storm Just Write It. That's what editing is for. Once you have it down, when you come back the idea will have probably developed in your mind and you build on it from there.
I've been meaning to write something the past few days, but I've been coming to this forum instead. Ironic?
Another vote for Just Write It. And assume that it's going to be bad. Maybe it will be bad, maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised, but at first make it your goal to just get those words down, and don't worry about the quality yet. If you have trouble making yourself do this with your most special ideas, then do it with some less special ones. Just keep typing, get thousands and thousands of words down there, and I suspect that slowly all of those roadblocks - from ideas, to words, to your typing fingers, to the words on the page, back to your mind as you read those words on the page - will be less obvious to you, and you'll feel more of a flow. And you'll learn things about yourself. For example, I don't write "in order" - I generally just spit out my thoughts nearly at random, and then when I have a large enough body of text, I start editing and rearranging, and often eighty percent of what I've written gets thrown out in that editing process. I go through this whole process for something as small as a _blog post_ - I simply don't write in order. So if you have expectations about your writing, like the idea that you "should" initially write it in the order that it will eventually appear, try to recognize those expectations and see if abandoning them reduces the roadblocks. ChickenFreak
'Writer's Block' isn't an excuse we make up when we want to make ourselves feel better about being lazy. And I can't believe a supposed "writer" would actually say that. Anyone who takes writing seriously instead of as a way to pass time would know just how frequently we are plagued by these periods of absolute nothingness, and how frustrating it is to want to write but drawing a big blank when you try to move forward with your writing. I write...A LOT!!! As do most of the other members on this forum. But sometimes there are too many ideas battling for attention in my head, and it's all I can do to just write them down as and when they reveal themselves to me. I have to do this because I'm very forgetful and the same idea may never occur to me again. And most of the time, these ideas have absolutely NO relation whatsoever to the material I'm supposed to be focusing on. ShadowedMoon: What I usually do, when I'm drawing a blank, is to take off for somewhere where there are lots of people (who won't bother me), usually a park or the seaside. And then I observe people and their little eccentricities, and write mini-stories about them. I know this sounds weird but it helps you focus (& is always good for giving you new characters or new character traits). Also, I read...as many books as it takes to get me out of my slump. This way, you are able to read and absorb different styles as well as the ways in which different writers' stories develop. It helps inspire you really.
I agree 100%. The best thing you can do is, at the very least, get started with your project. A free stream of thought is the very best thing for not only your thought process, but for writing construction. I've found that I have become a better writer by just writing as I go. When I look at my writing later on, it's far easier for me to see my errors. When I try to literally READ my thought process, I find it's more difficult to read later on. If it's difficult to read, you have to try harder to fix it.
This happens to me all the time! I get a good idea, then I think about it for a couple of days. I add characters, plot ideas, twists, bad guys maybe, then I write it. Come back a day later. This seems wrong with what I want to do later on. Type, type, type. Add some to the end. Brainstorm to 30STM. Go to bed. Boom! Good idea. Add more in the morning. So on to the end. Then I take out a lot of the unimportant parts, then I add them again. Long process, but I love it
I write adverts for a living (bad ones - radio ones) and that means coming up with about seven or eight different ideas a day. Unfortunately, like most writers, I have no control over when these ideas come to me. So if you ever see me in a queue in Subway talking into a dictaphone about singing pickled onions or a dog that can read people's thoughts - you now know why. Get a dictaphone, is my advice - then you can speak your thoughts exactly as and when they happen. And when you've got one you can also tell me whether or not I'm spelling dictaphone correctly.
I sugest keeping a notebook and a pencil with you at all times. The second an idea pops into your head write it down. Keep your ideas with all the time so that when you do go write your ideas down in good you have those ideas writen on paper. Then you can start writing with that idea right there in front of you. I also sugest starting a dream journal, I have started one as my dreams are very... unique and they are great sources of writing. This could be a probelm if you have a bad memory for your ideas but, if you do start one, write it down the second you wake up. If you need a way to genarate ideas try using pictures, your sourunding or best yet perosnal experinces that have realy effected you. The best advice I have ever been given ( many times I might add ) write what you know! if your an artist, like me, than write about your art; the feelings, the hardships ect... If you use your experiences to write and combine them with your best skills as a writer I can personally garauntee you satifaction in your writing. ( It has worked for me so far ) The most important tool for me as a writer is my imaganation ( and as a artist ) and as my imaganation tends to wonder I to tend to sidetract from my original idea. This isnt alway bad as it can create great writing, sometimes. The best way to make sure you stay on track is lots of editing. I know not being able to write down exactly what you are thinking can be frustating but, the most imporant thing when your writing ( at least for me ) is to express yourself so if you start to wonder, just make sure your still expressing your orignal idea.
i agree with Gingerbiscuit, i do practically the exact same thing. Its really handy especially when you're thinking too fast for you to type out everything you're saying and still get down exactly what you thought. Even if its jumbled up and you can barely make sense of what you were thinkging, keep it, it might help you later on
So true! When I have writers block I take a step back and relax until the creative juicesa start to run more smothly.
Funny thing is, I don't only experience this approx. 2h mark with writing, but also when I was still making music and practicing or rehearsing. In fact, I think the Baroque flutist and teacher Quantz mentioned something like this in his "Art of playing the flûte traversière". He recommends practicing a bit more than two hours at a time; I always thought that with this given time scale he wants his students to practice this particular switching-point, and maybe enable them to get to it even earlier. Actually doing your "warm up" with the ever same routine of senseless scales, arpeggios, etc. also helps. These are exercises especially designed to switch the conscious part of your brain off, by and by, because at the speed these exercises are done you cannot think of fingerings and the single notes comprising them any more, so you get into a kind of flow. I'm not sure if this corresponds to anything in writing that authors do, perhaps you have hints!
All these suggestions are really good! Eunoia- This is what I do! Whenever I get writer's block, I either write in a sparse Hemingway-esque style or go to the other extreme and write in Faulkner's style. I find that this really helps.
I am by no means any kind of expert, in fact; I have only just embarked upon writing my first novel. However, from my own personal experience with writers block it doesn't tend to be project focused, but scene orientated. I would sit there for days trying to write the next scene, typing sentence upon sentence only for me to press the delete button because it seemed to be going nowhere, a cul de sac so to speak. Then one evening something occurred to me, was this just a case of my subconscious actively stopping me from writing anything further because there was something fundamentally wrong with the story some way back. To cut a rather long and tedious story short I set about putting this idea into practice. I would go back and heavily scrutinise the last 3 or 4 scenes, you must, however, be brutally honest with yourself at this stage. Changing the odd word here, re constructing a particular sentence there, deleting something completely because it has added nothing to the story. Believe me, you will start feeling that energy entering your finger tips, and you will be flying again. The outcome totally astounded me; I found I had actually got past the area I was previously blocked at without even knowing. I became so lost in the flow of words that my direction veered to the left, and I went around the road block. Like I said I am NO expert, but this approach generally works for me around a block. Regards KA
What do you do, or where do you go for inspiration? When I'm having a hard time getting inspired, I'll usually do this: 1. Listen to really old songs I haven't heard in a long time. 2. Take a walk. Even if it's just for a few minutes. 3. Read more books, explore a new genre. 4. Take pictures of things I think are cool. 5. Bite my nails.
I daydream, or take a nap. I pretty much always dream when I sleep, and so I draw a lot of ideas from dreaming and day dreaming. My mind is always zooming here and there, so I don't usually lack inspiration. However, on those days when I do, and still feel like writing, I also draw on past life experiences. Writing about those often help to get my brain daydreaming and wondering about things.
I'm usually always fairly inspired; I have a racing mind and usually have a harder time NOT thinking about story ideas or life in general. My problem usually lies in focusing long enough to get any writing done at all. However if I am for some reason drawing a blank on inspiration, I listen to some poetic music with relatively intricate lyrics, or browse around Wikipedia for a few hours.
Things that help my writer's block: -Nature inspires me so I like to go to the park and swing on the swings. -Talking to other people about what can be improved/changed ALWAYS helps me it's kind of a motivation booster. -Turning on music helps me get inspired. -Looking at art/pictures are inspiring. -Dreaming -Kaye
I just start thinking about something and my brain will suddenly branch whatever thought I just had into a story idea.
I pace or take a long walk. I find walking really gets the creative juices flowing. I also like to draw characters and scenes to get ideas. I also like to read to get inspiration. The last thing I do is imagine/act out(if I'm by myself) the way a scene or piece of dialogue might play out. sometimes I'll even get entire new plot ideas from acting out a conversation I had never originally planned for.
music. pot. a good movie/book. hanging out. relaxing at the beach. should probably broaden that some i suppose
