I would go back to the beginning. Not rewriting the story, but find what inspired the drive for this particular story. Find the little note you scribbled to yourself when you first thought up the idea, read what it was that helped inspiration to strike. Find a way to remember what it felt like to start. Personally I love finding music that makes me think of my characters or story. Even if I'm not being "productive" I feel inspired and energized. Another idea, though granted a bit harder to do, is find an artist and commission a drawing of a character from your story. It sounds weird, but there is something about seeing a picture of your character made real. Like I said not as easy as listening to music, and it takes $, dedication, and patience but it is often worth it. Also just think on if you are just in a rough patch, or if you no longer like the story at all.
When I'm stuck I tend to find taking in new influences helpful, like watching movies and reading books. Often some detail will be interesting and segue into a new idea or a new perspective on the story.
Sometimes you have to be hard with yourself; you think you're such a great writer and one novel idea has you stumped?? hahahaha NEXT! How many people are on that train?
What you're describing is not necessarily a problem--asking questions of your writing, even "sitting and staring", is part of the process. But if it consistently causes you to question your creativity and subsequently abandon your efforts, you may still be fighting an over-active critic. It's basically what I was referring to in my little dialogue when the "critic" tells me ("you") that I'm not good enough/smart enough--in your words "creative enough"--to be a writer. I've struggled with this for years and am still working to fight it. But I'm getting better at swatting that nasty critic away. As most of the other posters have said, just writing is key to combatting the critic. I've found, too, that a simple change in terminology from "writing" to "scribbling" has helped me immeasurably. When I sit down to do first-drafty kind of work I call it "scribbling", and this small change really does free me and allow me to stop questioning and just write. Another thing I've found to be helpful is walking. When I feel stuck, I take what I call "thinky walks" (I know, lame, but whatever works!). Most of the time the answer will come to me as I walk and when I return to my desk I'm ready to continue with the story. Good luck to you!
I do not have writer's block. I have writer's procrastination syndrome. I want to write but I do not know where to start or how to begin. I have the scene and the picture in my head. I start a sentence and then a paragraph and then I erase the file
Tesoro is right. Don't erase! Don't delete. I keep an open tab to a Google Docs file in my browser at all times that acts as a dumping ground for anything I write that has no place or that I don't like. I just toss it all in there. Sometimes when I go back I find important things that help me or remind me and make it easier to get started again.
When I get blocked it's from outside distractions, usually my daughters. They're school age and tend to get hyper in the evenings or they'll just start bickering or making a lot of noise in general. I'll have to stop what I'm doing too frequently just to keep them in check. I still haven't figured out how to get things done very often during the week. Waiting for them to go to bed isn't an option most nights because I get up pretty early for work. I can't sit up very long past their bedtime myself. I'd kill to have a study or somewhere I could lock myself in and not hear distractions but there is no such refuge for me.
Have you considered locking them in separate rooms? (Just kidding!) Maybe go to bed when they do and get up a little earlier?
I already get up at five AM, I don't know if I could make it up much earlier than that. Locking them up might work better... I may have solved the problem at least temporarily. I had a cable box hooked to the TV in their room today. After we had dinner and spent some time reading [chapter one, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban] I sent them upstairs to watch Nickelodeon. I don't want them to turn into couch potatoes or anything but I'm thinking as long as I don't let them go up too early it shouldn't be an issue. I got a decent amount done this evening, especially for a weekday! It's been pretty quiet.
I'm not sure what to do. I finished writing act 1 of my story and then for some reason, I'm having trouble pushing on to act 2. It might just be the pressure or fear of failure, but I also feel a sudden disconnect with my characters. I'm not sure if I'm asking for help here or just venting, but it's been a few days since I wrote anything and it just kind of sucks.
It sounds like you are in rough-draft stage? Don't worry about writing well, that's what rewrites are for. Just get whatever crap comes out on the page. Rough drafts are for quantity, not quality. And how fleshed out is your plot? Do you know pretty much how the rest of the play goes?
It's very rough draft, yes. I consider it almost like a detailed outline because it's all stream of thought writing right now. I have ideas of what's going on and where it's going, but nothing is set in stone. I know that a lot of it will be crap until the rewrite, where I'll pull it all together and make it more coherent. I'm trying to narrow my focus and figure out what my problem is, but there are several little things. I might just jump into it and not worry about how it comes out. Like you said, quantity over quality at this point.
Yeah, that's the thing. Many writers get stuck "waiting for inspiration" when the real trick is to just push through and force your brain to be creative. So how bad is this wall? Are you just frustrated by the amount of work you have left, or do you really feel you don't know what to do next?
I think part of it was thinking about how much is left and how long it's going to take to get through it. That's definitely a cloud over my head right now. When I was writing the first part of it, I loved it- loved writing every part of it. Looking ahead, I just feel dread for what I have to do. I'm thinking that I need to look at my characters and love them again, flesh them out, ect. It just feels weird and discouraging to go from full-speed-ahead to dead-stop.
Yeah, that totally sucks. But I think that's part of the writer's experience. And it can be discouraging when you know how much work you have to do. Maybe you've written something in the past, and it's taken a really long time? Keep in mind that, every time you write, that process gets a little faster. You said you're kind of outline-writing. Have you picked an ending? I find I need to know how something ends, so I know how to get there. It doesn't have to be set in stone, but it starts to give your current writing some direction.
Ooh, I know how that is. Well, um, I guess you could try to enjoy writing the chapter itself you're working on. Close your eyes and visualize the scene in your head. Play it out like a movie. Hang out around the things that inspired you in the first place. Or perhaps you could write some backstory for a character to get interested in them.
A couple things I do to help me reconnect with my story are reread so I can get in the flow of the story, edit and clean things up and/or find a fan (Yes that would be my dad or best friend but anyone who loves the story will do) and talk about the story, explore different plot twists and generally involve yourself in the story world.
I haven't picked an ending, no. In the past, knowing too much has ruined my own story for me, so I'm relying on a very organic method this time. Like you said before, the rewrite will fix pretty much everything I was thinking along that line too. I really think that focusing on each little part as it comes would be good and focus on the characters. I'm not sure I want to go back, because frankly, it's already pretty messy and I might end up changing the order of everything later any way.
While "pantsing" (a term I've heard used to describe a writer who writes by the seat of their pants) can be more enjoyable, it can be severely debilitating. I think that might be what's happening here. Because you probably don't have a set direction, you don't know where to go. There are too many options. For me, I figure out basically the whole story conceptually before hand, and write it all out in an outline. I still get stuck on some scenes, but it's a lot easier to jump start my writing again. I just ask myself "What has to happen next in order to continue to the end?" You don't have to write structurally all the time, but it may be helpful in certain situations like the one you're in now.
True. I do know what's going on as far as the main plot, but not the ending. I know what I want to happen right up to the climax. After that is anybody's guess though.
Its common to start off strong and then suddenly new and fresh ideas seem sparse, but keep at it. Take time to think about what made you start writing and where did you initially see the story heading...I'm in a similar situation at the moment and have been many times before and what I find helps is to just keep writing, just let the words flow and you may be surprised what comes out. Keep reading other books by authors you like, maybe bestsellers in a similar genre or a favorite of yours. As for not having an ending, maybe for now pick one, and work towards that, you can always change further down the line but at least for now you'll have a something in your sights to aim for. I guess the important thing to remember is that there are many people with the same concerns as you and sooner or later you will find some new inspiration to get your story moving again. Good luck
Set them in stone. Make a concrete outline, and hold yourself accountable to it. There is always a lot of crap to fix later, but the plot should be crystal clear in the first draft. The more you know about your plot, the easier it is to keep the story going.
It sounds like you ended Act I with no clear direction forward. No unresolved crises still in flux, maybe even no tension. In other words, no ongoing momentum.
