Writer's Block

[sirhugs]

Mine got muted by a nosey fat dog.

that dog just wants to be worked into the story somehow- maybe the MC takes the dog for a walk?

 

[MillieDynamite]

She comes to life now and again, often that means she splits for some beach where she tempts men and drinks frilly foo-foo drinks with umberellas. Mueses can be such bitches!

did your muse ever wake up?

 

[sirhugs]

She comes to life now and again, often that means she splits for some beach where she tempts men and drinks frilly foo-foo drinks with umberellas. Mueses can be such bitches!

does she come up with ideas of stories set on that beach, doing evil things to those men?

 

[sirhugs]

for me, muse is not the trouble today- it is the depression telling me just not to bother.

edited to add: I zapped the black cloud with enough caffeine that I was able to add on to all three works in progress. Fading fast already though. Insomnia sux.

 

[MillieDynamite]

That makes the hours you can't sleep ideal for writing!

for me, muse is not the trouble today- it is the depression telling me just not to bother.

edited to add: I zapped the black cloud with enough caffeine that I was able to add on to all three works in progress. Fading fast already though. Insomnia sux.

 

[MillieDynamite]

She did, and we are having a long coversation about what I'm doing and she is insisting I get back to writing. She's also pissed at me for outing her on vacations.

did your muse ever wake up?

 

[sirhugs]

She did, and we are having a long coversation about what I'm doing and she is insisting I get back to writing. She's also pissed at me for outing her on vacations.

I think I'd like your muse.

 

[sirhugs]

The dark clouds stayed away long enough for me to add to all three stories early today. With luck, I might have a second run at it later...

 

[MillieDynamite]

Oh, she's terrific, just unpredictable.

 

[NuclearFairy]

I finally got inspiration for a short story that I got writers block on back in March!

And then after two paragraphs writers block hit again.

Oh well, back to writing about my mermen and orcs I suppose.

 

[Djmac1031]

So I think I honestly just need to stop.

I have been struggling with two different stories in hopes of finishing... SOMETHING.

I thought perhaps having an Author Challenge event to enter them in would add some incentive to write.

The more I try, the more I realize neither story is any good. If they were i could come up with a satisfying ending.

Writing used to be fun. Characters and events filled my brain, fighting to spill out into written words. And I couldn't wait to write them.

It's not fun anymore. If anything the repeated failure to transform ideas into words that make a coherent story is just getting depressing and putting me in a foul mood.

And so maybe I just gotta stop. At least for now.

 

[iwatchus]

If it's not fun, walk away, at least for a while. Do something completely different.

Maybe it will become fun again. Then you get to come back. Maybe it won't. But at least you can having fun somewhere.

If it doesn't bother you too much, keep in touch here even if you aren't writing. Several regulars here are in dry spells.

 

[sirhugs]

Coffee helps me. I'm not even done my morning cup, but have already added 200+ words to each of the three draft stories. The secretary story still flows best, and is the longest so far, and the nearest to completion. The stepdaughter story is next in length overall, and roughly equal to the tentacle monster story for today's addition. The stepdaughter story though has a lot more plot left to develop. Other than preparing to post the secretary story first, it is still not clear what order these stories will appear, or exactly when.
But I'm already wondering what to write next. The block lingers behind those dark clouds over there on the sick side of my mind.
A month ago, I thought I was done. now I'm not. Consider these to be words of reassurance and encouragement. Time is on your side.

 

[sirhugs]

So I think I honestly just need to stop.

I have been struggling with two different stories in hopes of finishing... SOMETHING.

I thought perhaps having an Author Challenge event to enter them in would add some incentive to write.

The more I try, the more I realize neither story is any good. If they were i could come up with a satisfying ending.

Writing used to be fun. Characters and events filled my brain, fighting to spill out into written words. And I couldn't wait to write them.

It's not fun anymore. If anything the repeated failure to transform ideas into words that make a coherent story is just getting depressing and putting me in a foul mood.

And so maybe I just gotta stop. At least for now.

Take a break if that is the best bet.
Or if you wish, I have 223 words of a story beginning that I abandoned during my blocked period that I would happily donate to you to see if you can be inspired to do something with them- even if you don't use them for more than to say "I can do better than that".

 

[Djmac1031]

Take a break if that is the best bet.
Or if you wish, I have 223 words of a story beginning that I abandoned during my blocked period that I would happily donate to you to see if you can be inspired to do something with them- even if you don't use them for more than to say "I can do better than that".

I appreciate the offer, but I have more than enough of my own abandoned words at the moment.

 

[StillStunned]

So I think I honestly just need to stop.

I have been struggling with two different stories in hopes of finishing... SOMETHING.

I thought perhaps having an Author Challenge event to enter them in would add some incentive to write.

The more I try, the more I realize neither story is any good. If they were i could come up with a satisfying ending.

Writing used to be fun. Characters and events filled my brain, fighting to spill out into written words. And I couldn't wait to write them.

It's not fun anymore. If anything the repeated failure to transform ideas into words that make a coherent story is just getting depressing and putting me in a foul mood.

And so maybe I just gotta stop. At least for now.

Being creative takes energy. It can be energising too, once you get the momentum going, but you need the initial impetus to get there.

If you don't have that energy right now, trying to force it will be like pushing your car because you're out of petrol. You'll exhaust yourself for very little gain or reward.

The good news is that if you're creative by nature that energy will come surging back. Just give yourself permission to not write. You've probably reached the point where you're doing it more out of habit than any desire to produce stories. Break that habit. Read a book. Take a course on something that's completely unfamiliar to you. Let information flow into your brain for a while.

The hobby will still be there for you if you decide to come back.

 

[sirhugs]

the first work in progress (My Father's Secretary ch. 2) is drafted.
Having focused on that this morning, now must find the mindscape to return to loving tentacle monsters or stepdaughters filling in.
Once again, my thanks to all who helped with my writer's block, even those who just listened.

edited to add: then the anxiety and the depression decide to play ping pong in my brain, getting in the way of any possibility of writing, or doing anything else productive.

 

[sirhugs]

managed to knock out 200+ words on the tentacle monster story. Not saying they are good words, but they fill the blank space and briefly occupied my brain.
Now if I could just find a doorway back into the stepdaughter chapter... I'd prefer to finish that one first, and it is likely going to be the longer of the two, given the population of characters and their well established kinkiness. But if I post the secretary story next, then stepdaughter, then tentacle sex, the incest will be nicely spaced between two other sorts of tales.

 

[sirhugs]

even managed to add to the stepdaughter story.
then played bridge & cheered up.

 

[sirhugs]

the tentacle monster is finally probing up out of the drain. So that story is moving.
Now, if only the doorbell would ring in the stepdaughter story.

 

[sirhugs]

I had the morning off, and time to think at my medical appointment, so I mentally sketched out the rest of the structure of the stepdaughter story. It is now over 3500 words. Just need to fill in 3 or 4 sex scenes. That will be tricky, since I always find five person sex hard- one person seems to always get sidelined. So I'll leave that for another day.

 

[sirhugs]

Better day today so far. Updated both stories to the tune of my "minimal self-expectation" of 200+ words. Will see if the muse emerges from the clouds with more words in my brain to translate to pixels.
Writing two such very different stories is both exhilarating and challenging.