While I can accept it's not an acceptable solution to the problem at large. (writers block in general I mean) If the thing causing writers block is a 'new shiny' idea. Take a break from your current project, and write a single (note, SINGLE as in ONE, no more than that) chapter of that new idea. Not so much to procrastinate further, just to get the idea to stop bugging you. After you write that first chapter. Sit that idea down and tell it to wait it's turn. Now that you have that idea in some physical form, you can actually do that. I'm actually testing this out to see if it works for me myself. My 'next' idea won't stop bugging me, and it's causing me writer's block on two projects.
Thanks for the replies so far, friends. If I were to guess, my problem right now if motivation and energy. Working the normal 8-5 and then having a teething baby at home makes it difficult to work up the energy to sit down and write anything coherent, nevermind continuing my novel. Even as I say it, it sounds like an excuse though. I love writing, and my novel is going strong, but fatigue and motivation.... ugh. i am my own worst enemy
1. Set a schedule. Writing is one of those things that if you don't make time for it and protect that time, other things get in the way. And unfortunately, writers block can happen when you're constantly thinking about those other things. If you set time aside for writing and then time aside for those other things, you don't have to worry so much. 2. Don't push a story that just is not working out. Writing a story and... well, you just can't? Then you probably should drop it. There's no point in trying to push through a story that just doesn't work. And how do you know that it's a story that's not working as opposed to just getting stuck on a particular plot point? That's a little hard to tell, but ask yourself this; do you have a clear vision where the story is headed? Do you like your main characters? Do they feel like they have personality and depth? And most importantly: Do you want this story to work out? Could you live your life if this story never ends up getting told? When I used to write (I certainly don't write anymore) I had a lot of stories that were arguably good ideas, but at the end of the day, I just didn't care enough to write them. It could be because my skill level wasn't to a point where I felt my ideas could do it justice or just didn't feel like writing them. 3. Go back to your source material. Writing a romance about a teenage girl falling in love with a werewolf? Cool. If you get stuck, go back to your source material. Start picking up all wikipedia and books that were on the werewolf legends. Pick up those teen romance novels you enjoyed as a teen yourself. 4. Try different techniques. Used to be one of those authors who could just wing it? Now, it feels like the ideas aren't coming. Don't worry! You're not broken. You're just mature. You're no longer as spontaneous as you used to be. Try something different. I used to never map out my plots, now I do. I used to never write out character profile sheets. Now I do. Likewise, if you were once that maticulous planner who did do those before, switch to the opposite. Just start writing without a plan. Sometimes, it just takes different to get you back on track creatively. Don't get so stuck on just one way of writing because it always worked for you. Accept that you're not the same writer you were five years ago. You know a little more now.
Yes, this! Many times I've had stories that I lost motivation for because some part of it wasn't working very well. Even just in the planning stages maybe. But if I would go in and work on it, play around with the ideas, and if I'm able to fix the broken part, then suddenly it goes from a story that feels dead in the water to one that's up and moving again. It's weird how that works—a story can literally feel dead, and then if I fix whatever part was broken, suddnly it's alive and I'm excited about it (and about writing) again. But it does sound like you might have too much on your plate right now to get in any writing or even much thinking about a story these days.
Think of your energy and motivation like a cup that you refill every night as you sleep. You use a big chunk of energy at work, then you use the rest of it caring for a young child and a the other grinding necessary parts of adulthood, no shame in not having much left over for a hobby. I have a few things you could try to help with this though. The first is, if you can do so without cutting into your sleep, try writing in the morning before work (say, half an hour) Since it’s the first thing you’re doing, you might find you have much more mental energy. The other would be try to focus your writing on the weekends. Get away from the house, if at all possible, go somewhere you find peaceful for a few hours, and it can double as writing time and self care.
I noticed I had a short writers block free window to work on my writing some, so I guess I need acknowledgment and verbal praise. So if anybody wants to help me see if it wasn’t (Link deleted by mod)
My brain is holding my writing hostage, any tips cause I’ve got people breathing down my neck for more chapters.
It should be called writer's wall. There's a big brick wall surrounding my imagination right now and it won't let anything out. I started and abandoned 3 stories for my latest prompt. I could not figure out where to take them!
Hang in there, Wolf. It's temporary. In the meantime, try typing. Just grab a book you like and type it out, word for word. That was Hunter Thompson's cure for writer's block. Sooner or later, the log-jam will break and words will flow again, he claimed.
Right now for me it's re-writer's block, and it's more like a fog. I've got the stupid book written, but I need to cut about fifty pages/15,000 words out of it. You'd think by now I could go back and judge what's essential and what's not, but trying to get a handle on it is like trying to settle a dozen terrified greased cats in a dark closed room at midnight while blindfolded and the room's full of, well, fog.
The worst part of this, is I also have readers block, I’ve got something like 200 books I haven’t read yet and I don’t wanna read any of them. Not even the ones I’ve already read multiple times either
That's quite a lot of books to buy and not read. Wondering why you've bought so many and not read them, creating an overwhelming backlog. My advice would be to sell them all. Maybe hang onto a couple you would like to read. Or maybe not if none of them are grabbing you. But kind of start fresh. Reading is a great experience that you've obviously enjoyed in the past (enough to acquire and hold onto so many titles even if many of which are unread). I read all the time, but I was worried about buying too many books. I started a thread in the lounge for book shopaholics. But I don't even want to own 200 books. It would stress me out owning that many that I hadn't read, and I can see something like that putting me off from reading. But reading is so important to us as writers. I remember reading a lot before I felt sort of ,ike maybe I should be doing this too. I never would have been able to write the way I can now telling my own stories if it hadn't been for the hundred of examples I had the pleasure of reading before giving it a go. But, for me, before I am a writer, I am a reader. To tie this all back to writers block, I've always found reading to sort of unstuck me. I'm not sure why this is, but it does to wonders for me.
This site can be motivating to get writing, but it also can be a wormhole down which my attention wanders while my current project is but a few clicks away, sitting there in my Scrivener website.
Don’t know how, don’t know why, but apparently listening to darksynth music helped me belt out a couple chapters and come up with a new chapter idea as well. Almost 24 hrs of music that comes within millimeters of me snapping my neck from head banging seems to work gotta love cyberpunk darksynth clubbing music
Try March of Cambrith for battle scenes. Especially the desperate defense type scene. Crux Shadows is also a good choice songs like WinterBorn, or any of the Ethernaut albumn.
I saw George Saunders on Stephen Colbert's Late Show, where he quoted David Foster Wallace saying "A writer's block is always a case of having stupidly elevated expectations." He's right about that. When you're worried about whether the stuff you're writing is up to a specific standard, it's easy to be discouraged.
I'd like to vent a moment if that's okay. I'm so frustrated. The story I'm working on is consuming my attention, and yet I can't write it. It's stuck up in my head somewhere - snarling into a nasty clog. When I started the first draft, I had a clear idea of the plot, the characters, the setting, the themes - exactly what I wanted to say. It did include a challenge: Writing from a POV that wasn't easy for me to understand at a gut level. However, I wanted to make it happen and explore that perspective in a way that I did understand. The challenge of it compelled me to the point that I thought about it every day. About 10K into it, it began to stall, and now I can't remember what I was doing. It feels like walking into a room for a specific purpose only to completely forget it once inside. Part of it might be self-censoring. I start to get into a flow, and then question whether or not this might actually be insane and completely unrelatable to an audience. "Stupidly elevated expectations" crept in at some point. Maybe I should stop worrying about that and embrace the possibility that it is unrelatable, so I can just write. Thanks for the post.
Just thought I would pass along this proactive tip from Ernest Hemingway to avoid writer's block. Always stop for the day while you still know what will happen next. "The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day when you are writing a novel you will never be stuck."
There's wisdom in this, but it still assumes you can come up with new story everyday. If you can't come up with tomorrow's material, you're sunk.
I know it's advice that would be hard for me to follow. If it's going good, I want to stick with it. Then if I get stuck leave it alone for a while to let my thoughts percolate and hopefully come up with something.
