This happens to nearly everyone at a point, this I am absolutely sure of. You don't know what to write. You sit staring at microsoft word, and finally, after a few failed attempts at writing something, close it.
You have to try get into the writing mood again. I would suggest reading or watching a movie or T.V. You can get an idea from anything at all. So the more things you watch/listen to/read, the more chance you have of getting an idea from a story. When you get this, you somehow just know what to write. Also, don't force yourself to write. This stresses you out and that won't solve anything. I'm not saying don't try at all, just don't force yourself to do something you can't do at that moment.
xxmimixx
-mors aut honorabilis vita-
Forget the prince with a horse, I want a vampire with a volvo.
The thing i do to get ideas, is to read other peoples stories
and branch of ideas from there. Also things that happen in real
life. Or Just simply asking someone for an idea maybe. Then
if they give me like a sentence i can get a whole story in my head.
I don't know if that will help you.
But i hope it does and i hope you get to figure out
how to start a story soon.
Borntoshop
Everyone falls in writing slumps. It sucks, but they happen.
Stuff that might help:
(1) Reading. Do tons of it. Having a writing slump is a good excuse to read all of the books that you've been meaning to but haven't had the time to. Read your favourite authors. Re-read works that inspire you. I think we all have those, whether it's a poem or a novel or an article on writing. Every once in awhile I'll re-read The Bradbury Chronicles, which is not only the biography of one of my favourite writers, but is also filled with so much energy and passion and love for writing that I can't help but want to write when I read it. There are certain short story anthologies that are gorgeously written, and every time I read them, I want to write. Find those books, even if they're ones you've already read, and have another go at them.
(2) Contests. There are pretty much a handful of writing contests going on at any given moment on YWS, and they're all really good places to start. They don't spell out ideas for you, but they give you places to springboard off of. The deadlines and the competition is always an added push (you can't procrastinate too much because you'll miss the deadline) and the added incentive of prizes definitely doesn't hurt. : ) Even if the competition is daunting, it's still nice to borrow inspiration from the contest and write something for yourself.
(3) Writing prompts. They're really helpful for free writing (which a number of other people have mentioned), and from free writing you can start to form storylines or characters that you grow attached to or interested in. They also help you get back into the routine of writing; sometimes, if I stop writing for too long, I start getting weird paranoia about writing and it seems daunting to get back into the swing of things. Free-writing is a nice stress-free way of doing that, especially because you rarely have expectations for them.
(4) Keep an eye/ear out. I definitely second Rosey's point: start learning stuff. Read up on historical events and figures, on myths, on recent news stories. Keep an eye open when you're out in the world, doing things and interacting with people. Don't try to actively force ideas out of your head, either. I find that some of my favourite story ideas come when I least expect them to — I'm just following some train of thought and it ends up with something I know I can use. It's hard to get in the habit of spotting those (I'm still kind of crappy at it) and it's also hard not to try to force yourself to come up with ideas. But don't worry. You'll come up with something.
Above all, don't leave YWS! If for no other reason then this: if you are going to a severe writing slump, it helps to maintain ties to writing in some way, even if you're not the one doing the writing. If you ever start to think about abandoning writing altogether, it will be harder to do with YWS around. And I'm sure there are lots of people who will miss you.
Good luck! And don't give up hope. : )
"He yanked himself free and fled to the kitchen where something huddled against the flooded windowpanes. It sighed and wept and tapped continually, and suddenly he was outside, staring in, the rain beating, the wind chilling him, and all the candle darkness inside lost."
A lot has been said here but I would like to add something...
Just don't worry. I recently had a few months where I couldn't write on this novel that has been my main project forever. The novel in general has gone through many major changes and I thought it was going to a really great place, but then I just couldn't write anymore. I would force myself to sit down and try to write something but all I ever ended up doing was staring at my ceiling.
Then, this morning I was taking a shower and contemplating how I could get myself to work on the story. I had ruled out the possibility that I didn't want to write anymore because I had been working on other stories when I couldn't bring myself to look at my novel. I then found out that there was a major issue with how a few of my characters met. It had completely halted my story. Now I have an entire new direction for my story that I actually like better than what I previously had (this is a rare occurance for me).
So my advice is basically this: Don't stop writing, but maybe you need to give that story a rest for a while? Or maybe you just need some intense thinking as to the reasons why you aren't able to work on it, and then find a solution.
There’s always a story. It’s all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything’s got a story in it. Change the story, change the world. — Terry Pratchett
