When The Tank Is Empty

[Erozetta]

I've had Writer's Block before; started a story but couldn't finish it. Eventually I found my way through it.

This feels different. I have no fresh ideas. Oh sure, I have a folder filled with started stories never finished. And I hate all of them.

No, not true. I dont HATE them. I just have no idea what to do with them.

The tank feels empty, the well, truly dry. Pick a metaphor lol.

Not sure what else to do except wait it out, see if inspiration eventually comes around again. I sure had plenty early on when I first started.

I thought maybe writing a "simple" sex story without a complicated plot might help, and so I restarted an old unfinished story about a maintenance guy working on a college campus that gets flashed/ teased by a young student while he's working in her dorm room.

Should be right up my alley. And yet i cant seem to progress on it, let alone finish it. Because i dont see a point to the story.

She flashes him. He gets horny. Maybe they fuck. Then what? What's the resolution? They magically fall in love? ugh.

He just leaves and they go on with their lives?

I have another unfinished story, almost 4k words in, a out a college guy who meets a girl at a party, they hit it off but when he asks her out she tells him she's gay.

They go to the movies anyway just as friends and strike up a good friendship.

But now what? He's attracted to her, sure, but understands she's not involved to men. And I'm not writing a Magic Penis story where somehow he's the only man capable of turning her.

So again, I'm not really sure what the point of the fucking thing is. I think I had a direction for it at one point, something about maybe a mutual masturbation experience. But what happens after that? They just stay friends? The end?

I know I'm rambling, and I'm not necessarily looking for answers. Nor "ideas" on how to finish those stories. I only mentioned them to provide examples of where my head currently is.

I know there's no easy answer, no simple solution. I cant force myself to write something if I'm not feeling it.

Just venting i suppose.

For the second story - what If they become roommates around the time the girl gets a girlfriend who's into femdom over men, but the girl doesn't know it? The girlfriend becomes this instigator of teasing the male friend with stories because she recognizes his attraction to her girlfriend. He gets increasingly frustrated, but also wants to hear more. Girlfriend gradually talks the girl into joining the teasing by wearing skimpy outfits, but only at home, and PDA in the apartment.

After a while the two girls end up together with him watching.

You could go through all of the complicated emotions he'd be feeling. The desire he can't express, the ache of what he wants in front of him but out of reach, etc. no magic dick scenario, just him watching, wanting, and letting them essentially torture him visually and audible with what he can't have. How long can he endure it? Does he leave at some point? Does it break down the friendship? Does the girl decide she hates seeing him in agony and puts an end to her girlfriend's games? Does he find himself enjoying it, but only realizes after it stops? Does he get pleasure out of seeing her happy and fulfilled? Does it end up building a stronger friendship between them?

 

[Djmac1031]

For the second story - what If they become roommates around the time the girl gets a girlfriend who's into femdom over men, but the girl doesn't know it? The girlfriend becomes this instigator of teasing the male friend with stories because she recognizes his attraction to her girlfriend. He gets increasingly frustrated, but also wants to hear more. Girlfriend gradually talks the girl into joining the teasing by wearing skimpy outfits, but only at home, and PDA in the apartment.

After a while the two girls end up together with him watching.

You could go through all of the complicated emotions he'd be feeling. The desire he can't express, the ache of what he wants in front of him but out of reach, etc. no magic dick scenario, just him watching, wanting, and letting them essentially torture him visually and audible with what he can't have. How long can he endure it? Does he leave at some point? Does it break down the friendship? Does the girl decide she hates seeing him in agony and puts an end to her girlfriend's games? Does he find himself enjoying it, but only realizes after it stops? Does he get pleasure out of seeing her happy and fulfilled? Does it end up building a stronger friendship between them?

Sounds like you might have a pretty good story idea to write yourself there. Go for it.

 

[Erozetta]

Sounds like you might have a pretty good story idea to write yourself there. Go for it.

Femdom is not my thing. And I already have two other stories going and a third in the pipeline.

Sometimes people say things, toss around ideas on a story tidbit I have and it can get my own ideas flowing again. Not necessarily exactly what they say, but a single word or part of a thought can just hit the right trigger for me to see past my own hangups on the plot and get things flowing again.

I do this a lot with other writers. Story stuck in a curve? Well, what if this happens, or that, could this be a thing, would this work, what about this? Have you considered... And eventually something clicks for one of us. @WhiteTailDarkTip has been tossing ideas around with me for a while, and hopefully he finds it as helpful as I do, lol.

 

[Cagivagurl]

I've had Writer's Block before; started a story but couldn't finish it. Eventually I found my way through it.

This feels different. I have no fresh ideas. Oh sure, I have a folder filled with started stories never finished. And I hate all of them.

No, not true. I dont HATE them. I just have no idea what to do with them.

The tank feels empty, the well, truly dry. Pick a metaphor lol.

Not sure what else to do except wait it out, see if inspiration eventually comes around again. I sure had plenty early on when I first started.

I thought maybe writing a "simple" sex story without a complicated plot might help, and so I restarted an old unfinished story about a maintenance guy working on a college campus that gets flashed/ teased by a young student while he's working in her dorm room.

Should be right up my alley. And yet i cant seem to progress on it, let alone finish it. Because i dont see a point to the story.

She flashes him. He gets horny. Maybe they fuck. Then what? What's the resolution? They magically fall in love? ugh.

He just leaves and they go on with their lives?

I have another unfinished story, almost 4k words in, a out a college guy who meets a girl at a party, they hit it off but when he asks her out she tells him she's gay.

They go to the movies anyway just as friends and strike up a good friendship.

But now what? He's attracted to her, sure, but understands she's not involved to men. And I'm not writing a Magic Penis story where somehow he's the only man capable of turning her.

So again, I'm not really sure what the point of the fucking thing is. I think I had a direction for it at one point, something about maybe a mutual masturbation experience. But what happens after that? They just stay friends? The end?

I know I'm rambling, and I'm not necessarily looking for answers. Nor "ideas" on how to finish those stories. I only mentioned them to provide examples of where my head currently is.

I know there's no easy answer, no simple solution. I cant force myself to write something if I'm not feeling it.

Just venting i suppose.

I get this....
I think I understand, maybe not though.
As a musician, I've gone through similar things. When every song I tried to write sounded exactly like the one I'd just written.
My chord progressions were locked in a never ending repeat.
I couldn't break out of the rut....
Over and over.
Frustration forced me to stop, to just leave it. Easily said, much harder to do when you have to play every weekend,

So there you are trapped by your own mind....

It happens when you least expect.... A new idea... "Oh, hadn't thought of that."

Then it starts to build, flow and you move forward....

You are a good writer, a teller of tales. They will come again, you haven't lost your love of writing... What you've fallen into is staleness...
You need to just breathe for a while, let life in and sink into that... Imbibe life, do other things.

Try writing something different, non sexual perhaps... Just a few words...
Or just sigh and let life carry you to a new place...
Be strong
Kia Kaha my friend...
Breathe...
Be...

Cagivagurl

 

[Rob_Royale]

This surprises me. I have a Word doc with 77 story ideas written down in it. Just a small paragraph with a few key details that I thought were interesting. I figured that most of us would have such a file. Stories just waiting for my time.

On the subject of the half-finished but no longer feeling it, stories. I'm definitely there with you. Many times though, the Story Idea forum has saved me. Yes, there is some truly weird shit there with ideas full of ten foot pole marks, but every once in a while a little nugget of inspiration can be found. Sometimes those nuggets can save a dead story. Maybe search that forum for a post, sort of like your story and read the comments?

 

[Djmac1031]

I figured that most of us would have such a file. Stories just waiting for my time.

Oh I have several other unfinished ones. I never toss them away. Because yeah, you never know.

As an example: I started a story about a wife confessing her love of her old college roommate. The story flashes back to to how the two women first met and how the wife slowly realized she had feelings and desires for another woman.

The story petered out and I never finished it despite putting in 3 or 4K words.

Then I was writing another story ,one set in the fantasy Angels And Demons Universe Emily Miller and I had created, and as i was writing it i realized that I could use almost everything I'd written in the unfinished story to help tell this one, just change the character names.

And it worked perfectly.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I have maybe 20 or 30 that are very, very rough and need a full rewrite. I'm not sure any (more) of them will get done. Courtney was one, but may be the only.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

FWIW, I'm in the same space right now. I've got dozens of works in progress, or lack there of, and for the first time in years have nothing inn my pending folder. My muse is in the Bahamas, I think.

I do subscribe to MasterClass, which is a series of videos from masters in their field. The authors I've watched seem to agree that the key is to just write. It may be garbage, and probably will be(mine is), but just keep to the routine of sitting down to write. When the muse comes back, you'll be ready.

Hang in there, my friend..

 

[Cagivagurl]

FWIW, I'm in the same space right now. I've got dozens of works in progress, or lack there of, and for the first time in years have nothing inn my pending folder. My muse is in the Bahamas, I think.

I do subscribe to MasterClass, which is a series of videos from masters in their field. The authors I've watched seem to agree that the key is to just write. It may be garbage, and probably will be(mine is), but just keep to the routine of sitting down to write. When the muse comes back, you'll be ready.

Hang in there, my friend..

I think it becomes difficult, after you have written a couple of stories.
It's breaking the shackles. I find, I end up repeating earlier stories...
Then everything starts to look so familiar.
Like I'm just retelling, rather than creating something new...

Cagivagurl

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

One of my problems is they're all starting to seem the same, but with different character names.

 

[Actingup]

I guess the great news here is that hardly anybody is writing to pay their rent. It's perfectly okay to walk away for a bit, read a few novels, go on a fitness campaign, spend more time with the family, and then do more writing when the muse appears.

You could also play with different methods to see if something hits the spot. Chop your proto-stories up randomly and throw the pieces into a hat. Take a leaf out of Covey's book and 'Start With The End In Mind' - write the last paragraph first, and then work out how they got there. etc etc - but you know this already. The key point is that you have permission to change or withdraw your writing services.

 

[DeMont]

Good evening my dear DJ,
I'm not sure, yet, whether I meet the requirements for being in the Authors' Hangout but I will offer my words for what they may be worth.
StillStunned wrote; "Writing is draining. It's energising, but for every second that you're in the flow and the words are appearing on screen like magic, you're going to need time to recover."

Never, to my knowledge, were truer words ever spoken. I have sixty odd short to mid-length stories finished (Not Lit fashion) I have two novellas and two novels in progress, I have won two competitions and had one short story published in a collected works compendium. The one thing I have learned is that if the story does NOT want to be told then your mind, body and soul will not cooperate.

We are slaves to a cruel mistress.

Having said as much I have just sent off my second submission for the admins to review. I am happy with it, will they be? Who knows.

I approach a story from the point of view of NOT thinking about the sex aspect. I consider, research and assimilate information on a subject and use that as the basis for the story. I introduce and develop characters and write the story as a fiction piece. When I have finished that, edited it and I am happy with it I go back and insert the sexual aspect of it. I choose two (or more) of the characters and insert the sexual aspect. Take the pressure off yourself and write about a "subject" first. You may find that will break the "block" and the "ho hum" of writing about pure sex.

With deepest respects,
D

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I don't know what to do with the Kensingtons. I laid eggs for a Mommy-Domme angle, but do I expand on it? To what extent? Do I bring in outsiders, or keep it 'at home'? Do Mom and Dad reveal an outside play life previous, but not continuing? Do I add a CD angle making the son roleplay as another daughter for a while? If so, does Dad get to play with his new, but temporary daughter?

 

[WhiteTailDarkTip]

Femdom is not my thing. And I already have two other stories going and a third in the pipeline.

Sometimes people say things, toss around ideas on a story tidbit I have and it can get my own ideas flowing again. Not necessarily exactly what they say, but a single word or part of a thought can just hit the right trigger for me to see past my own hangups on the plot and get things flowing again.

I do this a lot with other writers. Story stuck in a curve? Well, what if this happens, or that, could this be a thing, would this work, what about this? Have you considered... And eventually something clicks for one of us. @WhiteTailDarkTip has been tossing ideas around with me for a while, and hopefully he finds it as helpful as I do, lol.

Surely do! I wish I could quote you as co-author more often (or even at all)

 

[Erozetta]

Surely do! I wish I could quote you as co-author more often (or even at all)

I prefer sitting in the background and helping with no acknowledgement whatsoever, lol.

I just like brainstorming and thinking about what ifs on stories. It's my favorite part of writing.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

sitting in the background ... with no acknowledgement whatsoever

Sorta been my whole life right there.

 

[Erozetta]

Sorta been my whole life right there.

Same and it makes me happy, lol.

I get no credit, but I also get no blame!

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Same and it makes me happy, lol.

I get no credit, but I also get no blame!

Oh, we can so fix that...

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Shel, I'm struggling with a question on a story .....


Deals with a sensitivity issue you may be familiar with.

 

[Erozetta]

Oh, we can so fix that...

I freely accept blame when warranted. Generally with writing, anything stupid that happens in a story I helped with, it's probably my fault. Head hopping in particular. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes not.

At work, though, that's a whole 'nother issue. I've tried to take the blame for things, only for my boss to then take the blame for me because she can't do the job without me (her words, not mine.) I know all the passwords and most things are set to 2fa to my phone. There are aspects that no one even knows I do, they are just quietly done behind the scenes and we don't get penalized. (Think safety and health inspections, tax payments, groceries, utilities, menu, marketing/ads, designing our logo and marketing material, etc.)

My boss meets with people and does the social thing. I keep everything quietly running behind the scenes. And that's exactly how I like it.

 

[8letters]

I've had Writer's Block before; started a story but couldn't finish it. Eventually I found my way through it.
:
Just venting i suppose.

Let me offer a suggestion that no one has offered - read! Read Literotica stories. Read classic novels. Read romances.

Some of my stories are responses to other stories - "They screwed that up! I could write a better version of that." But reading provides more that.

I once described to someone that coming up with a story idea is like making soup. I start with a small idea, and then I pull things off the shelves of my mental pantry and add them in to create a complete story. Reading stocks up my mental pantry.

 

[StillStunned]

StillStunned wrote; "Writing is draining. It's energising, but for every second that you're in the flow and the words are appearing on screen like magic, you're going to need time to recover."

Never, to my knowledge, were truer words ever spoken.

I'm a very wise person. Truth drips from my lips like gonorrhoea from a willie.

 

[Bamagan]

I'm a very wise person. Truth drips from my lips like gonorrhoea from a willie.

I've never been happier to be a liar.