Writer's Block || 1

[kitty_fic]

I've been planning to do a discussion or essay on writer's block for a very long time, but I actually found this topic completely overwhelming and nervewracking. I'm certainly no expert and I'm sure that many people have written many more inspired things on the topic than I ever will. However, it's something I suffer from and is often on my mind. So, instead of writing up one huge post about it, I've decided I'll just share several bite-size bits on the subject instead.

I'm not sure how many of these posts there will be. I'll share tips or tricks or resources as I come across them. Some of this will be my own words but most of it will certainly be things that I've seen or run across elsewhere. I claim no originality here and I'll try to share my resources when I can.

I invite you to share your thoughts and opinions and what works for you in the comments as well. My hope is that even one of these posts or tips will help you :)


Some common causes of writer's block:
- Anxiety
- Unpreparedness
- Unhappy with your story or idea/Revisions went horribly wrong
- Fear of failure
- Distraction
- Lack of ideas/inspiration
- Too many ideas
- Stuck on one part/No idea what happens next
- Bored with your story/idea
- Can't find the right words/emotions/etc

Share: Which of these defines your block most accurately? Or is it something else entirely? Figure out what's specifically blocking you and try to rationalize it. Find something that works for that specific problem. It's much easier to think about the specific problem rather than to consider writer's block as a black hole.


Some things that may help:
+ write down everything clogging your mind (free flow writing/mind mapping)
+ breathe deeply (meditate/concentrate)
+ take a walk/connect with nature
+ exercise
+ sing out loud (in the shower or car or anywhere)
+ talk it out with someone who is willing to listen
+ draw, cook or craft (shift your creative energy)
+ laugh
+ hug
+ find quiet

Share: Which one of these will you try today? What has worked for you in the past?

Comments

[tryslora]

Yes. To all of those.

- Anxiety that I can't do the topic with the right technique, or do justice to a tricky (or triggering) topic.
- Unprepared because I didn't block things out ahead of time and don't know where it's going (see this dovetails into another!)
- DISTRACTION. Like TV, movies, family, TKD, work, and oh yes, shiny new colored pencils...
- Other bunnies come up and poke me screaming WRITE ME NOW and making myself write the in progress things first only means I write NOTHING

The one thing I never seem to have is lack of ideas. I always have a queue of ideas. It's just... sometimes I can't find one that wants to be written RIGHT NOW.

I have three favorite ways to unblock. The first is to walk away and lose myself in something, whether that is a weekend completely OFF camping with my family, or going to TKD class and kicking bags (and sometimes people and getting kicked back, YAY SPARRING). The second is to take a shower. Yes, just take a shower. I swear, water over my head washes the ideas out... and the third is talking it out. Even just whinging out loud sometimes works. But I need that give and take and WHOOSH things unblock and I'm off and running.

Then there's the last solution which isn't listed: WRITE ANYWAY. Even if you don't know where you're going with it, even if you don't think you have the right words, just start writing. You can always edit later. It's a first draft, it can suck (as author Elizabeth Bear has been known to say). I remind myself of that regularly, because I'm one of those who likes to turn out ultra-clean first drafts and have minimal editing. But it's still a DRAFT. If it sucks, I can fix it. And I'll have a beta to help me poke and prod at it and figure out WHY it's not working, and if that means adding or removing scenes, that's fine. That's what edits are for. The most important thing is getting through it.

[starduchess.livejournal.com]

For me a lot of times I either let distraction take me or I have all these wonderful ideas and scenes and dialog in my head, but when it comes to sitting at the computer to type them out, the words do not want to flow. I have no problem with non-fiction, so it must be the "unknown" of writing new fiction.

One of the ways to overcome that is just to write. Doesn't matter what the words are. Just push something out to break that mental barrier. I have found over time that the writing gets easier the more you do it. It's a creative skill you have to practice, just like playing piano or dancing or painting.


As another note, I was in a panel discussion at condfw several years ago, and someone asked one of the main panelists what she does to overcome writer's block. Her answer: "I never get it and here's why. I always have three projects going at once - one in outline stage, one in writing, one in editing. If I ever get stuck in one, I just switch to another for a few days, and the problem on the first works itself out." One thing a lot of those writers also agree on is be diligent about your writing. Write something every day; it helps keep you from getting blocked.

[eidheann_writes]

Anxiety Anxiety Anxiety

I was kicking ass on my fanfair until I hit the point where I was facing *gulp* smut.

It took TWO WEEKS to write ~1 page. I whined, I websurfed, I looked for any kind of distraction because I was completely 100% certain I wasn't going to be able to do it. Some people advised me to skip ahead and keep going, some people advised me to just write and let my beta sort it out later. I ended up powering through (but, again, 2 weeks effectively lost to it) and I STILL feel I haven't completely gotten my feet back under me.

Currently, I'm kinda doing a hybrid. I'm starting to work on the end, knowing I've got a good chunk of middlebits that still need to be filled in before I can consider the draft done. Just doing what's easy, I guess, as a reward to myself for getting over it.

So, anxiety is my problem, and a carrot/stick is my means of accomplishing?

[kitty_fic]

Mine is caused by several things and not just one which makes it complicated!
- Anxiety
- Unpreparedness
- Unhappy with your story or idea/Revisions went horribly wrong
- Fear of failure
- Too many ideas
- Stuck on one part/No idea what happens next
- Can't find the right words/emotions/etc

BUT I'll just pick one to focus on at a time... Today I pick:
-Too many ideas

Now to rationalize it... I always have so many ideas and projects I'm working on or wanting to work on that combined with my writer's block and the other causes of my block I've gotten completely overwhelmed and gone into shut down mode! So today I promise myself I will work on one thing at a time and not even think about the others until each task is done. I'm going to make a list of 3 and only three things that need to be worked on the soonest. Everything else can wait... and from those three I will only do them one by one!

That thing for today is to edit and finish this ONE story! If I can finish a thing I hope that will encourage me to move on to the next thing on my list with a more positive attitude.

---

And from the help list, my goal for today is:
+ breathe deeply (meditate/concentrate)

I'm going to take a moment and center my mind and just focus on the quiet and breathing before I sit down to try and write.

---

Good luck everyone on your writing and breaking your blocks!

[herumtreiber.livejournal.com]

I'd say distraction is my problem. The internet, people and family coming over and talking. Things that grab my attention. They can also be source of ideas though.

What works is lowering expectations. Instead of thinking I have to write a 4,000-word chapter, I imagine working on a 400-word piece. Once I write a scene or a bit of dialog, the ideas start to flow and it's hard to stop them. The first page of the blank document is the obstacle to overcome.

[exx-cecilegr.livejournal.com]

Some of my causes are definitely: distraction, too many ideas, and not finding the right words/emotions. Growing unhappy with my ideas happens too, especially with fiction, but less so with poetry. I love your solution ideas! Ones I already employ are: going for walks/connecting with nature (& sometimes writing outside with a notepad, even though I usually don't get much done, it's my favorite way to relax) and shifting creative energy.

I used to do a LOT of freewriting. Almost every writing session would open with a minute of freewriting. That has helped me a lot in the past, but I haven't felt the need to do it lately. But I always liked the idea of typing out all that junk in my head and then just deleting it.

Also: reading. Especially poetry, because it doesn't eat up all my time and it only takes a tiny phrase to get me excited and inspired. I'll also admit to reading my own works that I'm really proud of. It helps me return to that place of remembering why its worth the effort.

Picking a slot of time and just forcing myself to write. This 30 minute timer (http://vimeo.com/6939133) helps me focus. But if its the internet itself that is distracting me, then I'll disconnect from the internet altogether.

[mab.livejournal.com]

I get huge mental blocks that overwhelm me to the point I hide under my covers and don't come out. I've found that they mostly happen when something is stressing me out in RL.

I've found that getting restful sleep is essential to beating the block. I frequently ask myself.... whenever the words aren't coming, what is bothering me? How am I not satisfied? Sometimes it's enough to break the block if I can work out my RL issues by writing about them. Weird? Yeah, maybe... Sometimes turning RL stress into story fodder is exactly what I need to give my plots a boost.

The other thing I've found, is that if a story idea is just not working for me.... it's time to change it up. I've cut 7k words from a fic before and rewritten... I've started over again and again and again... and it's the only way I've made my deadline and avoided falling into the trap of writer's block.

[celestlyn.livejournal.com]

Yes to all of those. I'm one of those people who pretty much only writes when the muse is hitting her over the head with a 2x4. I seem to have all sorts of ideas when I'm in the car or somewhere without a laptop or pen and paper handy. I can create one helluva story in my head when there's no place to put it. Here's a few blocks that come to mind:

Stress--The one biggest thing that blocks my creativity is stress. Things that are weighing down my mind. Stuff that sucks the life out of my energy and enthusiasm. Life has been stressful for the last 2-3 years and I've done very little writing.

Self-doubt--I always have that damned inner-editor turned on and it's sort of like spell-check. Everything I write is figuratively under-lined in red.

Lack of ideas--That's a big one for me. Everyone always has dozens of great ideas floating around and I'm the opposite. I struggle for ideas. When I get a good one, which happens pretty rarely, it almost demands to be written. Unfortunately, this is not a frequent occurrence.

Deadline panic--Some people are not bothered by this. They are actually stimulated to work harder. Again, I'm the opposite. Deadline panic sets in and I find it difficult to focus. I feel all scattered and I might as well pack it in and so something else.

Too many projects going--Luckily this is one I don't have an issue with. If I had several things going, I would be completely overwhelmed. I'd feel stretched too thin and I would not be happy with anything. When I have a project, I like to focus on one thing and see it through to completion. It's a good thing I don't depend on writing for my livelihood. I would starve to death before I finished.


Ways to Fix:

Walk or workout--Good for clearing the head and re-focusing.

Read or watch something--Sometimes a break is needed and one can come back with a fresh perspective.

Talk to someone--It can help a lot to get a bit of a pep-talk from someone. It can build the self-confidence back up and quiet the inner-editor.

Do what feels right--If you have difficulty with deadlines, try to finish early, so you aren't in the position of feeling up against the wall or backed into a corner. Get started ahead of time and give yourself lots of time before the deadline is looming.

Limit yourself to what you know you can do well--I have to do this. If I can only do one thing at a time, then I work on that one thing and try to make it absolutely perfect. Obviously, nothing I do would ever quality as perfect, but it's a good mindset to imagine that it can be.

Look for inspiration--I can find inspiration in nearly everything. Something someone says on a tv show. A conversation with a friend. A beautiful sunset is always inspiring to me. Depending on what mood you want to induce, go to what puts you there. Reading a well-done, sad fic can bring up all the feelings and you can take those feelings and channel them into your own sad story. Same with an epically gorgeous, love-scene.

Write what you love to read--If you can manage it, try to write what you love to read. Reading something that is worded exactly the way you love it is a wonderful way to inspire yourself to write a beautifully worded piece. Tall order, but definitely worth a try.