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The Uber Writer's Block Thread



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Wed Aug 15, 2012 7:56 am
AlfredSymon says...



I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO ANYMORE! I want to write a novel about the power of family and strength of faith, but all that's popping out from me is mystery and threats. I'm thinking of combining some short stories to form one big story with different main characters circling one main plot. I wonder if that'll be good...
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Thu Aug 23, 2012 1:36 pm
ThatPsycho says...



barefootrunner wrote:ThatPsycho, go with the one that you are the most like. That way you can better envision her responses and actions. Or, if you are feeling adventurous, try an old male character, something you have never done before at all.

To help you create characters, spend some time in an old-age home for elders, or if you want a small child, at a creche or play park. Shadow people who might become characters. Go people-watching at a mall or café. (Just don't let that big man realise that you are trying to copy his walk!)

The more realistic your characters, the more people will enjoy reading about them.

Don't give in to the blank-page monster!


Thanks for the advice, I'll try it. :)
  





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Mon Dec 03, 2012 2:30 pm
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niccy_v says...



I have won a 3.5 year writers block! After being on what felt like a permanent hiatus, i'm back with a vengeance.

It was a mix of stresses of finishing school then over-doing it writing wise over exams, then university and work and life got in the way. Finally sat down tonight and all of it just poured from me. I'm quite glad :) we will see how long this lasts! :P
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Mon Dec 03, 2012 4:11 pm
Dynamo says...



A while ago I posted in this thread saying one way to get rid of a writer's block is to put yourself in the shoes of your character(s) and see what you would do in the same situation. Sometimes this doesn't work, as I have discovered time and time again through these early years of my writing career. Sometimes you get such a bad block that you think you know what's supposed to happen next, but you just can't figure out how to put it to words. Most of the time you just end up sitting in front of your computer screen waiting for something to happen. Those are the worst for me.

One of the ways I find is best to overcome these blocks is through a war of attrition. What I mean by this is to keep working at it until you push through the writer's block. Every time you sit down try to write something, anything, even if it's just a sentence or two. Because every time you writer something down you get a little closer to breaking the block, as opposed to sitting around and doing nothing just waiting for something to come to you. Even if it's not something you're happy with in the end, it's still something to work with and you can always go back and fix it up later.

I also find it helps to have something else to work on during these blocks that in some way are associated to whatever story you're writing. This is especially useful when dealing with fantasy worlds where you have a lot of background lore to deal with. Even if you don't use most of it in your books, creating the lore for your world is just as important as writing the story itself because it helps set the foundation of which your plot is built upon. A stronger foundation leads to a stronger plot, and creating and discovering the lore of your world can help give you greater insight and ideas of how to create interesting stories later on. I know it may sound weird to talk about improving insight on something you already created, but some novice writers know very little about whatever world they're writing in because they're too impatient to think it up and instead just want to jump right into writing the story. What some people don't realise is that it's this insight that can help prevent future writer's blocks. If you have a firm knowledge of your world, the characters, and history it's easier for you to call back on that information later whenever you're stuck on something.

In short, the worst thing you can do for a writer's block is to sit around and wait for something to come to you, because in most cases nothing ever does.
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Thu Jan 03, 2013 12:12 pm
Peregrine says...



I hate Writer's Block. You see, recently, I had an idea about a girl and a wolf, and freedom. However, I just couldn't write it, and so I DELETED everything. Only later did I realise that I could write it...
*groans* It won't be long before I hit another wall.
Don't panic if you hear voices inside your head, it just means you're a writer.
  





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Tue Feb 12, 2013 6:13 pm
ThirdTimeLucky says...



When I have writers block, I start a new project.
I dabble in pretty much all sorts of writing except poetry. So when I feel like a piece of writing is going nowhere, I leave it for a while and start on something new. For example, if I'm writing a play and I hit writers block, I'll put it away and start a short story. And then once that is completed or going nowhere, I go back to my original piece.
I find that if I dwell on it for too long, it stunts my imagination further because I'm trying too hard instead of letting it flow naturally. Leaving it and coming back to it means that you distance yourself from the piece, and then when you do come back to it, you'll have a fresh take on it and can edit out what doesn't work and add in what does.
  





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Thu Feb 21, 2013 1:01 pm
NoirLumiere says...



I usually find someont to role play with. Getting away from my main project helps a ton.
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Thu Mar 07, 2013 11:32 pm
MissGamer8 says...



I constantly have writers block. Or the big case of 'Why am I writing when I suck this bad?' I've been writing since as long as I can remember although I don't know when I decided I wanted to be a writer. I love writing but I've never finished a novel yet. I've completed one short story that was okay, but not good enough to get published. I still look at it from time to time and tweak it here and there. Usually when I stop writing is when I get Writer's Block and I let life get in the way and stop writing for months at a time. Yet I can't stop writing, it's most definitely in my blood.
In my years of writing this is what I've learned to get out of writer's block and how to get a new idea of on paper. It's what's works for me at least. I don't do define outlines when starting a story. I usually just write down all the thoughts about the story and put them on paper/computer. Sometimes I'll be so excited I'll start immediately but that usually leads to rewrites. My stories constantly change too but I try to figure that out before I start writing. I usually wait a week or two to start, think about it when I'm cleaning or doing something mindless, but I don't think about it all the time, I need time to think about other stuff. I like to write down questions I have about my story that I haven't figured out yet and muse on them for a bit. That's usually how I get out of Writer's Block.
Another way is to look at what you've previously write and break it down to a summary sentence/paragraph. Get a new page and write down the summary and think what should happen next. Write down several ways you can think of to approach the situation, even if one of the ways are absurd you don't have to use it, but it could inspire you on what to do next. Usually the best thing to do is think of what you would do first. Then compare yourself to your character and their morals/belief/etc and see if they would do the same or do differently than you. You know your character isn't going define enough if you don't know how they will react to something. Then you need to think more about your character. I usually have trouble with setting a scene or getting through actions of a character. Like normal stuff like describing someone making a sandwich is what binds me up. Anyways that's my advice. Better get back to my story! Buh-bye! <3
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Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:42 am
melg23 says...



For some reason I always develop my stories around random scenes that stick in my head so when I'm writing, I can only think about how I'm going to reach those specific scenes in the story and it's so distracting and i struggle being able to close the gap between dramatic scenes so I get writer's block WAY too much and i just get so darn frustrated. But I always feel like whatever I'm writing isn't good at all and I usually just write for myself and don't let anyone else read because I'm convinced it's terrible...Once when I couldn't get past a certain point in a story, I was convinced everything I wrote was a joke and was this close to throwing every notebook I owned away (I like hand writing everything)..But I just couldn't do it because it's my passion. But when I have mild writer's block, I usually just listen to music that matches the tone of the story so it's easier for me to become the character.. :)
  





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Fri Mar 15, 2013 2:03 am
wordsandwishes says...



Usually I just get bored and go look for something to eat....

Spoiler! :
Not very helpful, I know. But when all else fails that's exactly what I do ^^
  





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Fri Mar 15, 2013 2:11 am
Alvarin says...



melg23 wrote:For some reason I always develop my stories around random scenes that stick in my head so when I'm writing, I can only think about how I'm going to reach those specific scenes in the story and it's so distracting and i struggle being able to close the gap between dramatic scenes so I get writer's block WAY too much and i just get so darn frustrated.

I think I just found my soulmate :O I'm exactly the same when it comes to writing stories, so I always end up squeezing all the scenes into thirty or fifty pages. It's really awful to read what was supposed to be 500 pages of awesomeness decimated into.. Horrible, horrible rubbish.

I actually find it quite helpful to go and write a new story and then come back when you're stuck on that as well. I'm always writing like five stories at once.
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Wed Apr 03, 2013 5:46 pm
Holysocks says...



Wow! melg23 that's what I go through all the time! And I love hand writing my work!
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Wed Apr 03, 2013 7:00 pm
StoneHeart says...



Writers, block = most annoying thing a writer can face. Who doesn't agree?

Recently I've been going into writers block, the thing that really is getting me out of it every time is just writing! All I really have to do is sit down and write!

My story is really easy to come back to, because the world is sooooo developed.

But recently I've been noticing holes in my plot, lots of them, and the best recipe for writers block is plot holes!

//sigh

I hope I get over it soon!
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Sat Apr 13, 2013 3:20 am
norm says...



Howdy folks! My name is Norman Gray, I'm 25 years of age, I'm new to these forums, and for the past three years I've been pursuing a lifelong desire to write quality fiction. I don't know if posting here going to help me at all but here it goes.

I started actively writing three years ago. For a very long time I didn't believe in writer's block; I had always been full of enthusiasm for my writing, and that enthusiasm always kept me productive. Lately my personal life has been a bit of a disaster, and well, it's has pretty much sucked the life out of me. My writing has suffered greatly because of it.

It sucks, because I was at a point where I felt like I was starting to make progress with the craft, real progress. Almost a year ago, I contributed a short story to an anthology that got waaay more exposure than I was expecting; had I known, I might have produced more written work in the time between writing that story and the release of the anthology. As it stands I feel like I'm missing good opportunities to actually make a name for myself as a writer.

People tell me I'm good. They tell me the story in the anthology was good. But I have a really hard time seeing it. All I see are the things I don't like in my writing.

I don't know, does anybody have any suggestions to help me get back on the horse?
  





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Mon Apr 15, 2013 6:11 pm
Rosendorn says...



Stop listening to yourself and write.

We are our own worst critics. Seeing what you dislike can be a very good thing— it means you can self edit. But if you are so focused on what you dislike that you stop writing, you have nothing to edit in the first place.

Beta readers exist because they give us a second opinion. They tell us a new reader's perspective. If readers like your work, then your work will sell. No author likes rereading their own stories once they're published, because all they see are things they could've changed. Could've done better. But, obviously they were good enough, because their work did get published and it sold.

Force a gag on your inner editor and write. Some of the most talented writers I know have very strong inner editors, and I'm sure that's why they produce such good work. But they never see themselves as good, because of that inner editor.

Listen to others. Keep the editor to edit, but let your sense of what's good or not come from if people like your work or not.

Don't stop writing because all you see is flaws.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

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