Sterile in a fertile land.

[SweetWitch]

I am infertile.
I am unproductive.
I cannot give birth to a single creative thought.

It's possible I need a swift kick, or maybe chocolate. There might not be a diagnosis for this condition.

What do you do to get the creative juices flowing?

 

[HandsInTheDark]

If I'm feeling a lack of creativity, and I really want to write erotica for some reason, I'll either talk to people about their sexual fantasies, or, occasionally, look at (or recall) someone that gets me hot, and imagine what I'd do with her.

Reading other erotica just about never works - I get tangled up in all the things I'd change, and end up analytical, not inspired.

But unless you're doing it for money, forcing creativity when you don't feel it is largely a waste of time. If the words aren't writing themselves, that means it's not Writing Time.

 

[Handley_Page]

I am infertile.
I am unproductive.
I cannot give birth to a single creative thought.

It's possible I need a swift kick, or maybe chocolate. There might not be a diagnosis for this condition.

What do you do to get the creative juices flowing?

Either get you secreted block of chocolate from the 'fridge OR /and
have nice relaxing cup of tea, perhaps ?

 

[oggbashan]

Fertile land?

A few of us have some green shoots. Most of us have dry soil.

I find that taking a break for a few days can help, or reading a few stories by other people, no matter how awful those stories might be, can spark a few ideas.

But turning the ideas into a story? That's hard work and I have so much else to do in August.

 

[SikFuk]

There's always Stephen King's "what if?" approach.

What if the husband comes home early and finds his wife fucking a cucumber in front of a mirror? What if she's deep-throating another cucumber at the same time? (making those ultra-sexy gagging noises.) What if she's crying because she can't orgasm? What if, instead of a mirror, it's a laptop skyping video? What if the elderly neighbor is peeking through the bedroom window? What if her 18-year-old son is the one peeking through the window?

What if the neighbors decide to throw a 70's style key party?

What if the wife goes to have a counseling session with her pastor at church, but when she gets there 10 minutes early, she catches him jerking off into the donation plate? (Hey, I really like this one.)

You can tack a "what if?" onto just about anything.

 

[someoneyouknow]

Music. Play various types of music and see if they generate creativity.

The book I hope to write (non-erotic) was inspired both by a song and an article I read.

Get your mind off writing your story and your mind will do the rest.

 

[TxRad]

I have several DVD's of photos I have collected over the years. The number of stories that come to mind while browsing there is astonishing.

Sometimes i take a trip somewhere just to watch people.

 

[SweetWitch]

There are some lovely suggestions here. I tried to O.D. on an entire library of film noir, but it didn't help. Bogey usually helps, but he left me with a dry well.

 

[DreamCloud]

Music. Play various types of music and see if they generate creativity.

Music is the key. Bathe your mind in it, erasing the rest of the world. Close the door and dance poorly. Once your body is loose, your thoughts will travel to new worlds and unique situations.

Or you could just mow the lawn. Any thoughtless, menial task seems to work just as well.

 

[MatthewVett]

If the usual isn't inspiring you, try the unusual. Watch a TV show you never thought you'd be interested in. Read a new book. Maybe even try brand new media, like graphic novels or something else that might be new to you.

 

[Tigersman]

The one thing that can really get my creative juices going, is to go grocery shopping. Every time I go grocery shopping, I get to see pregnant women which definitely lights my fire. I end up creating a story in my mind which in turn becomes an impetus for working through any writer's block I have at the moment.

 

[Carnevil9]

Check out the Story Ideas forum down the hall. Lots of good ideas there, free to a good home.

If that doesn't work, try drinking copiously.

One trick I use is to always carry a pen and paper with me, and jot down random ideas as they come to me. Over the course of a week, I'll have a dozen interesting ideas. But they are unlikely to pop into my head as I sit at the desk, hands hovering over the keyboard.

 

[49greg]

OK here is my secret for writing erotica.

Please note that I have NOT been doing this.

My best sex scenes, at least the ones I like, have been written using this, in fact my best stories and inspirations have been done when I use this method.

I'm not saying that it will work for you, or that my work is all that good.

BUT it is something that works for me. Again, I haven't been done this for a while.

My secret? It sounds easy but isn't.

Don't have sex for a couple of weeks. I assume that the time period will vary, but for me a couple of weeks is good, a month is better. This includes self sex.

At that point, with no sex for a period of time, the creative juices flow and flow.

I've never experimented with edging. I don't have that kind of self control.

Edited: another thing I've noticed, the more time I spend on this forum, the less enthused about writing I am.

 

[oggbashan]

I'm rarely short of inspiration; I'm short of incentive to convert the inspiration into text.

 

[glynndah]

I am infertile.
I am unproductive.
I cannot give birth to a single creative thought.

It's possible I need a swift kick, or maybe chocolate. There might not be a diagnosis for this condition.

What do you do to get the creative juices flowing?

Would you like to adopt a few of mine? I have several out there, playing in the streets, loitering on corners in shady neighborhoods and knocking over trash cans in alleys. There's obviously no adult supervision at all.

 

[Desiremakesmeweak]

I kid you not - there's a company which makes stuff called 'Living Helpers.' These are little phials with droppers in the top.

One of their products is called 'Essence of Creativity.'

It says on the label that you stick a couple of drops under your tongue or a few drops in small glass of water to be taken at sunset.

Here's their website:

https://livingessences.com.au/

 

[SamScribble]

I kid you not - there's a company which makes stuff called 'Living Helpers.' These are little phials with droppers in the top.

One of their products is called 'Essence of Creativity.'

It says on the label that you stick a couple of drops under your tongue or a few drops in small glass of water to be taken at sunset.

Here's their website:

https://livingessences.com.au/

A couple of the 'essences of creativity' that I find work quite well are Bordeaux reds (especially Ch Lynch-Bages) and New Zealand sauvignon blancs. A couple of drops under your tongue and several (large) drops at sunset. Don't bother with the water though.

 

[JackLuis]

I kid you not - there's a company which makes stuff called 'Living Helpers.' These are little phials with droppers in the top.

One of their products is called 'Essence of Creativity.'

It says on the label that you stick a couple of drops under your tongue or a few drops in small glass of water to be taken at sunset.

Here's their website:

https://livingessences.com.au/

It's from Colorado, isn't it?

It may help creativity, but what about productivity?

 

[Handley_Page]

Would you like to adopt a few of mine? I have several out there, playing in the streets, loitering on corners in shady neighborhoods and knocking over trash cans in alleys. There's obviously no adult supervision at all.

Your concern does you great credit.
And I think you are a natural comic writer.

 

[glynndah]

Your concern does you great credit.
And I think you are a natural comic writer.

Wow! Thank you very much.

A from the good little witch.

 

[The_Fool]

Wow! Thank you very much.

A from the good little witch.

One of these days you are going to be bad and I want to be there.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I've got starter ideas but then about half the time I can't figure out what to do with them. I think I'll go back to my blog and write about tweed coats and shotguns for a while.

 

[rjordan]

I'm rarely short of inspiration; I'm short of incentive to convert the inspiration into text.

That's me. I get story ideas all the time from everywhere. Sometiomes they wake me up in the middle of the night.

I jot down each idea in Evernote, then it's, OK, what else is there? And I'm looking for new ideas. The ideas become the point instead of the story.

Every story I've actually finished has gone from idea to final draft in 3 or 4 days (I never write more than 2 Lit pages). I couldn't wait to start writing it and then couldn't stop until it was done. Effortless writing, almost.

If I stop writing, I never can get up the enthusiasm to restart that story. It's old news.

Any idea older than a few days that doesn't get started seems to just sit there in my notes. When I read over them, they still look like good ideas. I just can't generate any enthusiasm to spend the time writing them.

But nobody's paying me, so I get to treat every day as Saturday now. And I write for myself so unfinished stories have served their purpose.

rj

 

[Handley_Page]

I've got starter ideas but then about half the time I can't figure out what to do with them. I think I'll go back to my blog and write about tweed coats and shotguns for a while.

Send me the link, please

 

[SweetWitch]

I'm rarely short of inspiration; I'm short of incentive to convert the inspiration into text.

I think that's the problem I'm having these days.