Deep. Real deep. This is something i'll have to try. Did you know its called self hypnosis? (OMG I SPELT HYPNOSIS RIGHT!!!)
^Yes, I know what that means. Here's another piece of advice, straight out of my story. In my story, regular mirrors can reflect the true form of a person, like if they were a demon, humans with the naked eye cannot see that, but if they saw their reflection in the mirror then they'd know. Look at yourself in the mirror. Do you enjoy your reflection? Do you neglect it? You must make sure that you enjoy looking at your own reflection, or else you are rejecting your true self, the one who wants to become a writer.
More deep stuff... I think i just found a 5 year old sandwich. Hmm.. I don't like myself that much. That's why i make up things. Like the stories I write.
Well prepare for more deep stuff, since you enjoy it so much. Everyone hates at least one thing about themselves. To me, everyone needs to be balanced between love and hate. Any other emotion is simply a bonus. So hate yourself. Harm yourself if you must, *if you maim yourself, don't blame me, you went too far * but know that by hating yourself and attacking the hate with more hate, you are actually pushing it back. This will make room for the other side of your heart, thus increasing the balance a bit. Yes, I'm likely starting to get creepy, but oh well.
I'm manic depressive so I know how you feel. It's hard to get into the swing of writing. And stick with it too. When I don't write for days, I become depressed with myself, like I haven't accomplished something. But when I do write I feel a release. Try regular habits of writing. Sit down each day and write whatever comes to mind. And if that doesn't work. READ something to hopefully give more inspiration. Balance the two each day (everyday as an exercise) give yourself assignments if you have to. With real deadlines. If writing is as important to you as it is for me, you will WILL yourself to do so. And over time, you will make it. Another idea is...if you find yourself short of attention to writing but want to write, write a poem or flash story of 100 words or so and keep shaping that. Hope this helps. Good luck with it.
I actually am ADHD and I have somewhat of the same problem. You need to get so imsersed in your writing that you don't want to take a break. Because if you aren't interested in your writing, who is going to be? If you bounce from topic to topic that's fine, just keep writing. I try and stick with just one topic but sometimes I agree it is very hard.
"You crawl, then you walk, then you run." Oh I am so glad I clicked on this thread; that was all the motivation I needed to just write something, anything!
Totally untrue. I ALWAYS have horrible "writer's block," but the thing is, if I discontinue writing and give up, it slowly eats away at my insides. It's not fun at all, but after you finally get through and write something, it all melts away and it's super-relaxing.
All good statements. One thing in particular stood out to me as hilarious. "electrician's block" brilliant!
Only two days in these forums and I've already found them to be helpful by some of the things said in this thread. For me, "writer's block" is my own laziness. I'm four chapters into my novel and there are times it's like pulling teeth to get a scene written. Yesterday was no different but instead of turning to my latest computer game obsession, Dragon Age, I came here and found this thread. The result? Tossing out the page of crap I'd struggled with all morning and replacing it with the best dialog I've written yet. All because I decided I was not going to be lazy, even if it killed me.
I so agree with this. There are two sides to every writer: the writer and the editor. The writer is like the playing child who thinks the living-room carpet is a sea of beasts or that the sofa is the debri of a damged ship. The editor is like the adult who steps forward and says. "Okay, you can play but I'm going to lay down some ground rules. You've had your fun, now you have to pay attention to me." Initially, just focus on getting the story down on paper.
Writer's block = fear. Simple. I struggle with that, and it isn't a "choice," it's something that was unknowingly programmed into me.
I have a playlist on my spotify for each idea i get, music seems to help me and keep me concentrated. I only ever get a block when i havent researched enough on the subject, once i have i cant stop writing even to sleep.
To me, it's nothing to be discouraged about. If I'm stuck I just step back and let things settle. Then I'll go back and write, even if it's 'bad'. Kinda like sloshing through the mud. It helps me to switch focus for a bit. Do something else I love to do or just go on a walk to let my mind clear out. Best, Whiskey
quote Norman Mailer once said "Just sit down on your chair and wait for the ideas to come out the ground and shoot up you ass." Maybe try that!
Well, I've had writers block for well over a year now. It really, really sucks and I'm honestly getting desperate.
Setting goals is a very good habit to get into. That way your story won't just waste away. If you do end up having these thoughts or idea's, whether or not you think they fit in at the moment or not, it is often helpful to just jot them down. You never know. Scenes come to you and sometimes it is better to hang on to them. Robert Jordan wrote much of The Wheel of Time out of order. Don't torture yourself with it either, though. Sometimes taking short breaks will help inspire you. Day to day life can give you many idea's if you just keep an eye out for them.
I trying to write a middle reader's novel (between 9 to 14 say) and feel that it is going nowhere. Right now it feels directionless and just all talk. I have conflicts, but are they even interesting? I wanted it to be like 15 to 20k word count, and right now I'm at 6k, but like I said, I'm afraid it is too boring to continue on with it. Help what should I do, continue writing? Try to revise what I got? Or forget bout it?
Well I'd say take a good long look at your characters. They are the heart and soul of your work, and if you feel passionate about them and their struggles it will show in the writing. What do your characters want? What are they doing to acheive those goals? What is standing in their way? That's your story. Are you on track with that? Do you enjoy writing about your characters? Do they feel real to you? That's a lot of questions but I'd say that's what you ought to consider before scrapping a work or continuing. Personally, I see no point in writing something you don't feel passionate about. I guess, most of all you need to think about why you are writing this particular story. In terms of "boring" or not, I've recently dealt with that insecurity with my own work. The answer is, are your characters realistic and well developed? If so, the conflicts they deal with, no matter how small, become interesting. My $0.02. I'm not published or anything, but that's my take on it. Look at your characters, and try to remember why you wanted to write this story in the first place. If you don't feel the same way now, maybe it's time to just set this one aside for awhile and work on another project.
Well I loved my characters and thought the story was developing nicely. Til I posted some excerpts and was told the very thing I was fearing..."boring" And I was passionate about it in the beginning, but now...I'm bummed out because of that. BELIEVE ME, I want to continue. I will take another long hard look at my characters and think this over some more. In my heart I know there are good spots in the story. I think you're right, I will maybe put it aside for now and work on something else.
