The Writers Block Thread

Try my seven step plan!!! Includes some poorly remembered ideas from Truby's "Anatomy of Story."

1: write down the central action of the hero. For example: mike uses his skills as a mechanic to fix a car and escape.

2: name his weakness. Mike can't fix the car because he is too busy holding the baby and doesn’t trust anyone else to protect her.

3: change. Mike learns to trust Stacy when he hands her the baby to fix the car.

4: inciting incident. A stranger shows up at the door claiming his car broke down, but something seems wrong.

5: establish normalcy. What is mike doing, and what does he want before the stranger arrives? Can you show how he’s sympathetic, admirable, likeable, or unjustly oppressed during the period before the inciting incident? Bonus: Does the story have a taboo, hook, or gimmick to make people interested?

6: free write. Write about the characters, their sample dialog, how they look, and the source of their mental problems. Mike, for example, doesn’t trust anyone else to protect the baby after he kidnapped her and changed his name to avoid losing her in court to the baby’s mom.

7: start writing. Be willing to rewrite the beginning when you are finished.

I'm not a short story reader really, outside of adventure stories. I only occasionally read a short story magazine or listen to a Newyorker podcast. It seems like adventure short stories usually just have a satisfying ending, while most other short stories have some kind of twist that redefines how you see the whole piece.

 

Hello my friend

I understand how frustrating it is for you to not advance on the story, trying to find proper words. However, my suggestion is just this. Continue writing, even if the sentence makes no sense, later you will manage to improve it. Still no idea? Stop a little and listen to music, or switch for another story you have. Sometimes it is more stress than anything that is trying to control us. If you stop completely you will never get anything in return. I hope this helps, keep on good work and have fun

 

I like the suggestions were given you above, but let me go a completely different direction. I say give it a rest. Walk away from the keyboard, get active, be with friends, do some fun activities. I do some of my best “creating” away from the keyboard—on hikes, bike rides, brainstorming with friends—then I’m energized when I get back to my writing alcove. Ever heard of the “Be Spontaneous Paradox?” Now sit down and write and don’t leave that chair until you are brilliantly creative!

 

Type. Doesn't have to be words just type. Words will come, words become sentences, sentences become characters and characters must have a story. Link that story with your current story and you're good to go. But be ready to toss the whole thing out if it sucks.

 

Yeah freewriting works for me. Just start typing and you may find you get back into the groove.

 

Scary moments clips on YT? News podcasts? Documentaries on horror? Something slightly related, to jiggle the handle of your brain...

 

Grab a pen and note pad and find a quiet place with fresh scenery and no wifi.

 

Read books, find something you enjoy. Most of my books are fantasy because that is what I like to read but I also have some sci-fi and normal fiction. Reading can help to stimulate the imagination.

Why are you getting stuck? Don’t censor yourself, let the story flow naturally. Disable spell check and auto correct. Don’t retype words until you have finished the first draft. Even if it seems like trash now it can be revised later. The first draft of Evergreen was far from good. Just don’t give up and put in the time.

One thousand words per day is a good goal to set. You don’t have to hit 1k every day but it is an attainable goal. Prewriting character and plot ideas can help to reduce the chance of being stuck. Try to find one or two lines that summarize the story or a story arch. My current story is based on the idea that humans have never seen the surface world before. There’s enough material in that one sentence for a whole novel.

For example let’s say Joe is determined to fly to the moon in a rocket. Let’s give him a backstory or something he has to overcome to get there. Maybe he had a divorce and his fighting for custody of his kids. Take baby steps and tell the story in the moment, it’s okay to have time skips but you have to be very careful with them otherwise it just looks like lazy writing. Just be sure to be consistent.

 

Get away from the wordprocessor. Stop trying to write. It's not working. In fact, it's having the opposite effect. It's making you feel empty and discouraged.

However, don't give up on your story. Give yourself some thinking time. In bed at night, or while sitting on a bus, or walking somewhere, or just sitting somewhere. Keep a notebook handy. Think about the story. What do you want to happen? What links what you've already written to what you want to end up with? Are there gaps or plot holes? See what you can do to fill them. Is there some reading you could do that might jog your brain in the right direction? Research? Or articles on psychology as pertains to your characters? Even pictures of clothing or scenery you could immmerse yourself in?

Whatever you do, do NOT focus on your frustration. Get back to where you enjoy your story again.

When you have a clearer picture of what you want to happen—and I don't mean a general picture, I mean some fairly specific pictures—then go back to the wordprocessor and get these specific pictures written. Don't worry if they don't all link up. Sometimes, when you get stuck, it means you're trying to write something that actually doesn't need to be there. Don't be afraid to skip over the 'dull' bits, and dive straight into the bits you are looking forward to writing. The more of these you write, the more you'll gain confidence. And perhaps the dull bits won't have to be written after all. Just a couple of sentences making the transition from one great scene to another can do the trick. So see what you can do to get your enthusiasm back.

 

I hope one of the many suggestions works out for you.
But if not:

 

I did some cleaning today and found my printed copy of the first draft of evergreen. Wow it's shockingly bad, but the ideas are there and most of scenes make sense. Don't give up!

 

I know your reply is wanting to help the OP, but...No. When someone ‘s completely blocked, 1K often isn’t an attainable number at all. Setting a high goal like 1K when they’re blocked or coming out of one is likely to make the writer feel worse, especially if they’re a perfectionist, because they’re highly unlikely to hit it.

I offer this perspective as a writer who’s slowly climbing out of a complete block as we speak.

@jannert ‘s advice is spot on. Step away from the keyboard. Then ease yourself back into it slowly, and ignore the word count. Here’s why:

When I’m coming back from a major block, 250-300 new words is my average until I get my mojo back. 500 would be an excellent day that should make me want to high-five everyone in sight. Yet I still kick myself for not hitting that stupid, arbitrary 1K number that some asshole way back in the day who’d probably never experienced true writer’s block decided should be everyone’s writing goal. (Stephen King, I have a feeling that asshole was you.) That’s not helpful. For 2019, my resolution is to ignore a daily word count.

Focus instead on what inspires you, and on organizing your notes / drafts/ writing materials to make it easier to propel yourself forward. If you’re a writing supplies junkie, get a new pen and some supplies that make you excited to use them.

And if possible, when you’re ready to start writing again, write somewhere other than your usual writing place so you don’t feel chained to it. Or do the opposite, if your normal thing is to write everywhere. I think breaking the routine is key.

 

Point taken, even I get blocked some times. I would recommend any kind of goal as a motivator. Reward yourself if you meet the goal. Believe me the more you write the easier it gets. (Sort of) I see no reason why someone would be truely blocked. You should be thinking, what am I trying to write? Where in the scene should I start? What is my character doing? It’s okay to plan ahead. I write with my ‘pants’ off all the time but at the very least I know what my characters are doing.

Maybe try recording yourself speak the story or just brainstorm on a blank sheet. Give your self permission to write crap, garbage, the worst of the worst. At least you’re getting ideas down. Maybe one of these steaming piles will spark an idea. Once you have that brilliant bulb write a one sentence summery and go from there.

 

I'm afraid Stephen King was the asshole who said if you don't write 2000 words per day, you're not a writer, so it's even worse.

 

He said that in On Writing, a memoir. It’s a very interesting read. Taught me lots about how to not give a damn about what other people think.

 

I still say that this is like saying that there's no reason why someone should be truly afraid of dogs, or heights, or enclosed spaces. Maybe there's no reason, but once you accept that there's no reason, the fear is still there.

When you have writer's block, your brain is saying, "Hell, no." It may be enforcing that directive by wiping out plot ideas as they're formed, or making you feel an intense flow of exhaustion when you sit down to write, or filling you with shame at the prospect of any error. Or any number of ways. But the brain's sneaky ways aren't necessarily the point. Wiping out plot ideas--for example--doesn't mean that the problem actually IS about plot.

The brain doesn't wanna. I didn't precisely have writer's block--I could sit down and write a few hundred words when I chose to. But I didn't choose to very often. My brain held up all sorts of shiny, jingly, other things to do and think about. And I was in work burnout, where the "intense flow of exhaustion" was frequent, and I think my brain was looking at more mental effort without any reward in enjoyment, and said, "Nah. We'll pass on that."

I found ways to make my brain enjoy the writing in the moment. And my brain mostly stopped playing defense against writing. Or at least slowed it down--last night, I struggled for a long time to finish a scene, and my brain is over it. I'm going to have to start a new scene of a type that my brain experiences as candy, even though I don't really need that scene. And then it might consent to let me finish the other scene--or give me access to the plot insight needed to let me see how I don't need it.

Brains don't work well under leash and whip. They need to be cajoled.

 

I definitely agree with this. I wouldn't say I ever get 'blocked,' but there are definitely times when my brain gets overwhelmed from writing and it seems like nothing can possibly get words out of my brain. I usually go about treating it like work, though. As much as I hate some of the jobs I've had, I've never had a problem clocking in and half assing it for a few hours before heading back home and having a beer. As a result, when it comes to writing, I try to keep a schedule of time set aside for writing and have some writing based obligation to someone, because I can easily stand to disappoint myself by breaking goals, but when it comes to other people, not so much.

 

Hello friend

My suggestion is to write your ideas, do not delete anything. Because in the future you may never know if that scenes will be necessary to your story. If you keep removing, it means something is missing. I will suggest whatever your story is about, do the research you need to have your ideas on the paper. Listening to music while you write, maybe your favourite singer tone can inspire your MC? Maybe that peculiar romantic sentence on the song is a good start for your story? I hope this helps. Don't give up! You have beautiful stories to tell, so keep on good work and have fun

 

Maybe you should use those little writing prompts from Google or Pinterest. And the rest is doing by you brain.

 

I'm not convinced. I think you have a chronic case of Graphophobia or Scriptophobia. Scriptophobia is the extreme fear of writing in public. The word Scriptophobia is derived from the Latin word script meaning writing and phobos which is the Greek word for fear or dread.

My point is that writers write. It is a good idea to separate your inner editor from your inner writer. You use two different parts of your brain as you write, and in most cases the editor is saying: no this stuff I'm writing is trash even if it isn't. The things I suggested before are simple things you can do to get unstuck. Also listen to "A sense of purpose" by in flames. I think you get the point.

Writers block is giving yourself permission to fail or be lazy. If you can respond to these messages I'm sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can write anything else. I don't think I'd have finished Evergreen if I stopped writing every time I thought I had "writers block".

 

I don’t have writer’s block. Maybe you could read the posts that you respond to? Just a thought.

Permission to fail? If you don’t give yourself permission to fail you’ll never accomplish anything. Denying yourself permission to fail is a perfect way to give yourself writer’s block.

Your earlier suggestions are worth reading, and some of them might work sometimes for some people. But calling people lazy...that’s pointless bullying.

 

I wasn’t trying to call people lazy or be a bully. Sorry if it came off like that. I used to freeze in terror in front of the computer screen, I’m sure everyone has has to overcome that part of writing at some point. How you do it is up to you.

 

Agreed. If I didn't give myself permission to fail, I'd never take any risks that could potentially lead to success. There's nothing that makes me want to write less than pressure. It makes me less prolific, but definitely happier, and a better writer of quality material.