I think that comparing ourselves to others in general can have VERY discouraging results... a friend's job, a sibling's relationship... And then there is writing: such a personal endeavour, something that you put so much of your soul/blood/sweat/tears/hopes into that I think it becomes unhealthy, and unhelpful, to weigh up comparisons. Don't apologise for having faith in your work so far. It sounds like there is a quality to your writing that you are proud of. Remember what makes you different from the writers that you admire, it'll be your strength in the marketplace one day.
It's probably silly, but I tend to avoid sitting down and writing because I'm afraid that I wont be good any more. I think it's probably lack of confidence, when I was a teenager I'd write just like now, now I think 'oo what if I've lost my edge?' etc.
What I've found is that I don't encounter walls in my writing so often as I encounter locked doors with mirrors on them. What I mean by that is that often when I feel like I've hit a dead end and can't go on, I need to look back at what I've done so far that lies behind me, and reaffirm my goal for the scene or plot at hand. I've found that once my ducks are in a neat little row, the door unlocks, and I can proceed as planned. For example, in the novel I'm writing right now, the MC's (current) primary antagonist is temporarily behind bars. I found myself writer's blocked by the fact that I didn't know what I was doing with my MC, and just when I was about to tell myself I'd written into a wall, I remembered where I'd stored the bad guy and what he was likely to be doing at this point in time. Turned out to be the perfect time to reintroduce him into the conflict, and my story got that caffeine shot it so desperately needed. This way, I don't find myself spending so much time re-evaluating my story over and over and over in any major ways before I've actually finished writing a single draft. I just find the natural flow that the events and characters I'm writing about create on their own. Just because it's not the story I planned to write at first, doesn't mean it can't change itself as I proceed with the writing, you know?
For me, I just stop writing when I have writers block and do something, anything, else to occupy my mind, for however long it takes.
If you're stuck and can't get out, kill off a character! That will get you mind going! How does he/she die? Accident, murder, etc. Why? What effect will it have on the story? There are a thousand questions to ask yourself and think about! Hope this helps, Eric
See Spot. See Spot run! See Spot chase the mail man. Run, mail man, run! See the veterinarian. The veterinarian has a needle. Now the mail man does not have to run. Poor Spot! Do you know, I'm not sure your advice works for all genres
I have one way for me that kills of writers block at the head. I bought this computer program for about $10 bucks. Its called Write or Die, I love this program because I can set it to have to write so many words in so many minutes e.g. 100 words in 3 minutes, now if I don't keep pace with that time I can set the program to start deleting what I have already written. It will only stop deleting my work when I start typing again; and for those of you who think well I'll just type slow and make it i'll have time to think. WRONG! If you go to slow your screen will start changing color and the program will start to make very annoying noises e.g. mine is set to the sound of like 100 babies crying at once.
That sounds like a horrible piece of bit software, guaranteed to quench any moment of inspiration that tries to ignite into an idea while you are banging on the keys.
One man's meat, I guess. If I had that software installed I'd end up taking time out to write a script that backed up the text before the program deleted it!
Personally for me writing isn't about waiting for inspiration to strike, but if I keep writing even if its total garbage eventually a good idea will come, later I can later work the garbage maybe glean a good paragraph from three or for pages of nonsense.
I agree with the fact that every writer has periods of inspiration both high and low and the best way to get through the hard-times is, to keep writing. One thing that really works for me is, (what I call) "steam of consciousness writing". It's simple. Just start jottig down the first thing that comes to your head and most importantly: don't censor yourself. This is for your own personal viewing to help clear your mind and help you become more relaxed, as you will find your thoughts and words begin to simply flow. Rather than, trying to focus in one direction. It is best to simply, keep writing for a few minutes to loosten-up or keep -going if, you feel your on a roll. Either way, once you are content, don't review what you have written until you have given yourself a break. Put down the pen, walk away. Then do something physical and come back later to review what you have written. I guarrentee, youu will be shocked and inspred when you view your own writting objectively. This works for me. Remember, do not censor yourself when you use this technique as , it is for your eyes only! Thanks, enjoy, relax, and good writing!
Sorry... I must have broken a rule because the link got deleted by the mods or something, still if you look up "Writer's block excercises" in google, you will find a lot that will make you think and make your imagination run again
Writer's block, I believe is real. I describe it as your running and you hit this wall. The little kid rhyme goes you can't go ther it, you can't go under it. So what do you do? You have to go through it? I write everyday whether it is my journal, my fantasy saga or a poem, does it matter? It is just lack of insperation, write about your life. Write what you know if you can not create.
For me writers block has come more in the form of the plethora of distractions life sends my way. If I found that I haven't written for a while, the itch to write again just keeps coming back. Maybe it's the call of this maddening story echoing in my skull, maybe it's simply my drive to create. But every year the story has increased itself in some way. Then there's the problem of actually doing the writing. I make goals, and if I really mean them, I meet them. Sometimes I feel like I need to write but don't know what to do or say. That's when I read. I find the best inspiration for what to write next is reading what I've written before (the good stuff, don't read the stuff you wrote and hated, read what you wrote that you felt was your crowning achievement up till now.) That's what helps inspire me. That and music, or movies, or reading other good books, or just about anything. I guess I just see my story in everything else around me, so it's always there whispering its need to be finished. And it will never be finished. At this point that is not possible. For every voice I satiate by writing its story, another three rise up in its place. So yeah, look for something to inspire you, that whispers to you, that wants to be written, and wants you to, by writing it, discover it. And hope you don't end up like me. Or maybe that you do.
So basically I am indeed in a rut, and my book hasn't even kicked off. I have the perfect plot in mind, and I'm absolutely in love with it and I overall know where I want to go with the book. So that is good right? Well I sit down with a blank piece of lined paper in front of me and a pen, thinking to myself: "Okay, so I'm going to write!" Well the issue comes when I begin to do so and the words don't seem to... well flow! Every word is like a struggle to get out and then I have to look forward to another with the next word I have to come up with. I don't understand what it is, but it seems I am stuck on the runway with this and I just can't seem to take off. I don't know if this is writers block or what, but it is really quite frustrating. I'll appreciate any help that I can get!
One thing you might want to try is to flesh out your outline more. The more detail you have in the outline, the easier it is to convert it to novel form. At least, I hope that that is true, since I'm currently working on my outline.
Hi. I think with some people writing has to be spontaneous. Sitting down pen poised to write is perhaps putting pressure on yourself. For me the trick is to relax and start to daydream, I suprised myself the other day that I was able to scribble frantically on the bus. I just had an surge of creativity. Why not try it, a bus ride or sitting in a cafe where you can also analyse people for characters etc. Allow yourself to day dream instead of demanding to yourself that you MUST start it NOW. If you take a note pad everywhere with you things probably will come to you in a flash and then you will have the notes to sit down with and work with instead of starting with nothing but a blank piece of paper and an idea. An opening line or a scene may crop up in your imagination a LONG time before you knuckle down to the practical written work so jotting down images that come to you will help. Of course definately keep your main idea in your head but relax and go with the flow of images surrounding it. xx
I have a different suggestion than King Hawk. What I do when I hit that type of wall you're describing is I write before my internal censor kicks in. For me - and it may not be the same for you - it's not so much 'writer's block' as it is 'editor's interference,' if that makes sense. What I do - and again this may not work for you - is I start writing early in the morning (the trick, I think, is to write when you feel the strongest emotionally, when you have that 'I can do it' mentality. For me, it's morning.) And I just write without stopping. I work directly on the computer, but it's the same thing. Just write. Write without thinking to get over the hump. Hope this helps. If not... Every writer's different.
As maureencooke said, every writer's different. Here's a suggestion or two: If you really have the plot figured out, who says you have to start at the beginning? If writing your beginning is blocking you, try writing a scene that takes place half way through the book. You can always do earlier scenes later on. And the scene you work on that's half way through? You might not even keep it in, once you have enough on paper to see your story whole. So don't feel like you have to start with page one. Feel free to plunge in anywhere. The novelist Joyce Cary used to work by writing his big important scenes first, then filling in the blanks afterwards. That's what worked for him; maybe something similar will work for you. I also heard of a writer who couldn't seem to get started, so he just started writing his story in the style of one of those old Dick and Jane readers. Remember those? "See Spot run. Run, Spot! Run!" That kind of thing. Of course, it was silly, but it got him going, and gave him something to revise. What I have often done myself is write some scenes involving my main characters that I know are NOT going to be in the final story. These are just "test scenes" that I use to get to know my characters and their world better, and to help establish a tone for the story - to establish a style. Doing this always breaks me out of my blocks. So try anything. Try drawing your story in comic-strip form, if that gets you going. Try writing it in French, if you know French. Try dictating it into a tape recorder.
Recent experience: several news stories over the course of a short time, including the yapping of the twits on the 24 hour cable news stations, got me into a really down mood, and I started envisioning life if/when everything collapses. As a way of working myself out of it, I started toying around with a novel with a post-apocalyptic flavor. Then I half-seriously wrote part of an opening chapter. By then my mood had lifted, and I promptly forgot about it. A few months ago, I bought a new computer and transferred all my writing directories over from the old one. That got me curious as to just what kind of junk I had lying around my hard drive, and my subsequent search turned up my half chapter. I read it and thought, "Hey, this isn't bad!" and I decided to devote some time to the project. I spun out a couple more chapters, just kind of a stream-of-conciousness thing, and then I suddenly hit a wall. I made several false starts, and didn't like any of them. So, I pulled back and decided to write a complete outline (I usually only do bare-bones outlines), and that's what I'm doing now, and my head has really started to clear. I have some really good ideas. YMMV.
You cannot force yourself to write, because whatever comes out will invariably end up in the trash. It can be frustrating having it in your head and then have it refuse to come out, but it happens, and so you have to walk away from it, and not think about it. I have often found that the best ideas arrive when my mind is on something else (although your book is always there in the back of the head), and when it does, you'll find yourself running to the computer to get it down immediately.
Wow thanks everyone! Some of these, well most actually, are really good ideas that I'm going to try out and see if they work. King Hawk, the problem with your theory is, I don't really have an outline, I probably should get something of one down to see how that might affect where I'm going with this. Victorian girl, I agree with you somewhat, although there have been times when I have been able to force myself to write, although it isn't as natural as it should be. I guess it's just very frustrating kinda waiting around to write, because the key is to not think about it, but when I'm so eager about the plotline I am always going to think about it. minstrel, you are very correct about not starting at the beginning, but considering I don't have an outline, I hit a problem. I will actually get on the outline so I can indeed follow your advice because it seemed pretty logical, I always hate writing the beginning of books because they are boring as possible, for me at least. As for your other theories, I'll work on that, thanks! maureencooke, hm, interesting theory. I'll try that. EdFromNY, you know, that actually sounds a lot like myself. I probably do have many plots floating around the confines of my personal space that I did a little bit of writing on, but nothing major. I'm sure years from now I will look back at them and bolt out a few paragraphs, or chapters even, on that plot. BlueWolf, as I said above, that is so frustrating, when I want to write but I can't when I force myself. Because as I said before, the key to it is not thinking about writing so that it will come to me, however I find myself constantly thinking about it! Thanks all for your help, I'll try to clear my mind, maybe I'll take up some sort of meditation or something so that I can get my mind off of the book so I can start writing the darn thing. Boy that's confusing... Anyhow! Thanks a bunch!
Try writing a day to day scene for the MC. You won't include it in the actual story but it'll help get the feel of what their environment is like, and begin to flesh out the character's personality, dialogue, etc. You might include other characters from the story. You might want to go further and write a day-in-the-life of scene for one of the other chars. Maybe write out scenes that are key in the development of the character, but won't actually belong in the story. This will help you get in the mindset of your characters, set the mood of the book, and get the words flowing. I actually find these can be quite fun to write. I have back story written for a handful of characters, and several key scenes for my MC. None of which are actually used in the final product. The trick though, is to write it LIKE the book, showing not telling. Don't just say "He grew up in. . ." but actually write it out as if it were to be a book itself. If you're having the "editor interference" problem, which I think we all do at some point--at some point we can become self conscious of our writing and have a hard time remembering the draft IS flawed, but no one is going to see it. So, occasionally I find if that darn editor won't hush and it's keeping me from writing, I turn on the tv or music and then write. The background noise makes it nearly impossible to edit as I go. Just don't turn on your favorite show (infomercials work great for this) or a song you HAVE to sing along with Best luck, //R
