So I've decided to try and write something, and was off to a fairly good start, then of course what happens? Writer's block. I can't seem to think of what to put down next. My question is what are some peoples different idea's that they use to get past this very frustrating situation? I just was hoping I could gather a few different idea's to try out and see which works best for me. Thanks
Writer's block...
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SamScribble
Yeah, still just a guru
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I don't think Joseph Heller's here at the moment, but apparently he said: ‘Every writer I know has trouble writing. The first thing is to stop worrying.’ I find that’s a good starting point.
Sholem Asch reckoned : ‘… writing comes more easily if you have something to say.’ Are you sure you do? Or do you need to rethink your original idea?
And personally, if I get ‘stuck’, the first thing I do is print out what I’ve written so far (sorry tree lovers), read it, and then ask myself: Do I really want to know what happens next? If I do, the problem is solved. If I don’t, I start something new. But I seldom don’t throw away the false start. It’s surprising how useful false starts can be a year or two down the track.
Good luck.
Sholem Asch reckoned : ‘… writing comes more easily if you have something to say.’ Are you sure you do? Or do you need to rethink your original idea?
And personally, if I get ‘stuck’, the first thing I do is print out what I’ve written so far (sorry tree lovers), read it, and then ask myself: Do I really want to know what happens next? If I do, the problem is solved. If I don’t, I start something new. But I seldom don’t throw away the false start. It’s surprising how useful false starts can be a year or two down the track.
Good luck.
culloden
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This is good advice. To it I would add, write something. Anything. Get it down. Delete the bad stuff. Moving forward slowly is better than stagnation.
subwannabe
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This may be a stupid question, but what are you trying to write? I think we are all just assuming that it is a Lit story. In any event, you have gotten some great advice.
rosco rathbone
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There's no big mystery. When you're blocked, just write the first thing that comes into your head. It's not that you have no ideas, it's that you're rejecting the ones you do have because you think they suck, which they probably do.
Doesn't matter. Write anything and fix it later. Usually, once you get going, you'll come up with something better.
"I don't know what I think until I see what I say".
Doesn't matter. Write anything and fix it later. Usually, once you get going, you'll come up with something better.
"I don't know what I think until I see what I say".
SimoneLisbon
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Writing Down The Bones
Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg is an excellent resource and owning a copy is great for getting over writer's block. I just read a section of it and that usually shakes something loose in my head.
The best advice I've found in the book is, "It's okay to write crap. At least you're writing something."
I've made this a little mantra when I get stuck or I have writing blocks. Giving myself permission to write badly, just as long as I keep writing has turned out a couple of great gems when I go back over the writing. Yes a lot of it is crap, but often something shakes loose into a great story idea, or I wrap myself up in this is so bad I can never post it. I can delete it, or save it for another day.
Either way, if you want to be a writer you only need to write, and write, and write, and write...
Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg is an excellent resource and owning a copy is great for getting over writer's block. I just read a section of it and that usually shakes something loose in my head.
The best advice I've found in the book is, "It's okay to write crap. At least you're writing something."
I've made this a little mantra when I get stuck or I have writing blocks. Giving myself permission to write badly, just as long as I keep writing has turned out a couple of great gems when I go back over the writing. Yes a lot of it is crap, but often something shakes loose into a great story idea, or I wrap myself up in this is so bad I can never post it. I can delete it, or save it for another day.
Either way, if you want to be a writer you only need to write, and write, and write, and write...
rosco rathbone
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I don't think what you have is "writer's block". You're just stuck on a certain section and unsure how to proceed. Happens to everyone.
Writer's block is: can't write at all, ready to blow your brains out. Hopefully you'll never experience that.
Writer's block is: can't write at all, ready to blow your brains out. Hopefully you'll never experience that.
Nasty_Deeds
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Sometimes when you are stuck on a story, you can put it aside and let your mind wander to other story lines. You may find the story you are trying to write is not all that interesting to you.
Never throw a partially completed story away, but by put it aside and work on something else for a while. In a week, a month or six months, the rest of the story may come to you spontaneously. Usually, trying to force a story just makes the block worse.
Take your time, explore other story lines, and let it come to you naturally. It's not unusual for a short story writer to complete other pieces of work while waiting for an idea on the first one. Not everything has to be done in chronological order.
CWatson
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Read. A lot.
I wrote my first erotic story in something like April of 2003. Seven and a half years later, I got laid for the first time. While nobody has ever praised my work as particularly arousing, the point to be made is that you can fake any amount of sexual content if you read enough.
The secret is that pornography & written erotica have nothing to do with real sex. They're all about fantasy, wish fulfillment, unreality. This makes total sense if you think about it: the average American male (unlike scrawny bespectacled Asian me) can get "real sex" basically any time he wants to. So why would he turn to pornography for more of the same boring, humdrum stuff he can get in bed every day? Naw; he'd go for the more exotic stuff--unusual skin colors, fetishes, bondage, anal, even incest--and we provide it for them. (In theory. All my stories give the boring humdrum stuff, but that's because all of them were written when I wasn't even getting that. Now that I'm finally "a real man", I've noticed that my stories are swinging much more in the typical bluedragon / Nick Scipio direction.)
So. Go to the "Top Lists" for Erotic Couplings and just start reading, story by story, until you've got a picture of the traits they all have in common. What descriptions are you seeing over and over? What's the progression of actions and/or positions? What character traits (if any) do the leads have in common? Process all that, and then just vomit it out again. It doesn't matter if it's realistic, it doesn't matter if you feel it, doesn't even matter if you think it's hot: it's what the public thinks is hot, and they won't complain if you serve it up for them. Fake it 'til you make it. =)
