I'm really struggling with a lack of inspiration to write... normally I have loads of ideas but lately nothing. Complete writers block - any tips on how to move past it?
I kind of just wait until it stops. Usually I sit down one day and think, "Hey, I actually think I can write something!" It just happens. Of course, unless you can somehow make this happen today, this is not a good piece of advice for those who are in a time crunch, so perhaps my post isn't what you're looking for...
While your "block" is active, work on editing a first draft of a piece. Outline or plot something, instead of writing prose. Read a good novel or anthology of short stories, paying attention not only to the story but study the plot, characterization, dialogue, tone--things like that. Things you can improve upon in your writing. This way, while you're not making specific progress on a piece, you're still making progress in the writing arena. Terry
write without worring about spelling, grammer or format or envisioning a person reading it. Once you start thinking this piece has to be perfect writer's block will kick in.
I don't know. I don't believe in inspiration. It's a ugly word to me. I think writer must sit down, f*** himself up, build his story word by word.
I had a case of writers block last year and branched out into writing poetry instead of my usual stories. I saw the block as a way of my brain saying 'Take a break, you've worked me hard, give me a rest'. Another thing I once heard that you could try, would be to write about the writers block. You're experiencing it so write down how it makes you feel and what it's stopping you from doing. After all any writing is writing! You'll get through it easier if you relax and not worry about it I think.
Another thing you could try is get a scrapbook and just write anything in it that comes to mind, whether it is just words, a sentence or two or even do a bunch of pictures. Absolutely anything, I have done this many of times. Also try the music thing, it works for some people, also researching the topic that you are writing about may help, reading a book that is in some way related to your story can often help out. Well hope that helps in some way. Goodluck with it and try not to stress over it. ~Torana
how a mother of five can suffer from lack of inspiration, is beyond me!... ;-) i had 7 and found plenty to write about... my only problem writing-wise then, was that i had no time to do it! :-( 'inspiration' is everywhere... in what you see/do/hear... on the tv, in the papers, even 'on the street where you live'... stop waiting for it to find you and just look around...
"Writing is easy - you just stare at a blank piece of paper until your forehead bleeds." - Gene Fowler What I do is just write. Anything. Anything at all, just to get words on paper (or on screen). Whatever my thoughts are at the moment, or all about how I'm not having any thoughts. If I were trying to break a block right now, I might write: "Raining. I can tell by the sound of the passing cars. The cat is snoring like a little pig again. It's cute, but I wonder if he has adenoids or something. Can cats get adenoids? What are adenoids, anyway?...." (With luck, that might inspire me to make notes for a really bad story about a cat who wanted to become a pig. Then I might decide it would be more interesting to have the story be about a pig who wanted to become a housecat, and...) The idea is just to get the words flowing, to get the 'writing' part of your brain warmed up and going. Then later on you can start sneaking in whatever it is you *wanted* to write about If even randomly jotting down your thoughts seems impossible, you might try completing one (or more) of the following sentences: I hate my ex because.... I like chocolate because.... I hate (that politician I hate so much) because... I like sex because... If you can get one word down, you can do two. If you get two words down, you can do two more, and be well on your way to a sentence. And if you can write two sentences... ..well then, heck, maybe you're not blocked any more - Evelyn PS. If you're stuck about working on a fiction piece, it may help to play with questions like: - What's the worst thing that could happen to your main character? - What's the best thing that could happen to your main character? - What's the weirdest or most interesting thing that could happen to your main character? And, once whatever it is happens, what's the worst/best/weirdest/most interesting way he or she could respond?
Whose the mother of five? If you mean me... they are misscarried angels. Thanks for all your advice x
Whenever writer’s block gets the best of me, I find that I can pull the coolest stories out of simply observing the things that go on around me on a daily basis. I might see someone bending over to tie their shoe, speeding down the street in their car, or even just sitting and smoking a cigarette. These things don’t usually spark an entire story…but parts. Give it a try.
so sorry to hear of your losses, flutter... i assumed [wrongly] that you were merely referring to your named living children as angels... i lost one, between #s 6 and 7, but never got to the naming stage... hope the rest of my advice was helpful, at least... love and extra hugs, maia
If you're having problems coming up with ideas, maybe you could improvise the story as you go along. I recently read an essay which discusses a couple of techniques for this. Here's the link. http://www.galloway.1to1.org/Hamsun.html Also, here are openings to four short stories which use these techniques, to give you an example of how they work.
