, but what i often find happening is that i treat the book as a sprint rather than a marathon, and subsequently find that i am racing through the story far quicker than i should be. What i want is a nice story with slow progression that slowly draws my readers in - as opposed to 30 pages of intense fiction. Does anybody have any advice on how to 'fill' things out to the extent that i can get perhaps 160-190 pages but without 'boring' my readers? I really want to have relevant content in my story, but at the same time, i want my reader to be able to relax into the book without a constant fast story development. I apologise in advance if i have done a poor job explaining myself, or if i have asked a very ignorant question! It's been many years since writing (and that was at a high school level!) and this is my first time actually discussing writing with other writers. Thanks in advance
Planning when you sit down is important to a novel. Understanding if there are going to be enough elements to make of it a novel. Sometimes a short story (or a long story) is only ever just that and should remain that. There are plenty of examples of stories that were later "fleshed" out into a book by the author and the readers of the original story unanimously indicate, "Thanks, but you should have left it alone."
Maybe the ideas you have had so far have been better suited to short stories? Writing has a funny trick of going where it wants to, not necessarily where you want it too! If you havn't written for a while either, then maybe like erebh says, short stories would be a good way to get started again. Maybe you could post some of your work for review? Claire
Since most of your experience comes from writing shorter pieces, its important for you to understand that approaching a novel length piece is going to be different. A major difference is the scope of the story. In a short story you may have one view point and a major plot. However, in a novel you can broaden the scope. Maybe include a couple view points and add in some more sub-plots. It also might help if you try to do some planning. When you get that wave of inspiration, ride it and crank out some pages/some scenes. Then go back and try to build the idea further and turn it into a novel length story. On the other hand, as stated above, some stories lend themselves better to the short form and don't need to be broadened.
It sounds to me like you're just writing outlines. You think you're writing stories, but I bet if you looked back at what you've done, you'll find your stories very sparse, very skeletal. That happened to me a lot when I was trying my first novel. Here's an interesting exercise to try: Think of one of your favorite novels - one you remember quite clearly, but you haven't read for a few years. Imagine your favorite scene from it. Now, without opening the book, write that scene yourself. When you finish, compare your version to the published original. My guess is that the original will be probably about five times longer than your version. If the original is significantly longer than yours, examine both closely and you'll see why. You probably got in most or all of the major points of the scene, but you did so with far less detail. Maybe the original spent more time in the character's head, explaining what the character was thinking and feeling as the events of the scene transpired. That kind of exercise can help you learn the difference between real novel writing and what you're doing. It can be a real eye-opener.
