Five_Inch_Heels
Unexpected
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2015
- Posts
- 2,208
I don't even have an idea for an idea.
Nothing even clicking in the Story Ideas board.
.
Nothing even clicking in the Story Ideas board.
.
Dry Spell
- Thread starter Five_Inch_Heels
- Start date
StillStunned
Scruffy word herder
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2023
- Posts
- 8,867
Have you checked out some of the Writing Exercise threads we've had here recently? Not only prompts, but dozens of snippets by all your favourite writers to kickstart the creative juices!
TheWritingGroup
Writing Group
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2024
- Posts
- 1,131
What do you wish you could read, when you're "in the mood"? Write that.
I'm sure you already thought of that, but that's what came to mind.
-Annie
I'm sure you already thought of that, but that's what came to mind.
-Annie
Bazzle
Smoking Hot
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2021
- Posts
- 1,303
Its good to recharge your batteries. I am using art prompts at the moment for my creative juices.
Cagivagurl
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2019
- Posts
- 1,288
And the problem is?????
Considering it's supposed to be fun. If it's not happening. Walk away... Do something else and hopefully the drought will break.
Don't panic... It's not gone forever.
It's happened to me in the past with my song writing.
Cagivagurl
Voyeurkenneth
Peeping
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2023
- Posts
- 254
I’m doing something similar for the first time with a current WiP. Pasting related images from Google into my doc, at the point in the story that I’m writing. Every time I look at the image, I can pull from it (color, mood, senses) to help me visualize the scene
When I reach that point, I just let myself write anything - anything at all, no goal, no pressure
Stream of consciousness, non-fiction, responses to music, snippets of overhead conversations or sights, what ifs… anything that catches my imagination. Just taking the pressure off myself and letting myself enjoy having a pen in my hand/ fingers on the keys again, until I find something that I like - a turn of phrase, an idea etc - and wanna explore it more
AwkwardlySet
On-Duty Critic
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2022
- Posts
- 3,734
Interesting how different we all are.
I've got enough story ideas to last three lifetimes. Some of those stories I really want to tell. I just can't make myself write for this or any other major platform. It's simply not worth the time and effort I would need to invest as none of those stories is below 100k words.
Different author, different problems
I've got enough story ideas to last three lifetimes. Some of those stories I really want to tell. I just can't make myself write for this or any other major platform. It's simply not worth the time and effort I would need to invest as none of those stories is below 100k words.
Different author, different problems
ronde
Really Experienced
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2001
- Posts
- 1,050
Take a trip to your local mall, sit in the main aisle and watch people. I'll guarantee there will be at least one story that comes to your mind.
Look for things like this:
Why would a sixtyish looking woman be going into Victoria's secret?
Why would that girl be wearing a T-shirt that says, "I'm magically delicious"?
Those two guys shopping together? Men don't usually shop much, let alone together.
The fortyish woman wearing a gold ankle bracelet with the letters "H" and "W" on it. I wonder what the "H" and "W" stand for. What if there's also a charm that's a circle with a plus sign on the rim?
Stories should be about real people doing real people things. All you have to do is spend some time looking.
Look for things like this:
Why would a sixtyish looking woman be going into Victoria's secret?
Why would that girl be wearing a T-shirt that says, "I'm magically delicious"?
Those two guys shopping together? Men don't usually shop much, let alone together.
The fortyish woman wearing a gold ankle bracelet with the letters "H" and "W" on it. I wonder what the "H" and "W" stand for. What if there's also a charm that's a circle with a plus sign on the rim?
Stories should be about real people doing real people things. All you have to do is spend some time looking.
ronde
Really Experienced
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2001
- Posts
- 1,050
That's called "free writing" and it does work. It's kind of like stretching your muscles before a gym workout, but it's stretching your brain.
Five_Inch_Heels
Unexpected
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2015
- Posts
- 2,208
My bunnies have skeedsaddled across the arid plains of thought desertion.
TheRedLantern
First Person Nerd
- Joined
- May 10, 2025
- Posts
- 121
These are tough. @MiaBabe23 mentioned "write anything", which is the answer that works for me. Sometimes nothing comes out, so I do some random worldbuilding until something presents a question that interests me. If it's a really good question, it can turn into "how can I ask this question with a story" and then my mind gets engaged in story creation again.
That may or may not work for anyone else. That's just how I trick my brain into doing what I want when it's being a brat.
That may or may not work for anyone else. That's just how I trick my brain into doing what I want when it's being a brat.
SimonDoom
Kink Lord
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2015
- Posts
- 18,971
Hold on. Woah, Nelly.
You've published four stories so far THIS MONTH and you're complaining about a dry spell? I'm sorry, that is not a dry spell. I haven't published anything since December 10 and I don't consider myself in a dry spell. I'm just . . . pacing myself.
Here's an idea: use your name as a story idea. Write a story about wearing 5 inch heels. And maybe nothing else. You just bought them, and you tell a friend you don't have to wear anything else to feel sexy, and your friend dares you to wear the heels, and nothing else, to a party. Of course, you can't say no to a dare.
Bloodandglitter
Minx
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2024
- Posts
- 644
I'm in a writing slump too. I just can’t get my mind to cooperate
gunhilltrain
Multi-unit control
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2018
- Posts
- 9,118
There's nothing wrong with revisiting a character or plot you've done before. What's going on twenty years after the story concluded? What happened twenty years earlier? I liked the character of Marion Baumer so much (https://classic.literotica.com/s/trucker-mom-1) that I went back to her college years two decades earlier (https://classic.literotica.com/s/marion-s-backside-wager). She narrates her own story in both. I've had series chapters were the female and male characters sometimes narrate their own versions of the same events.
NuclearFairy
Head Scritcher
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2023
- Posts
- 526
Go read a book, play a game, or watch a movie and question everything.
Or play a mindless game and just let your mind wander.
Funnily enough you don't find young women getting the same treatment. Prolly cause they're more likely to contribute to their parents' households with their part time jobs.
Or play a mindless game and just let your mind wander.
Depends on where you live. Round here parents tend to be, "You're 18 and you've graduated, GTFO. Don't care if you ain't got much money, we can't afford to keep feeding your ass." And so every year you'll find a new batch of young men who have just become roommates wandering the aisles together trying to figure out this living on their own shit together.
Funnily enough you don't find young women getting the same treatment. Prolly cause they're more likely to contribute to their parents' households with their part time jobs.
pink_silk_glove
Literate Smutress
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2018
- Posts
- 3,602
I was going to say the same thing. That sounds more like ADD than a dry spell. : P Sorry.
Tio_Narratore
Studies
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2008
- Posts
- 79,137
Italo Calvino developed his Castle of Crossed Destinies and The Inn of Crossed Destinies by laying out a Tarot spread and tracing lines of stories through interpreting the sequence of cards into a tale. Might be worth a try
DeMont
Mere Male
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2019
- Posts
- 65
My dear Five_Inch_Heels, I feel your frustration. Since I first began penning short stories in around 2002 or so I have had this selfsame problem numerous times.
What have I done about it? Well, I think about a subject, a topic, a tale that I want to tell and as I mentioned to another member a couple of days ago don't even think about sex being a part of it. Put sex right out of your mind. Put Literotica right out of your mind.Then write about something you like, something you don't like, something you wish would happen but NO SEX. I know, crazy idea for an erotic literature board but if you take that pressure off yourself and write what you've always wanted to write about, just for fun, you may find the block broken.
When you've finished the story leave it aside for a couple of days then go back and see if you can introduce the sex into the narrative at some point. It may be worth a shot.
Good luck.
Deepest respects,
D.
yano2mch
Pervy Geek
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2025
- Posts
- 66
Hmmm... Personally i look at my core main kinks that i enjoy, and past stories i enjoyed, and then find out what i'm in the mood for, as for reading. This can spark interest.
I'm big on RPing so looking in the F-list chatroom ads can give ideas, though sifting through hundreds of ads may be exhausting or borderline useless; Or peek at character cards at TavernAI or chub. (you don't need AI, just look at cover images and basic concepts and/or openings for inspiration as a starting point or rough plot). Whatever you see that says 'oh that sounds fun' i would consider to explore more.
I'm big on RPing so looking in the F-list chatroom ads can give ideas, though sifting through hundreds of ads may be exhausting or borderline useless; Or peek at character cards at TavernAI or chub. (you don't need AI, just look at cover images and basic concepts and/or openings for inspiration as a starting point or rough plot). Whatever you see that says 'oh that sounds fun' i would consider to explore more.
