Boredom stabs my muse in the face, brings her back to life and then impales her outside for a slow and agonizing fading of existence. (Here come the emos to steal this sentence for a song ><) Yeps, I usually lose interest dramatically within a day or so of writing. I do them like I do my eggs, over easy (CORNY!)
My main problem is that I have to be in the exactly perfect mood to write. If I'm feeling too depressed or too happy or too anything, then everything I write seems to drip with cheesy, overrated, passion. However, if I'm without any sort of mood at all, then I feel as though the words that I am writing are meaningless and airy. Secondly, I lack ideas. Then again, I don't necessarily lack ideas. . .I just can't write on an idea that bores me after the first chapter. The story I'm writing has to catch the attention of more than just the reader--it has to get my attention too! @_@ I wouldn't say that I have a short attention span, however, because if I can find a very good idea, then I'll never give up on writing until my mom peels me away from my keyboard or I become too tired or hungry or something.
I have always had problems with writing, because I have writer's block most of the time. This is because I am never excited to write unless I get inpiration and that light bulb goes off in my head, which doesn't happen quite often. My question to everyone is: How do you cope with writer's block and how and where do you get your inpiration. I would appreciate any thoughts on this matter. Thanks!
You can tackle writers block in a few ways. If the problem is creativity: Free-write, just jot down everything that comes to mind even if it's gibberish for ten minutes, or you can take a good stroll outside, inspiration comes in wierd forms sometimes. If the problem laziness: Sit down and force yourself to write, I have this problem as well, but I deal with it by writing one sentence, then I just can't stop writing. If the problem is plot: This site has a lot of good ideas (not to rip off of though) and you can sort of look at things that seem cool to you and make a story of it. If your stuck at a crossroad in your story, make believe it's a movie, how would you make it go on/end? Hope that helps
I get insperation from four places: Novels (I'm always reading), Games (Though not much), Dreams (The more vivid and outlandish the dream, the better) and Real Life (It'll suprise you how many ideas can come to you if you go for a walk one in a while... or even live a humdrum existance).
There's a book called Thinker Toys that has some brilliant creative thinking methods. Go pick it up if you have really bad writer's block.
WriteFromTheHeart, If you only write when inspiration strikes you...and especially if that's rarely, then you're going to have issues or problems long term. Sometimes you have to write when you're not 'excited'. If you can't motivate yourself to write in those times, then it is at least partially a self-discipline matter. Constantly seeking inspiration, I don't think will solve the problem. Sitting down and doing what needs to be done...writing, research, editing, seeking markets, all that 'stuff' has to be a priority even when it isn't exciting. Just one opinion to add to the mix. Terry
I have no one to bounce ideas off of. I've found in the past getting a good idea bouncing session going is the best way to solve writers block and I get it a lot. Also, I'm lazy.
I often get writers block when it comes to the creative side. Just like you, i only get the inspiration once in a while. I have two techniques that i use to try and overcome it. One is that i go to a public place e.g a shopping centre or a park, and i people watch and i usually end up getting ideas from that. But you have to be reseptive to whats going on around you. I also steal stories from the TV. Maybe from a soap or some TV series. I just write out the stories from the TV but use my own words and style and see if any original ideas come up. These techniques don't often provide me with ideas for a whole new story, but they just keep me writing whilst i work through the block.
The problem with waiting for inspiration is the moments are so few and far between that you're never going to get anything done. What if you are writing on deadline and can't produce a finished product on time? Are you going to tell your editor that your muse was on sabbatical? You don't have Writer's Block. Authors are so easy to throw that term around. What you have is inexperience. You need to establish a routine for yourself, a block of time where you dedicate yourself to nothing but writing. The time can differ - Try five minutes, Thirty, or an hour. As long as you get in the habit of writing consistently, you will not have this problem. James Joyce, on average, could only manage like 8 words a day, and even then he didn't know what order to put them in. Just try to put yourself in a writing frame of mind. And write any old thing, and don't worry about the quality. Give yourself permission to write utter crap. You will revise it later.
My writers block generally comes whilst I am in the middle of a book. I have a great beginning and a mind blowing ending, now I just have to get the too attached. If this is a part of the problem I find listening to music helps. Muse has a song called New Born. Every time I hear it I get another great idea. Hope everything works out. -Moira
I suggest that you read a book called The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. She's an amazing screenwriter/teacher of creativity. The best advice I ever got from her (from her books) was: write always, don't wait for an inspiration, just write. It doesn't have to be good; it can be just your characters having a conversation about a plot problem... anything. But just write. She has one other advice that I find very good: go to artist dates with yourself. Have fun with your artist side. Go to art galleries, markets, old book stores, anywhere that might make you feel wonderful. Those places could be toy stores as well. Writing is in a way playing. It's having fun, doing something that you enjoy (or at least it should be).
Besides the fabulous suggestions already listed, I think it really depends on what kind of stories you write. Is it realistic fiction or fantasy? See, I normally focus on the latter, which makes sources of inspiration a little harder to find in every day activities because, most of the time, you can't just observe people and get ideas for fantasy. It's not impossible, but it's just different than if you are writing realistic fiction. Other sources that you can draw on to help you write, I find, are history of ancient civilizations. Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, etc. You'd be amazed how interesting they are, and how many sources of inspirations can be had from just checking them out. I also love admiring art, especially at DeviantArt.com. Some of the stuff there is simply amazing and most definitely can be a catalyst for inspiration.
I need to be in a certain "mood" to write. I can't be too jumpy, but I can't be too sad. And also, I my attention span is horrible. I get distracted so easily, it's insane.
The lack of time- I have school, or a thousand extracurricular activities, or ten summer camps in a row, or my brother is just being a butt and won't get off the computer. Also, when I have all my scenes plotted out but get hung up over how to do just one certain transition sentence, I can get stalled for weeks.
I don't have any friends interested in writing to like TheFedoraPirate said, bounce ideas off. My habit of ripping my own work to shreds with criticism. Writers block. Lack of time - college is so inconvinient
For me? 1. Depression. I have low-grade depression that makes me very apathetic. Though I can finish a piece, I have problems with editing and getting enough motivation to submit. 2. ADD. If I can't have a work area completely free of distractions, then it's impossible for me to write much. I'll get about 500 words written in three hours as opposed to the 6000 I should be able to write. Other problems I've learned how to work through or around, such as my procastination and abandonment issues. I'll still abandon a piece if it doesn't "feel" right. I recently erased 57,000 words of a story because of it.
I am never satisfied. I keep going back and revising earlier passages at the expense of writing new material.
Yes! I used to have this issue with my mother. She'd walk in while I was in the middle of a tense scene and totally wreck the mood. Or my (ex) boyfriend would call and I'd lose my place in a conversation or something like that. People can be great help and inspiration, just not in the middle of a writing session!
We've all experienced it. We've all had nightmares about it. When we feel it come upon us we want to puke and probably break something. Yes, I'm talking about...(I shouldn't utter the words but I must!)...Writer's Block So what do you do once this plague descends upon you? Well you could try breaking something OR experiment with the cut-up technique, aka "fishbowling." Fishbowling is simple to use and can add a level of abstraction to your writing. I should go ahead and mention that this style of writing works best with lyrics and poetry. Traditionally, "fishbowling" is when you take a finished and fully linear text and cut it into single words or phrases and then randomly rearrange them to form a new text (resulting in a non-linear text). You should also try writing down non-linear words and phrases and do the exact same thing (resulting in an even more abstract text). Believe me, if you are having trouble getting the ball rolling on your latest poem, this will give it an electrifying jump start. Keep in mind that you do not have to keep your poem in the form after you use this technique. If it turns out the way you want it then AWESOME, but use this to explore new areas that you never would having not tried "fishbowling." SkyBlueSky
I've heard of the cut up technique but i've never heard it called "fishbowling". Where does that come from? William Burroughs supposedly used the cut up technique when he wrote "Naked Lunch" and thats like one of my favourate ever books. Also David Bowie used it to write some of his lyrics. Often i'll take random words and sentences from adverts, television, radio, magazines, etc and use it in my writing but i don't necessarily do it cos of writers block, it just sort of happens. Im a media junkey, and it seems to all sift into my head and get distorted and jumbled and then come back out again, like muffled words heard through a de tuned radio. I know some people hate the radomness of books like "Naked Lunch" or whatever, but i personally like the effect produced by the cut up technique. You can put your own interpretations onto the text and there's so many different things happening at once. Its like psychedelic writing. My all time favourate is the singer John Lennon. He didnt use the cut up technique but he wasnt choosy about where he took his influences from. His lyrics are all over the place, usually cos he was focussing on so many different things at once rather than just one message or meaning. Even though they are frustrating for people who always want to know a concrete meaning to what they are reading, i love em cos there so crazy.
I saw this used once on a short story and the person who wrote the article was proclaiming how genius the idea, and the resulting cut-up story, were. I didn't see the appeal of it myself though. :/ It just looked like gibberish. I guess the thing is I think in quite a linear fashion, so basically taking something and mangling it up doesn't help me whatsoever; it just looks like a mess. I imagine this technique can be more helpful for poem writers (which you seem to be thinking of, since you mention poems), where there's a lot of experimentation with structure and word order, but for somebody who writes novels and serials, where things have to occur in a certain order and the word choices have to be in a more proper order too, it doesn't do much. That's just my opinion though. I bet lots of people (including the one I mentioned above) find it useful. *shrug*
I also think in a linear fashion, and I write poetry too. I like everything to make sense when it comes to words, so I don't know how well it would work for me. I think it would work for other people, though.
