Writers Block

[ratito921]

So I've technically had writers block for about 8 years, well not completely because I blog but I can't seem to get going on my stories anymore. Any ideas how to get the thoughts going again?

[Laura]

That's a good, hard question.

I'm not awesome at breaking writer's block. I'm afraid if I were a professional writer I would have been very stressed out always feeling like I needed a new idea, etc, to the point that writing would no longer be enjoyable.

I took a short continuing ed. class about writing activities and sort of how to get away from being blocked and the teacher really stressed just pushing through it - like journaling even when you totally don't feel like it and making time to write, even if it's 15 uninterrupted minutes.

I like to take a day and get out of my normal schedule once in a while. Like this weekend I was in Madison, which is about an hour away and where I went to college, and I spent almost two hours yesterday morning just walking around the city by myself, snapping a few photos and just thinking, reminiscing, etc. It wasn't anything significant, but I just tried to clear my head of anything on my to-do list etc and just think and observe the city, life, etc.

I think in my day-to-day life I spend SO much time on the computer that a few days without really does me good, even 36 hours without...

just some random thoughts...

[tasksgirl]

LOL I know the computer really can make things worse.. I can't imagine a few days without it.. that's bad .. lol

[milliesmom]

I want to start writing as well. I can relate to the writers block, rat because that's what I feel I have. And having a computer is just so easy, you don't even pick up the pen & paper anymore. It's much easier to email than write a note anymore.
Us teachers, EMAIL each other rather than putting notes in each others' boxes. It's so sad :cry:

But you know, one morning at 3 am, I got up and started writing my own version of a 2nd HSL to send to CDJ. And that's the one that I think got my husband's case approved!

[milliesmom]

I want to start writing as well. I can relate to the writers block, rat because that's what I feel I have. And having a computer is just so easy, you don't even pick up the pen & paper anymore. It's much easier to email than write a note anymore.
Us teachers, EMAIL each other rather than putting notes in each others' boxes. It's so sad :cry:

But you know, one morning at 3 am, I got up and started writing my own version of a 2nd HSL to send to CDJ. And that's the one that I think got my husband's case approved!


Oh and we don't have animated EMOTICONS with Pen & paper! :cry: :cry: :cry:

[Dorothea]

Rat, the thing I've always thought would be the best for me to fight writers block is to carry a tape recorder in the car, and use it to verbalize ideas I get as a drive. Driving, for me, has always been a time when I feel inspired or have little poem ideas...
I used to try and write while I was speeding down the highway, because I'd start thinking of lines, but that ended up being a scary thing to do!
Try having a piece of paper/pen always with you, or a tape recorder, so at random bad times when creative thoughts come, you can jot them down instead of just losing them!
My first bachelors degree is English writing arts, concentration in fiction/poetry, but I must say, since then I haven't written much at all :( I think that the fear of not making anything out of it after all that school kind of shut me down.

[Stefceror]

The age old struggle. I've always had trouble with this. I've wanted to be a writer since I was a little kid, but I never got much of anywhere with it. When we were living in Santa Rosa I was finally able to find a routine that worked for me. Sadly since we moved I keep making excuses and have fallen out of the habit.

What I did was this: I went to Starbucks and got a coffee. The only time I was allowed fancy coffee from starbucks was when I was writing. So I got a bit of a treat. I took my coffee over to the downtown park. Green space, good benches, and a nice fountain. Visually interesting, but not too busy. I turned my ipod on to some carefully selected music. With people talking in the background I would be listening to them and not working, so I picked out some songs that I'm familiar with, nothing to bouncy or hard rocky, just normal kinda stuff that can fade into the background of my mind.

I sat there for at least half an hour at least three days a week and worked. I used to go out an hour or two before my husband finished work so he would stop by and pick me up on his way home. He knew I was supposed to be there writing and he always asked if I wasn't.

I think the important parts of this were:
-Eliminating distractions (especially computer)
-Reward
-Accountability

I feel like I should be able to sit and write anywhere without the need for the reward and accountability part, but I was never really able to. I also prefer to write on the computer, since I can type much faster than I handwrite (legibly, anyway) but I can't stay away from the internet, and when I'm reading I'm not writing.

Now I live on the peninsula and there's no local park. I tried just sitting at Starbucks, but it seems to not work quite as well. I'm still trying to find a new routine that will work.

[ratito921]

I get going going on projects and then just stop and can't pick them back. I really want to write a book, but I get so into it because it's so emotional for me I start to block things out again. I started a book when my husband left, 2 YEARS AGO and I can tell you that I haven't written in it since summer 06. That's sad because it's something I really want to do but just can't pick back up.

I think I have adhd or something because god knows I can't concentrate on anything, but then again, I'm so busy it doesn't really matter.

[Cynthia]

You need the good ol' friend==>Starbucks! :D

[ratito921]

oh yeah I wish we had a starbucks here :D hee hee

I would like you all to know that I have written two fanfics since Christmas...yay me! this is getting easier, now if I can just find the time to do it.

[henry12345]

Good luck with your story

[adeildo]

LOL I know the computer really can make things worse.. I can't imagine a few days without it.. that's bad .. lol

:ditto:

[Immi899]

Hi! I thought all the advice so far was great. I'm taking an online creative writing course right now, and it is the most I've written in years. For me it helps to know people are going to be reading what I've written; just knowing it WILL be viewed, if I like it or not, is an incentive to get something down. We had to read the book Writing Down The Bones, which talked a lot about journaling as much as possible. The author says to just write, and not think about wording and syntax until later, and to just get everything down on the page. She says to ignore our 'internal editor' that is telling us what we write isn't good or important and just keep going...you can edit later.
She also said not to have huge expectations for ourselves and that helped a lot. She said a lot of people she knows set out to right the next best american novel, and end up not writing a sentence because of the pressure. Don't expect everything you write to be good because it is a process. Even great authors write pages and pages of self pitying junk before what they really want to talk about becomes clear.
Also, I like to go to cafes (on the rare occasion I get the chance). I actually find it harder to write in silence than I do with people talking around me but that is just me.
Good luck!
me