The Writers Block Thread

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

  1. 5karl3t5ky

    5karl3t5ky New Member

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    I took almost 5 years off. It has done nothing substantial other than help with plot holes. With practical writing, it worsened the situation.
     
  2. 5karl3t5ky

    5karl3t5ky New Member

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    It's actually writing any line that I'm having a hard time. Even if it's not for an on-going work, I can't get past three sentences before I call it quits. And even those three sentences aren't motivation enough to write, or something useful on their own other than practice
     
  3. 5karl3t5ky

    5karl3t5ky New Member

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    Technically, I have checked all of these, minus the meth, and nothing has worked. I think I need some sort of thinking/mental motivation to get myself started, but I can't really pinpoint what that might or could be.
     
  4. 5karl3t5ky

    5karl3t5ky New Member

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    Can't say it will have any difference. I had a lengthy chat with myself on those topics for a different reason recently, but the end result was minimal. A good start, but minimal.
     
  5. 5karl3t5ky

    5karl3t5ky New Member

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    Well, anything. My current goal is a bunch of novels that I have been putting off, but if I can get myself to write an unrelated scene just for the practice of it, I will be pleased. As for flash and short stories, for me it seems impossible. I can't bring myself to understand how to construct a story that doesn't span a few million words.
     
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  6. 5karl3t5ky

    5karl3t5ky New Member

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    This has been my process since the beginning. I can't write without a game plan. But that hasn't been helping me to get started.
     
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  7. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    Well, just try to take the pressure off, then. Maybe it's trying to write when you're not really into it that's keeping you from doing it. Allow yourself a break.
     
  8. 5karl3t5ky

    5karl3t5ky New Member

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    If by "when you're not really into it" we mean 24/7, almost 365 days a year for about 5 years, then the break is still happening.
     
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  9. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    My guess at this point is that you’re suffering from depression. Is that a “well, yeah” obvious thing, or maybe a new thought?
     
  10. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    I meant to allow yourself to take a break. Don't try to force the writing. Just say ...I'm going to take (a month, whatever) off and not write at all. Then do it. Just don't write. See if that works. I'm not saying it will work, but sometimes just relieving pressure to do something ...even if it's something you want to do ...can work wonders.
     
  11. 5karl3t5ky

    5karl3t5ky New Member

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    It's a "been there". I am depressed only towards my writing, otherwise everything is normal.
     
  12. 5karl3t5ky

    5karl3t5ky New Member

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    I might have sounded a little rude before, but it's not like I didn't understand what you meant. I already tried that, a few times, but the break period seems to continue even after it's supposed to have ended
     
  13. 5karl3t5ky

    5karl3t5ky New Member

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    Well, this might sound sudden, but I want to thank everyone who replied. I've been discussing this topic for a while now, with a lot of people and I've been hitting one dead end after another. But now, I've figured out the problem.

    It seems to me that my writing and I have experience a relationship burnout. I have lost the spark, the initial interest that got me into writing in the first place and that's probably why I can't seem to approach it from any angle. So, as any good counselor would say, I have to go to the beginning and find it again or end it. I doubt I'll be quitting, since it's something that has been defining me for years.

    Anyway, again, thank you so much for your input and suggestions, you really helped me gain perspective!
     
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  14. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    So I have two three theories, all pretty much based on brain chemistry.

    - Burnout. Before this slump, had you been putting a lot of unrewarded effort into writing or into activities that might be associated with writing? I point at this discussion:

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5630618

    - Again, depression. Mild depression. Maybe call it creative depression. Maybe call it a slump, since depression is a medical term.

    I used to go into very mild slumps of a few months--I wasn't actively sad, I wasn't oversleeping, I wasn't neglecting myself, but my creativity was utterly and totally gone. I just. didn't. care. I couldn't make myself care. And eventually I would float out of it, and I'd be OK.

    I have a blog that is in part a sort of journal, so I can time some of this stuff. In 2011 I wrote some blog posts about the latest creative slump, and I formed the theory that those slumps happened when dopamine-feeding activities fell below a level. I mention 2011 because I haven't had one of those creative slumps since, and I should have had, oh, two or three. I suspect that the theories that I formed were correct--for me--and that I learned enough to put off the slumps.

    I believe that the slump that I wrote about at that time came from a moratorium on shopping for perfume. Yes, I'm serious. Perfume collecting was a hobby of mine at the time (it still is, but to a lesser degree). I would spend hours every week going through perfume decant sites and sites that sold samples--putting samples in my shopping cart, taking them out again, reading reviews. I was shopping. I wasn't spending much money, or even buying very often, but the activity was "shopping". I read that shopping produces dopamine.

    Then I decided that since I had dozens and dozens of samples that I hadn't reviewed properly (at that time the hobby was tied to my blog), I'd stop shopping and review everything I had before I started again. And I rapidly dropped into a deep slump. After several months, I resumed buying samples. And I bounced right out of the slump.

    Since then, I've actively and persistently pursued dopamine. Food. Activities. No, not meth. :) And I haven't had a slump. No, I'm NOT saying that you can resolve serious depression with perfume shopping and sunflower seeds. I'm saying, more, that subtle changes can result from subtle changes.

    - Insufficient reward. This is pretty much the same as above. The burnout link is about your brain learning to reject unrewarding activities. Dopamine is a brain reward. But here I'm referring to somehow making your writing more rewarding. Was it somehow rewarding before, in a way that you've lost? Were you writing for classes? Were in in a writing group? Did you have a blog that you abandoned to "get serious" about writing? Did you switch from fanfiction to non fanfiction? Fiction to nonfiction? Nonfiction to fiction? What changed? Even if it's some illogical tiny thing--what changed?

    I'm pretty sure that the new writing habits that have kept me writing are all about reward. The highly flavored scenes are inherently rewarding. Polishing each scene, beyond the point that makes sense for a first draft, is rewarding to me. Letting myself write whatever scene and situation fits my emotions of the moment is rewarding.
     
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  15. Spirit of seasons

    Spirit of seasons Active Member

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    Have fun? Make stories that interest you? Writing can be a job but it should be fulfilling. Before I begin to wright I try to relax and immerse myself in the story or scene I'm working on. I can get bad stage fright or writers block but I remind myself of my goal, to get published and share my story.
     
  16. DK3654

    DK3654 Almost a Productive Member of Society Contributor

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    I suggest you look at why you became interested in writing and whether you are writing in accordance with that interest
    e.g. it was because of your interest in character and maybe you're not writing with enough focus on character, or you started writing because you wanted to write a certain genre particularly and maybe you're not writing enough of that genre.
     
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  17. The Italian Viking

    The Italian Viking New Member

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    Had the same problem.I solved that problem by reading my favorite authors that inspired me to write initially.I like to write detective thrillers so I went back to reading Michael Connelly’s “ The Last Coyote”. In addition I like the structure and character development in John Grisham’s “The Litigators”. I then looked at my drafts and started organizing them in piles because I don’t write my scenes in sequence. So while I was not writing any additional scenes I began editing and improving those already drafted. I also think through my story for long periods of time in order to create a new thread in my novel .Just because you are not physically writing does not mean you are avoiding working on your story.Writing as you know is hard grueling work.I hope I have helped in some small way but keep plugging away at and I believe you will be back writing again.
     
  18. Artifacs

    Artifacs Senior Member

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    So you quit writing, okaaaay. Here's some hobby suggestions for you:

    Building things with matches: Wound't be cool have The Eiffel Tower or The Colliseum made of matches in your bedtable?

    Radio Station at Home: Keep an eye on the sky searching for UFO's. Maybe you'll be the lucky one.

    Esperanto: Are you gonna be only one who doesn't get it when it really really catched on? Start Now!!

    Statistic Studies: Be the first one to discover the hidden message behind the iteration frequency of every The Simpson's Coach Gag after 30 seasons of 22 episodes each.

    Your own instrument: Design your own origami instrument. Hundreds of hours of joy and cellestial harmony are waiting for you.

    Bridges pictures: Explore the world taking pictures of the most useful gap ever invented by mankind.

    Aren't you missing writing already???
     
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  19. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    My motivation is to have written something. That's at least partly why I do it. Of course, I want to publish, and that sometimes happens. But writing is my job (as I see it). Sure, I can call in sick or take a vacation, but I've got to come back to work. Sometimes writing doesn't feel like work, but sometimes it does. It always comes down to how bad you want it. If there is nothing but lack of motivation holding you back... Do you really want this?

    Five years is a long break, but sometimes people need long breaks from whatever they're doing. You can always come back to writing. The possibility is always going to be there. Again, it comes down to how bad you want it. Are you willing to work for it?

    I will throw out one more suggestion. Take a class, a good one like through Gotham. They're not cheap, but I can say it's well worth the money. The Gotham class I took (online) changed my relationship with writing in ways I didn't know how to do on my own. And when you're paying for it that might be motivation enough to get back in the game. Good luck!
     
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  20. Lew

    Lew Contributor Contributor

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    I took 13 years of the Eagle and the Dragon. Partly after 9/11, I took a consulting job with the Army on counter-terror studies, which soaked up most of the night writing time until 2013. But I honestly quit working on it 1 or 2 years prior.

    And I got over it. You will too
     
  21. DeeDee

    DeeDee Contributor Contributor

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    Take up sports. You'll feel much more energetic and willing to "do stuff" :superagree:
     
  22. Anna100

    Anna100 Active Member

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    I feel the same from time to time. But, I have two creative hobbies that I kind of switch back and forth from (drawing and writing). So if I get tired of one of them I jump to the other for a while. I get inspired by other people's journeys and work. So, visiting this place helps. Another thing I try thinking when I want to write something is that I'm writing for myself. It's so easy getting caught up in trying to write 'the perfect thing'(is it good enough? it should be better, and so on) and all the rules and do's and dont's can be a bit overwhelming if you're just going to write your first draft ... or just for fun. I try shoving all those things to the side and just write however I want to write and whatever I want. But, that's hard, though. :p Good luck, I hope you get back to your hobby.
     
  23. seira

    seira Member

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    It's a tough question because we're all different. If this was a new thing I would suggest just pushing through, but since you said you've been slacking in the last five years it could be that your interests are changing. We all get fed up with hobbies sometimes and need to try new things. Don't look at it as 'I'll take a short break' because then your mind with still focus/think about it and you want a fresh slate. So Stop writing. Go try other things you enjoy, even if it's slobbing around the house and watching movies. Try a new activity.

    If writing is something you innately love and are 'meant' to be doing you'll find yourself circling back round to it again.
     
  24. mykl ruby

    mykl ruby New Member

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    Have you tried the stream of consciousness approach? (Think thats what its called) where you start writing flat out first thought first sentences about any random things without stopping for as many pages as you can.ive read a few autobiographys from writers who've tried it.sometimes it kick starts little talent pools and triggers creativity.
     
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  25. Just a cookiemunster

    Just a cookiemunster Active Member

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    I loose motivation sometimes. It happens but there is one thing that ALWAYS gets me motivated again. I start reading books and this unsettling disatisfaction with the book contents builds up inside of me and I go over to the computer and finish writing and admiring my own. :superagree:
     

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