hi guys, recently I just haven't been able to write anything!! I pick up a pen and nothing flows. Even at night, when in bed, im not getting any ideas or inspiration. I can't think of any new storylines or new ideas for stories already on the go. Whats happening!!?? Will they ever come back?
If you're waiting for a story to come to you, then no. You only lose inspiration when you stop looking for it. If you need help, then go find a writing prompt site and just write (even if you don't feel like it) until you feel like it again. Waiting for inspiration to strike just means waiting forever. ~Lynn
Try some stream of consciousness writing. Just to get your writing mojo going. Maybe your thoughts will lead into an idea. You could get a whole plot just from some observation that you made earlier in the day. Or how someone annoyed you, or made you happy. You can always try some formulaic stuff like, "You ever notice how...", "When x happens I feel y" etc.
I don't know if this'll be helpful, but I sometimes write poetry just from whatever words appear on the page as I go. I shape them a bit and kind of interact with them a while; and, before long, I learn something about what's really hiding beneath my conscious awareness (I think maybe that's where my imagination lives, or sleeps). I rarely write about that "real thing" on my mind, though; I write about the vision it arouses in my head (and I do the same with short fiction). As an example, many years ago, my teenage nephew attempted to commit suicide. I wasn't very close with either him or my brother (his father), at the time. But I was devastated to realize there was nothing at all I could do or say to make whatever pain he was experiencing go away, nor that of his father & mother who I'm sure were desperate for answers to so many awful questions they couldn't even ask very well. Anyway, an "opening phrase" had been floating round in my head for many months at that time, for reasons I still can't figure out. A kind of trite line, in a way, that didn't seem to speak to the moment. But, I wrote it down anyway, since it was all I could find in my mental "stash" and from there grew a poem--a rhyming one, which is not my forte--about a New York City mime. And, when it was finished, I realized that layered beneath the poem's image was a much more important theme having to do with my own incapacity to find a way to communicate in words what I actually felt (the mime used no words at all in his "story," though I understood it entirely). Since then, my theory is that "inspiration" for writing is something that inevitably comes to me, at least in some part, from deep within myself. That doesn't materialize without an intermingling of the me I'm familiar with moment-to-moment with some mysterious who that I am at a much deeper core of being, and sometimes it's more like a struggle. But the only way I find that kind of interaction and the inspiration it fosters, is from the writing process, itself.
That's just a very natural part of writing. There will be times when just nothing comes to you. Don't worry, it's only a phase. You can try to do the usual things that gave you ideas and inspirations in the first place and see if you get anything. Try something sometimes too. Ideas will come eventually.
Read more or even watch TV. I often get ideas for stories just from watching random shows on TV. Same thing applies to random reading materials, be it books, magazines, etc. Talking with a friend sometimes helps me, too.
Wolf/Sheep Syndrome The problem I have is something I call wolf/sheep syndrome. I'll have loads of ideas bustling around my head, like a dense herd of sheep, but when I sit down to write any of them it's like a wolf has parachuted in to the field and every idea sheep just goes running to the hills. I think I need a writing sheep dog.
When my idea well runs dry, I stop writing and focus on anything but writing. I visit with friends and family, talk to neighbors, watch some bad TV, watch a ton of movies (old favorites and new never seen movies), go to the bookstore and find about five books to read at night when I go to bed. I watch the news, and read about history online. I do random research on places, art, religions, cities and countries and famous people. Never fails, at some point, either two days or three weeks into my writing hiatus, an idea hits me, sometimes even more than one hit me. I don't force myself to write if the inspiration isn't there, I just stop thinking about it and it always finds its way back.
Just because ideas arent hitting you splat in the face doesnt mean they arent there. Search for ideas; dont wait for them to come to you! This is your job --if you are a writer, writing is your job, and not seeking out the fundamentals, the very basics of your job, is just plain laziness. An idea might hit you out of thin air, but I dont care how many times you hear an author say "I dont know how the idea came to me;" for the majority of writers, the idea has to be developed. Watch news programs; read newspapers. Read other books, particularly nonfiction. This is my favourite genre --why? Because learning about new things causes you to think and ask questions, and doesnt every book set out to answer a question? Or, think of a subject. What is important to you? What is something you want others to know or think about? Use that question to develop your theme, take that theme and develop it into a storyline.
Whatever you decide to do, don't let lack of inspiration stress you out. Relax and it'll come to you! Perhaps you could listen to some new music or go to a museum and start writing about a specific song or piece of art--what it made you feel, what inspired the musician to write those lyrics, or who the person in a certain painting was. Make it all up and as you go along loads of ideas should start coming to you.
help, writers block!!! hello can anyone help me i am fourteen and have been writing since i can remember but only got serious in this past year. i am half way through what will be the third in a series of books i am writing and have got compete writers block, can't think of anything and all seems to drag on need suggestions many thanks
Hmm... I know the feeling - watch some youtube videos / research / read other stories and books for inspiration. Jot some ideas down on paper / word document. Maybe jotting down a rough plot outline would help? What turning points are there? character relationships? what does that part of the story revolve around and how does it affect the characters? If that doesn't work - just write. Write whatever you feel like - you can always go back and edit it easily when you feel more at ease.
I'd suggest not labeling it as a block. Instead, maybe figure out what specific problem keeps you from writing. Are you not sure where you want the story to go next? Is it just not holding your interest anymore? Give it some thought. Once you understand what the problem is you can move closer to solving it. If you're just plum out of ideas, try freewriting. Write down words that you like until they spark an interesting image or idea--that works for me sometimes.
here is a list of 23 threads we have on 'writers block' https://www.writingforums.org/search.php?searchid=203828 Hope that you can find the information you require within one of these threads. Torana Supporter/Reviewer
Lol as others have pointed out we have many threads on writer's block for you to get information from, but I think it pretty much boils down to just drilling through it. You may want to try a more practical objective style of writing while experiencing writer's block instead of *typical* free writing where you just write what comes out of your mind and get a story. Think about where your story should go, and write it. Editing is easy to do if you have to. Good luck, Nate
Put it aside for a week or two, or more. Then come back and read what you have written so far and see if you like it and if anything sparks further story development. Sometimes when working on long plot lines that extend over several books, you'll run into road blocks on how to get to the end of the story. Maybe you've extended it beyond where you have brainstormed, or maybe some choices made in early chapters limited your options now. Re-reading what you have written from the beginning of the current project, can help you see if there is something wrong with the storyline, and correcting it can move your story along better at the back end where you are. Writing book series are not usually recommended for unpublished authors. But, then many break-out series wouldn't be published if all unpublished authors followed this rule. Writer's block is a fictional state of being. There is no such thing as writer's block. You have simply hit an impasse in your storyline creation. It all has to do with the choices our character's make (well we make for them) and what the consequences of those choices lead to. There is the other possibility that you simply have nothing more to say about this story. You could go back and re-work the first two books and make it into two longer books ending with the second one. If you can do that, then you've reached the natural end of your story. Or if you know there is more, because the end hasn't been reached, you may just be burned out on the story after working on it for so long, and just need a break. Write some sort stories about random things, or look around for a new story line. Take a vacation from your current project and try something new, then maybe go back and review the current project.
You know, there's a cool short story in Isaac Asimov's The Science Fictional Olympics that you might find interesting. It's about two people in a world championship speed-writing contest where they are given a subject and they have to complete a story about it in a given amount of time, and the guy gets writer's block. As for my advice, never forget the power of a good old "what if." I was recently watching a show where the MC was preparing his machine to head out into a battle to try and prevent the fleet he was in from being wiped out. Right when he was ready an explosion rocked the hanger and the girl who was helping him prepare was caught in it. Cue standard last words, and the emotional life-changing event of a new, but good, friends death. While that was going on, I was thinking "What if she was able to hang on for a couple more minutes? Would he head out into the battle to try and save them all from dying or stay behind and try to save her? What if all the medical personel were busy with other people, or the explosion cut them off from the rest of the ship? Would he try to save the faceless "everyone" or the "one" that he knew and cared about?" "What if" is the driving force behind all fiction.
Thanks for all the replies and ideas guys. I have been trying to relax and just go with the flow, so to speak. Maybe i'll try working a new idea and leave my current project alone for a bit.
Thank you all for your excellent opinions. I think that my darker pieces have received more attention than any of my other works, kind of odd don't you think?
Ditto maia's post. If your calling in life is writing, then the more you do it the better. When you finish a writing project, you'll experience a pleasant sense of accomplshment. Tis good for anyone's self-esteem.
hi guys thanks for all the comments! well past few days I have had quite a few ideas. For some reason, most of them have been cropping up at the most inappropriate of times! i.e. first thing in the morning, when I have just woken up and then again today whilst I was in a training day today. Think im going to have to start leaving my pad by my bed!! So, I now have a few ideas, which I think could some how be glued together for a whole story. Just need to start planning it and puzzling the pieces together!
This thread seems to eternally reproduce itself weekly. Perhaps someone should start an official muse/inspiration thread? Too many people are making writer's block threads for my liking. My advice is simple; sit down and write.
