The Writers Block Thread

Flesh your characters out more and story might evolve from it. The reason I have so much is I know my characters better than the reader will need to. I know the history of her people but the reader will only need a bit of that. And I know the problems of her people today, that's where the reader needs to know a lot. So there's extra.

 

Generally short stories contain less character and setting development. In a novel, you might want to flesh out the characters a bit more - give them deeper, more 3D personalities as well as a more detailed back story (although you don't want to bore your reader!). You will also have room to add more characters. They don't have to be important to the story or particularly detailed, but a multitude of background characters such as coworkers, neighbors, and out-of-town relatives will make the story more interesting and believable. This will increase your word count and may also open up opportunities for more subplots.

 

Dialogue and details. Build the world and the people in them, pausing the plot for moments, and then drag us back into the action.

 

Celtika, the best advice I can give that I don't believe was already touched upon is to get a few readers whom you you trust. You spend, I would imagine, a large amount of time with characters and scenes rattling around in your head, so you may not see all of the details needed to make them real to the reader. Give your work to a friend, maybe along with some questions like, "Are there any characters that you feel should be more developed?" or "Were there any scenes that felt rushed?" Sometimes, maybe you've underdeveloped a minor character by design, so the feedback won't always help, but there's a chance that your reader might see a place for development that you hadn't noticed before. Sometimes the descriptions and development in our heads do not always make it to the page.

 

Oh my sweet Jesus... I was finally able to write a page and a half this morning! That's the longest thing I've written in months!

 

I always find that when I have writer's block the more I read the more I start getting into the right frame of mind for writing and ideas start to flow, if not a fully formed plot then at least a few sentences and then when I start writing it pushes me through the writer's block. I hope this is helpful.

 

My way of beating it is to have multiple projects running at a time that are completely different like a fantasy and a sci-fi for example. It means if I'm stuck on one, I can work on the other for a while.

 

I woke up two mornings ago and decided that if I had a magic genie in front of me, I would choose to be able to finish my current project over a million dollars. I started a series of three novella's a a few months ago, while very slightly manic, and then crashed, and now nothing. I only have the final edit to do on the first novella before I can put it out as an ebook - its 95% done - and I have absolutely nothing. I have to change the surname of one of the characters and I can't even do that. There are no words for how frustrated and miserable I am.

 

[MENTION=36654]MsScribble[/MENTION] - maybe the problem is that you are trying to fit the first story into a preconceived series of three. Focus on finishing it as a single, standalone story and you may have better luck. Good luck with it.

 

Its not that, I can't write anything. I may as well be sitting in front of my laptop and trying to come up with an anti-gravity theory. There's nothing there. Its very distressing.

 

I suffer from Writer's block. I sit down and come up with a good idea and get excited like I got a good thing going. Start off good, then I realize the material sucks or I don't feel like writing about it anymore. But this one story recently and I have been developing it for several months. I had to re-write it 4 times but it tells you that I am not giving up. I never thought I've gotten to that point. But,

R.I.P. Good Ideas

 

I never realized how important it was to have a writing schedule and/or routine. It has been three weeks since I have moved out of my soon to be ex's city and have been kind of bouncing around looking for my own place to live and interviewing for jobs. Twice I have found the time to go to a quiet coffee shop that doesn't burn their beans and I believe I hit command/z as much as I typed. When I had a routine, 2000 words a day was nothing; now, 2 is difficult. Not looking for sympathy, but seeing all of the other posts concerning when and where to write, I have realized how important that routine is. Be sure when you budget your writing schedule, it is something you can commit to and form a habit of doing. Hopefully I will be back to normal in a couple of weeks. It's like having the spoon without a lighter.

 

Hmm, why dont you try and write about what you see happening directly around you? Don't even make it a story, just report, then the words will flow back automatically. Gopd luck!

 

I imagine if you were writing, say, a factual article about a subject you know well, you'd probably be able to write no bother. I think it's creativity that needs schedule and peace of mind before it can flow.

I'm sure it will all come back to you, once you're settled into your new life—and good luck with that, by the way. Just try really hard not to get hung up on the omigod-I-can't-write-any-more hook. Take a break from it, and who knows? You might even have some new ideas to write about, once you get back to it.

 

I have one tactic that I use when I'm struggling for inspiration: you have to force yourself to write something by choosing some random word(s) and using it as the title. A good method is one where you hit shuffle on Winamp and then use the next song title as the title of your story. You can use any other method, just make sure that the title is not up to you. If the title is something that doesn't immediately inspire you, make a mind map about it: just list words and things that the title brings to your mind and after that, organize them in groups, then think about what your story will be like and start writing. I was surprised how well it works. Some of my best writing has been started this way.

 

Or look at pictures that inspire you. Nothing brings me more story ideas than looking at various fantasy pictures

 

My creativity - and writing - tends to dwindle when I'm having a big dip. Those dips have been very frequent the past year and a half, which has been very frustrating, considering I haven't written more than a few thousand words the past four or so years.

When I get a new idea for something to write, I tend to write down some important parts, build a very minimal skeleton, and then leave it there for a long time. I return to it from time to time until I feel ready to write it. If I still like the idea when that time comes, I know it's worth pouring time and effort into it.

This, so many times. I used to have this almost obsessive compulsion that I had to write chapters in order. While I still refrain from writing certain chapters in the story that I know pack a huge emotional load, I've found it so liberating to be able to jump between chapters. Like sierraromeobravo said, it lets you better see the direction of the story and how it should develop, and it really is so rewarding. You can always tweak and make changes if you run into an inconsistency or something that throws you off.

 

I guess we all have had such moment in our lives. First time it happened to me, I got so terrified. I thought I was never gonna be able to write anymore. All I needed to do is to go on a road trip alone. I have visited some really beautiful places...the peaceful ones. I came back home all refreshed and free from worries and started to write some really good stuff. I was fulfilled with ideas. So yeah, I needed to trust. Try it, if it does not help all you need is to let it go. Relax...don't get overwhelmed with this temporary issue and things will go back to normal eventually.

 

You may just need to walk away for a while. I find it helps to have some activity other than writing that serves your need to be creative. My two faves are music and cooking. Also, long walks can be helpful, as well as reading things that don't have anything to do with what you are writing.

 

This is actually excellent advice. Hard to improve upon. Let your manuscript settle in some comfortable corner of your brain. Agonizing over it can only fortify the block. DON'T GO THERE! Just sit in your coffee shop or anywhere else you are comfortable, and write. Not a story, just write. Write about the baristas, the customers, the pedestrians outside the window. Write about the stupid light over your table that keeps flickering because the ballast is going bad. Write about anything you see around you. As Macaberz suggested, don't write, just report.

Your brain is still trying to find a way to conform to a norm outside your former comfort zone. Not to mention all of the other turmoil going on in your life demanding your former normer... er, normal. So, at this point, the most important thing is to just get into the habit of simply putting words down on a regular basis. Soon enough, you will find yourself thinking about embellishments to your manuscript. Don't force it but, keep your flashdrive handy with your ms on it so you can play with it now and again. You may find most, if not all of what you write at this point is pure crap. Don't worry. That's what that delete button is all about. If you go back and read/proof and find there is nothing worth keeping. Get rid of it. But you may find that all of that garbage lends itself to a germ of a better idea. Take it from there. Soon enough, you will find yourself thinking about your ms. all of the time. It will, once again, be screaming for your attention. That's when you are ready to ignore the pedestrians and get back to writing.

Oh! One other thing. Don't get caught up in a web of using the forums as a cushion. It's too easy to get lost in that as opposed to real writing. In fact, I would suggest, if you are having trouble with your muse, avoid the internet at much as possible.

Good Luck!

And, oh, btw, your words aren't gone, they're just hiding!

 

This makes me think of only a few months ago when I attempted to get back into writing by writing a short story. I knew from the get go that it was going to be shit, and when I finished it, I let it rest for a week, returned to it, and read it again. It was still shit, so I deleted it. Then I went back and just sat and went to places that tickled my zen. And blwaaaahh. Painted with words. Wrote a few haikus, a couple of other poems, and wrote up the first chapter of a story. All this happened within a week.

This here especially makes me think of "painting with words". I feel there's something beautifully magical about a well-written protrayal of the most mundane things in life. Because they don't mean anything, they're just sitting there, words on a paper, and you give them meaning; your mind gives them life. Writing about the daily things in our lives is underrated, anyway.

Cut away distractions, and leave your thoughts and ego outside. Just write. Whatever is in front of you, write about it, and then write about how you feel about that, write about how you feel about writing about it and about how you feel about it. As many has said here before, it's all about less thinky and more writey.

 

A lot of times when I feel a lack of words, I'll go through and read old pieces or rummage through old notebooks. When I do this, most of the time I feel inspired to edit, which at least gets my keyboard making noises (backspace buttons still make a noise!). If that doesn't help, I'll find a collection of short stories that are within the same genre as what I'm writing. I find that short stories help because you're not too tied down to any single one, and they also give you a good mix of ideas and situations that you may find helpful.

I guess what it comes down to, in fewer words, is that when I cannot write, I read. The inverse is also true.

~~SP

 

And this falls into the category of "research". You never know when, somewhere down the road, that image or life-clip is going to be just the info you need for this or that story you are working on.

Such idiosyncratically perfect phrasing.

 

i hope the allusion to shooting up is only metaphorical and not from personal experience!