I have my word processor in print layout. If it doesn't look like a page (or as it would on paper) it looks odd to me. This comes above any psychological need to avoid a blank page seeming an insurmountable obstacle.
I have it in print layout too, so I can see it as an A4 page. I both love and fear the blank page but I've never given any thought to having the space at the bottom or the top as I type. I do like to zoom in a little so that the page just about fills the width of the laptop screen and when I start typing, I don't stop. Hmmm. x
Truly, I've never even thought about it before, which I guess means I probably don't care one way or another. To be honest, I really don't see it in terms of pages that need to be filled, but rather as a continuous stream of text that makes up a chapter.
It's interesting. Personally, it is unclear junction of reality and imagination. How to draw the two together? Well, personally, while writing words and words, sentences and sentences... to help maintain the story, I actually drew, illustrated and painted it with pencil, brush and ink... it was actually two way... on paper and on screen - to strengthen my 'architecture' of writing story... The Architecture of Writing It is the sophisticated design of writing where the writer establishes the authority, i.e. modelling dream castle, e.g. Neuschwanstein Castle, so to lay the foundations of imaginative characters, set the surrounding world, plotting and so on. The dream castle functions as the operative centre that helps with one's 'upkeep' whilst battling the writer's block whatsoever... 'Block' - the Imaginary Lands of Opportunity Consider the writer's block as the imaginary land of opportunity. The writer's power of imagination cannot soar far and wide until the imaginative castle is established to engine and flap the dream wings and fly with imagination! I hope that it is helping alongside...
I have the solution to all your writer's block problems. If you can't think of a sentence to write, then you add more conflict. THAT'S IT! Thanks!
I think a useful strategy is the 'actor interpretation' strategy. You know when an actor comes to the set and has to act his lines in a scene ... and he asks the director how he wants him to play it ? The director often says .. give me a selection from the ways you see it. So the actor gives him one way ... and then another. Analysis paralysis comes partly from feeling that you can't chose which way to write it .... and get so afraid you can't write it at all. Instead .. look at it as just a draft of one possible way of telling this part of the story, this scene, this plot line .. something that can be changed and altered next week if needed. Sit and try it as an experiment. If you don't like it when it's done then go back and try another way ... or maybe keep it
I am with the idea to write down anything in your mind. You will edit it later . I have to revise my writings maybe 5-10 times. and every time i find a mistake or better sentence
Just asking questions unblocks any block that I may have, questions, more questions and more after that. one answer leads to more options and answers and opportunities.
I like the idea of a blank page, honestly, it makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something to see that space get filled.
I've never really thought about it, usually I just type to get the basic story out of my head and then after go back and change everything because when I dump into the page me spelling and grammar is awful!
Wow, what a surprise to see a thread that spans so many years. Tells me writers block is common to most if not all writers. The phrase "writers block" always reminds me of a cartoon I saw many years ago in which a doctor tells a writer, "I can cure your block but a side effect is plagiarism."
Hi as title suggests, I'm stuck. I've been stuck before, but this is a big one. I have finished a short novel and a memoir, so I'm in the process of agent hunting. They are done, apart from a little bit of editing. I have now started a rather ambitious novel - maybe too ambitious. I like the beginning and have managed 30000 words, but I'm not sure of it; although there are parts I really like. So I don't know whether to continue it, or start a new novel. It has a different voice from the first 2 books. I've been so unsure whether it has legs that it hasn't been walking for about three months. - no prose in 90 days. How do you guys deal with this. I feel that I need to make some decisions, or I'll be wandering around no-man's land for a long while. Any ideas on all this is most appreciated.
You've honestly not given enough info for us to give you much advice I feel. First of all, what aren't you sure of? Why are you doubting your story? And if something doesn't make sense, then perhaps you just need to sit down and work it out first before you keep writing. Judging from the tone of your post, as well as a different thread you started about your memoir, I'm guessing it's more a problem of your self-confidence than your writing or story. You sound very down and defeated. When I've been down in the past, I found it always helped to turn to someone who believes in you and your writing for encouragement. Sometimes we all just need a little pick-me-up, someone who's there and believes in you and who tells you, "Hey, you frigging rock!! Look at this you've done, it's amazeballz!" (I'm not a teen anymore so not got a clue if it's amazeballz or amazingballz or some other internet lingo for "amazing ) So yeah. Chin up. Maybe read a particularly inspiring book, a good novel, or do something that just makes you feel good. A short break from time to time is very, very good. Maybe work on something that you care less about, some flash fiction or, hey, on this forum we have tonnes of little writing contests and poetry contests no prizes unfortunately except for a little announcement that someone's the winner and you get a little badge under your name, but it's good fun if you just need to keep writing without caring all too much, you know? We all get writing slumps from time to time. Don't be too hard on yourself. You're not alone in this - not by a long shot. And hey, I know I've never read your work but from what the agent said about your memoir, you must be a pretty good writer All right, I don't know what you might find funnier, but here's a stupid owl saying Hey: And here's a stupid advert about Burritos: I hope at least one of them made you laugh
That was a really thoughtful and uplifting response. I think you are right - the rejections are hurting and affecting my writing confidence; they are definitely interlinked. Considering all the vitriol and trolling on the internet, it's a wonderful thing to come across people who empathise and it REALLY helps. I think this writing forum is the best on the net, for the simple reason contributors are constructive and supportive. Loved the videos.
I have three things that help my writers block: 1) Writing about writer's block. Which sounds stupid. But it works It relieves the frustration you can feel and it can also turn into a good comedy piece that you can look back on later and laugh at. 2) An exercise we practised at uni. We would spent one or two minutes just writing on a blank piece of paper. That was it. We weren't allowed to pause, look up or think. We just had to write about anything that came into our mind, no matter how random or seemingly insignificant. Afterwards, we'd look at the results and see if there were any interesting ideas to explore further 3) These amazing story cube things I bought last year. There's about 9 dice that each revolve around a different element of a story. You roll them all and you can practically get a plot out of the results it gives you
"Never put a writer in prison, because then you've removed his chief excuse for not writing." - via Arthur C. Clarke
I have read all the comments on this thread. All of them have a few things in common. Writers start to write a story, then go blank. Most write by the seat of their pants, than go blank. Many start to write a story without attention to a plot, just an idea for a story, and go blank. All have had block, and have no idea why? One has suggested, “Writers should try something new, and see what happens?” A million writers have gone down the same path, had the same problems, and over time methods that prevent writers block have been tested, and proven to work. A round shape for a wheel has proven to work better than a square wheel. Why would anybody waste their time trying to reinvent the wheel? When a bestselling author say, “I don’t write a plot first, I just start writing.” Don’t believe that story. What that writer is saying, “I think about a story, and know every part of it before I start writing, thus I don’t have to write out a plot. I have done it so many times its second nature to me.” IMO, A writer should stick to well proven methods of writing a story, until it becomes second nature to them…just MPO.
A writer friend of mine once said: if you can't write, throw in ninjas. Eg. throw in some conflict, but of course ninjas can also be taken literally
Writer's blog is the place where writer's are writing the blogs on different conditions and creative blockage. Here one can write a blog on any topic, there are having various writer's blog for writers. For this blog a writer have to bring lots of ideas but they can't adopt only one idea. A writer's have have to keep his mind broad before writing any blog.
Hi guys... well -as the title says, I think i just keep hitting the same old problem with my book no matter what i try. Currently college is eating up a lot of my life, but I know i could take at least an hour a night to work on my novel. The problem is, even though i have the whole story and plot in my head, I just can't get it out. I either get bored with the story and think ill work on it later, or doubt that i could even finish it to begin with. I've been working on this book for five years, and have not gotten past chapter five. The furthest i have ever gotten was to chapter forty-two, but the writing quality there is so poor and the story has changed so drastically since then that I know there's no point in trying to adapt that melodrama into my current arc. I'm just not sure what to do....I've had this whole idea for a trilogy/ two trilogies in my head for so long that it feels like a crime to just give up but... Is a story worth working on if it's never finished?
If you completely stop, then it's not worth it, even if it's only in your head. A bit of the fun is making your story solid and concrete, "set in stone", and just having it. At that point, it stops morphing and you can deal with it as a very tangible thing. Honestly, it's easy to give up hope if you keep restarting your work. I nearly finished one of my books and then lost ALL of it. Let's just say I'm not keen on restarting that story any time soon. If you only got to chapter five in so long... are you editing? If so, stop. Just keep going further down and add sticky notes (or whatever your processor uses) to add quick notes on things you need/want changed when it comes up and keep going further. Like that, you'll end up with lots of new ideas and a piece of work you can work with.
Having ideas is fun and easy. Writing them down, and then polishing that writing, is hard work. I don't think anyone else can answer this question for you. Are you enjoying yourself as you work on the story? Like, not that it's a laugh-riot the whole time, but overall, is it making you happier or unhappier than you'd be without it? Chances are pretty good that this book, and this series, will never be conventionally published even if you DO manage to finish writing it. So if you're not enjoying the process, it's probably not worth continuing.
Exactly. The fun is more about the process, not the end goal. It's being able to write something without caring (for the time being) that it's complete crap; you just want to see how it all ends. Brainstorming ideas is a fun pastime of mine, it's something I love to do. But a writer writes, so my little nugget about lemurs in space (it's mine, yo. No stealin') will forever be a little nugget unless I write it down and say, 'It's okay if it's crap. Just get it down on paper.' My other thought is that maybe you're just tired of this story. God knows if I kept slaving away at a project for five years without getting anywhere, I'd want to throw it all into a fire. Move on to another story, one that's completely fresh and gets that creativity juice flowing again. Work on that story to completion. You don't ever have to go back to that old one if you don't want to. But right now, just put it to bed and go work on something else.
