dreadpiratenobeard
Virgin
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Anyone care to help me relax and let my mind flow?
Writers Block...
- Thread starter dreadpiratenobeard
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Hypoxia
doesn't watch television
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Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream.
Switch it back on before you submerge and drown.
Meanwhile, follow an old hack's advice: Set aside time, like four hours each day, exclusively for writing. You may not actually write something, but DON'T DO ANYTHING ELSE then. Don't read, putter, play, work, cook, jack/jill-off, email, garden, drive, anything. Use that time to either write, or think about writing. If you think about writing long enough, you'll get bored, and maybe you'll write something. Have fun!
Switch it back on before you submerge and drown.
Meanwhile, follow an old hack's advice: Set aside time, like four hours each day, exclusively for writing. You may not actually write something, but DON'T DO ANYTHING ELSE then. Don't read, putter, play, work, cook, jack/jill-off, email, garden, drive, anything. Use that time to either write, or think about writing. If you think about writing long enough, you'll get bored, and maybe you'll write something. Have fun!
lovecraft68
Bad Doggie
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When I have a hard time "feeling" writing, I go back and read some of my stories to try to get me back in the flow.
If that doesn't work I try to find something to do that's relaxing and lets the mind drift.
For me what that's throwing darts for a while. The board is hung up in my office and I just throw. I don;t keep score or even aim for anything specific I just toss them and forget about everything else.
usually after a bit I find if I go back to the lap top I can focus better.
Going for a run helps as well, but not this winter
If that doesn't work I try to find something to do that's relaxing and lets the mind drift.
For me what that's throwing darts for a while. The board is hung up in my office and I just throw. I don;t keep score or even aim for anything specific I just toss them and forget about everything else.
usually after a bit I find if I go back to the lap top I can focus better.
Going for a run helps as well, but not this winter
dreadpiratenobeard
Virgin
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I always have good intentions when I start...trying to carve time, I ave a habit of letting my mind wander. I really need to work on that.
Thanks!
dreadpiratenobeard
Virgin
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2014
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When I have a hard time "feeling" writing, I go back and read some of my stories to try to get me back in the flow.
If that doesn't work I try to find something to do that's relaxing and lets the mind drift.
For me what that's throwing darts for a while. The board is hung up in my office and I just throw. I don;t keep score or even aim for anything specific I just toss them and forget about everything else.
usually after a bit I find if I go back to the lap top I can focus better.
Going for a run helps as well, but not this winter
Yeah...maybe I need to head to the gym and wear myself out. I like that idea.
TxRad
Dirty Old Man
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Blind_Justice
Universe builder
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Do you get stuck writing something specific or can't you get going at all?
When I'm writing a specific story and hit a block, usually it helps to shelf it for some time and write something totally different. Pick a subject you haven't tried, switch up your style (write 3rd person if you normally write 1st person or vice versa), pick a different setting or time. Don't write a story at all, just build a character or drscribe a location or item in the most detailed, obsessive way possible. Most of these experiments end up in the ideas drawer, but once in a while, I manage something releaseworthy. Of course, this approach sucks when dealing with deadlines.
Also, it may be helpful to simply get some input from outside. I like to bounce problematic sections off my wife or my editor. Happened often enough that I wanted to get somewhere so badly plot-wise, I made my own life needlessly complicated. Sometimes the simple act of formulating WHY you're stuck can help you clear that block.
Of course that's assuming you've hit a snag in your current project. If you can't get a story off the ground in the first place, you might ned better advice than I am able to give
When I'm writing a specific story and hit a block, usually it helps to shelf it for some time and write something totally different. Pick a subject you haven't tried, switch up your style (write 3rd person if you normally write 1st person or vice versa), pick a different setting or time. Don't write a story at all, just build a character or drscribe a location or item in the most detailed, obsessive way possible. Most of these experiments end up in the ideas drawer, but once in a while, I manage something releaseworthy. Of course, this approach sucks when dealing with deadlines.
Also, it may be helpful to simply get some input from outside. I like to bounce problematic sections off my wife or my editor. Happened often enough that I wanted to get somewhere so badly plot-wise, I made my own life needlessly complicated. Sometimes the simple act of formulating WHY you're stuck can help you clear that block.
Of course that's assuming you've hit a snag in your current project. If you can't get a story off the ground in the first place, you might ned better advice than I am able to give
StrangeLife
Eater of beef
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- Jun 3, 2013
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Unless you're gainfully employed as a writer ignore it and go do something else. If you have to force yourself to work on a hobby project, it's not "a hobby" any more...
J
JAMESBJOHNSON
Guest
I don't have the problem.
All you need is an attention whore title, a drive by shooting in the first paragraph, a crisis that's more than prom gown angst, and a clever end.
All you need is an attention whore title, a drive by shooting in the first paragraph, a crisis that's more than prom gown angst, and a clever end.
Zeb_Carter
.-- - ..-.
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When I have a hard time writing, adding to a current story or starting a new one, I just open a new doc and pick something from my past and started telling the story about who, what, where, when, how.
Sometimes that get me out of the slump, sometimes it doesn't.
But for a little while I forgot about not being able to write and that just might carry over to something I want to work on.
Sometimes that get me out of the slump, sometimes it doesn't.
But for a little while I forgot about not being able to write and that just might carry over to something I want to work on.
Hypoxia
doesn't watch television
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I recognize a couple different sorts of blocks. The easy one is, can't get a story started. The easy cure is, think of a title, then write the first line. Make them work together. Like:
. BLACK HOLE SUN - When the end of time came, I was enjoying great anal sex.
The hard block is, can't figure where to go next. That's when I dip into my pool of plot gerbils and throw in some gratuitous events, like when I broke my foot. Eventually, the characters in my head start reacting and talking and doing stuff. Then the story starts moving again.
The hardest block is, can't finish the story. How is the fucker going to end? Sometimes the characters take me there. Sometimes I just diddle around until something happens. Or fake a cliffhanger and write NEXT: JOSIE FUCKS THE SOCCER TEAM.
Sure, there are other approaches: Start at the end and work backwards. Or just don't let the story end, make it hang there like mucus from your nose.
Or you can plagiarize.
. BLACK HOLE SUN - When the end of time came, I was enjoying great anal sex.
The hard block is, can't figure where to go next. That's when I dip into my pool of plot gerbils and throw in some gratuitous events, like when I broke my foot. Eventually, the characters in my head start reacting and talking and doing stuff. Then the story starts moving again.
The hardest block is, can't finish the story. How is the fucker going to end? Sometimes the characters take me there. Sometimes I just diddle around until something happens. Or fake a cliffhanger and write NEXT: JOSIE FUCKS THE SOCCER TEAM.
Sure, there are other approaches: Start at the end and work backwards. Or just don't let the story end, make it hang there like mucus from your nose.
Or you can plagiarize.
