writers block MERGED

Drastic measure: Go for a walk. Take some time out to spend with friends. Do some cooking. Wash up. Anything. Cut yrself off from writing for a bit. if you get ideas, don't write them down, just try to remember them. If, at the end of it, you still remember them, then they were good ideas.

I'm interested by the idea though: do you have a plot planned out, beginning middle and end? Generally I find that if I get a really strong idea of where a story should go, it practically writes itself, at least the bare bones of it do, and it's just a question of ornamenting them.

With this in mind, it might be worth trying some non-linear writing. If you're stuck on the beginning, but have a good idea of how you want it to go and how you want it to end, write those bits while you are struggling with the beginning. I'm sure you'll have had this advice before, and it's not for everybody, but it helped me write my longest and most coherent piece so far (which sadly turned out to be a hideous clichŽ. Don't be too afraid of clichŽs though. Remember, you can always go back and fix them later.

Unless you really don't want to detail yr idea, it might be worth letting us know what specifically is causing you difficulty.

 

OK...I'm more of an artist. But I often write too. Anyways when it comes to a creative block,whether it's graphic art,writing,music,etc..etc...keep in mind: Creativity can ALWAYS be fueled by creativity (hmm....maybe put that in my sig?)!! So try listening to music, looking at pictures, reading poems, reading stories (whether it be a book or a comic), watching movies...you get the idea! and notice your sudden creativity surge!Watch out: You may come up with TO MANY things!

hope this helped a bit. Oh: and adding psychological stuff adds to the spice of a piece, so I think knowing much about psychology/sociolgy can give you a great advantage. I, personally, think those fields are quite intriguing....

Hope this helped!

 

SelfControl's advice is very good. You must not think about writing at all for a while. Go on a vacation. When the urge to create visits you, then you will know that it's time to make contact with your keyboard. If after a couple of weeks you're still feeling dry, then do this: write a small scene about anything and make it as funny, or rude as possible. Then, find a way of interpolating it into your idea of a book. This will help you liven up your text and will generate a new train of thought, which you can shape into other forms. Keeping a good balance of comedy and drama in your work will also make it more popular and widely appealing. Also, ask your friends about what they would like to see in a book. That will give you a better scope and guideline to writing.

 

Yeah, this is a good idea. A friend of mine says she doens't get writers block. If she feels stumped on one idea, she told "I write about what I can write about". For example, if your hero needs to meet a key figure in somewhere in a town so that something will happen to advance the plot, and you can't figure out at all how that meeting will go down, describe the town, describe the people who live there, a guy who sells newpapers, the lady who cleans her storefront too much.

good luck

 

Actually, what I meant was... well, to use your example: if you can't write the meeting, but you know what you want to happen as a result, write that first.

A lot of people get bogged down writing because they try to start at the beginning and write until they get to the end. If you're writing it on a computer, there really is no need to do that. If you get stuck working out how to begin yr story, leave it until you know how it's going to end. Otherwise, you end up with nothing written and you forget a lot of your better ideas.

Alternatively, just write snatches: a short piece of dialogue, some descriptive writing, whatever. It doesn't have to be used in the finished article, but you might come up with some nice phrases or useful ideas. At the very least, it'll keep you writing.

I realise that this contradicts what I said earlier almost exactly, but you know, different strokes for different folks. Try one, if it doesn't work, try the other. I haven't got shit published or even written though, so my advce probably isn't that good.

 

does anyone have advice for overcoming writers block, whenever i start to look for inspiration it seems i always start writing very dull and cliche passages

 

its just lack of self confidence, you just have to start writing no matter how shitty you think the writing is and then you will eventually go beyond yourself

 

Joe Cool is right (although I'm a hypocrite as I get stuck every ten minutes because what I see what I've done and think 'crap').

Don't read back what you've done - keep going...

A technique Peter Carey (twice winner of the Booker prize) is to restart the same passage over and over again rather than going back and trying to 'fix' what you've done, bit by bit doing more than the first time until you get a sense of 'flow' eg:

1)It was a dark night and he could see little.

2)John could see nothing on the street, the night was dark and vision was limited to less than a few feet in front of him.

3)John could see nothing on the street. The moon was hidden behind thick cloud and the only street light on the corner had long since been turned to scattered fragments of broken glass that now lay twinkling across the footpath.

 

what those two said. Just go for it. Sometimes it might not be great but heck it cant be all the time in my opinion.

 

this helped me, pick an object around your house or outside. then just write random thoughts you have about it and maybe it will help you start some ideas. it worked for me, i used a rock. but it helped me alot. and if it doesnt work out, then at least you tried. hehe

 

Hi neohippie101, have you read The Artists way by Julia Cameron? Its an amazing book and really helped me- I had writers block for a long time. It takes a bit of work (you have to do exercises) but it worked for me.

 

nope havent read it but ill take a look at it, and thanks for the help everyone it helped a lot

 

I always have something to say, therefore always have something to write; even random thoughts can be pieced into something down the road. Lots of pc files is a good way to keep stuff organized; journal to babble in, file of one liners, ect. I have several different books and short stories in various stages of 'construction' just so I can go by mood. If all words escape you, then go do something else that you enjoy. My mentor says that muses cannot be controlled.-Cinnamom

 

Pick up a book you love and open it to a random page and read the first sentence you see. Think about how you can use that sentence to start an entire different story. Then just write it. Vetty

 

thats a really good idea Vetty! im gona try that sometime!

 

I write poems, erotica, essays, etc. I can write anything else, but for the last 2 years I have been unable to write any poems. Has anyone else experienced this? Am I weird?

 

no way [wo] man!

its a simple sign that your style has devloped so radically that you are in a chrysalsis still. the feeling of 'i dont know whwre to start' reflects the alteration in your approach and attitude to your subject.

its a time of potential...becuase the reins are loose and heading in other directions. do something radical/different. follow your instinct and just keep writing...not care what it is/called/will be... splurge then resurafce with new stuff...breaking bounderies..relaise your mind has changed alot these two years...and anything is possible now...[with the art...!]

 

No. I've had cycles where I can't write anything for months or I start to write and never finish it but then one night it all comes flooding out. It annoying but just let your brain rest, it will come to you.

 

Don't Sweat "Writers Block"! Look at Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek. We know how long ago he wrote the original stories. (Kirk, and that bunch.)
Guess what? The original manuscript for "Enterprise" was found UNFINISHED in his desk drawer after he passed away.

 

No, I'm the same way...I wrote a poem a couple of months ago but it took everything I had to pump it out. I'm just trying to figure new ways to get out of this writer's block and if I come up with anything you will be the first to know. It's been about 2 years since I wrote anything that I was happy with.