Writer's Block

[niektete.livejournal.com]

Dear chaps and chapettes, I need a few good tips, if you can spare me some.

I am working on a Jooster fic, which I have rather high hopes for. Longish, about four chapters/10,000 words I estimate (unless the plot bunny mutates horribly). I have the whole story worked out in my head, I wrote the first chapter with great enthusiasm and then - writer's block. I can't seem to write a single sentence without grimacing at it afterwards.

So, in short - what do people do when they have writer's/artist's block? How do you get your creative juices flowing again, so to speak? I'm asking since even my usual routine of tea, books and biscuits didn't work, and I really, really want to finish this fic :)

Thanks in advance!

Comments

[fstohell.livejournal.com]

I write a lot - I actually want to be a published author if I can ever finish anything I write.

I went on a creative writing course and the teacher there gave me some ideas that I find really work.

One is have routines; listen to the same pieces or types of music for example.
Always write at the same time of day if possible and always write something even if it's terrible eventually your brain will get the idea and start writing stuff that you can use.

Another is when you have writers block come away from your computer (or whatever) and do something else. Do some house work or the one that helps me is to do a jigsaw puzzle. It's got to be something logical or manual anyway.

I've managed to write something 300 pages long and counting using these techniques.
Hope this helps!

[toodlepipsigner.livejournal.com]

Personally, I get the same exact way (why else do you think C. C. took a month to re-write?).
While I'm sure the above techniques are a more conventional and equally effective set of tips, I personally skip to a spot in the piece that I really, really want to write. A dialogue, a setting scene, (yours, for example probably has smexings that you may or may not want to hurry along with).
That usually gets my motivation back on track and gets the creative juices flowing *and it's fun*.

Also, if you incorporate in your story little tiny pieces of occurrences in your own life (especially recently; dialogues, clips of phrases, tedious events) that tends to get things started up a bit. We can all write about what we know, what?

Let me know if you try it/if it helps at all. Good luck! Looking forward to the fic immensely, pudding.

[niektete.livejournal.com]

You know me so well; however did you deduce that I was going to put smexings in my fic? :P Sadly, though, the smexings are currently angst-ridden and plot-entwined. At which I fail, of course. But thanks awfully just the same; I'm going to shuffle the scenes a bit and see if it helps ^^

[ataratah.livejournal.com]

Oh man, writer's block is practically my middle name.

I've found that thinking about what you're going to write when you're not near the computer helps - so, think about the next scene when you're washing the dishes, or on your lunch break, etc. There are certain times of the day when your imagination is more "on" - even if that's not a good time to write, if you know when that time is, you can start doing some pre-writing thinking. For me, thinking about stories in the shower or bath is a 99% effective way to get something started. There's something about the bathroom. Weird, but true. Basically, if you are thinking about the story all day, when it comes time to write, everything will be a little easier.

Also, fstohell is totally right about having a consistent writing time every day. I hate having schedules and routines, so I really fought this idea when I first heard it. But, it works.

Anyway, these are all things I've tried - hope they help.

[queen-fiend.livejournal.com]

The shower works for me too! Weird.

[triedunture.livejournal.com]

Oh man, it's totally simple to overcome writer's block. Listen! Here's all you gotta do:

1. Drink. Or do some other bad thing that you like doing. Smoke. Drop acid. Whatever. Just do something to lower your inhibitions just a little. Because that's what writer's block is: inhibition that is keeping you from writing out of FEAR that it will not be any good. Which is silly! You can always rewrite if it's not any good.

2. Skip the next linear scene and go to the next. You said you had the whole story plotted before you began. So take back your control. Write another part of it and come back to the problem part later.

3. Drink some more. That's pretty much it, actually.

[toodlepipsigner.livejournal.com]

Writing while on acid sounds quite dangerous. Before you know it Bertie has morphed into a four headed monster and Jeeves is a robot made of a thousand snakes that change color and wear purple polkadotted tutus.

At least those are the kinds of experiences I had... sans Jeeves and Bertie.

[triedunture.livejournal.com]

It sounds like a rollicking good time though!

[toodlepipsigner.livejournal.com]

Eh drugs nowadays are shit. When I was growing up it was only the 90's but the acid wasn't as horrible as it is now. You could still get it without Windex in it back then... that and ecstasy at its summit...happy days...

Er, right, what's this community about? =\

[georgeodowd.livejournal.com]

I have found this to be dreadfully true... I hardly ever drink except in social situations, but the one time I tried to write after a few beers, it was so blastedly easy! Drat!

[blackletter]

9 times out of 10 when I have writer's block it's because I don't really know where I'm going with the story. If I have an outline, it might mean that the next bit of the outline is too vague, or has a faulty logic leap or character motivation that needs hashing out.

So my cure is usually to step back from the writing, go to my outline and flesh out step by step what needs to happen to take me from point C to point D. Once I know what that is, I plonk myself down in the chair, put on my writing music and turn the new and often extensive notes into narrative, trying not to worry if is sucks (because it can be edited later) but just building that next bit of the bridge that will get me to the next scene.

[delilah-joy.livejournal.com]

I'm with trieduntrue: you have to get past your inhibitions, "turn off your inner critic," and so on. Here are a couple of things that work for me:

1. Set a timer (for any amount of time--ten or twenty minutes is good), and just make yourself keep writing for that whole time. You can write *anything*, but you have to keep writing. Assume that what you actually write won't be a part of the finished story, but try to stick to the approximate subject: "Okay, so Bertie and Jeeves are in the car, and I have to get them to Aunt Dahlia's. What's the weather like? What are they talking about? At some point, Jeeves has to mention something about the letter he found..." This can help because it takes the pressure off--since you're not writing something that's going to be in the actual story, it doesn't have to be good. Just assume no one else will ever see this particular page of writing. (The secret, of course, is that somewhere along the way, you *might* actually end up writing something you will use.)

2. In a similar vein, you can set yourself a goal in terms of length--"I can't get up from this chair till I've filled up one whole page." Again, assume that what you're writing probably won't be in your final draft--the point is just to get you writing again.

3. If you're stuck at the beginning of a chapter, just write out every possible first line you can think of for the chapter--maybe one of them will click.

Good luck!

[ruffian174.livejournal.com]

I will agree on the shower or on a couple of glasses of red wine... Red wine specifically tends to give me weird dreams, and it's usually worth the headache.

The other thing I find works is a nice walk in the evening, especially if your neighbourhood is quiet. This time of year, I strap on snowshoes and make for the park close to my home. Great for the waistline and for the brain to think creatively... Also, bring a small notepad in case brilliance strikes and you're a bit too far from your keyboard.

[storyfan.livejournal.com]

I second the writing of non-linear scenes. This is what I do to break myself free of writer's block. You might have to change a few details in the scene later on, but that's minor.

[jameta4all.livejournal.com]

If I knew the answer to that I wouldn't be trolling the internet all night XD

Personally I like to have several different kinds of fanfiction on the go at once. That way if I'm in the mood for angst I can write the angst story, if I'm in the mood for funny I can write the funny story.

If you can't write Jooster right now, try writing anything at all. Do a mini one-shot of something else. Don't try to make it good - it's not for publication after all.

Of course if it does turn out good then you'll have another story under your belt :)

[mxdp.livejournal.com]

Can I just shout "yay, Jouster, you!"? I'm sorry I can't help with this one...

[emeraldreeve.livejournal.com]

I do what I call writing through it, that is basically what everyone else said. I force myself to write-even if I know that I'll probably delete the whole thing eventually. Once I get myself started that usually works. I listen to music and that helps me. For me, being disciplined with it helps, too. I write something on one of my stories, even if it is only a few sentences, every day. I think in the five years I've been writing, there has only been one day that I did not write at least a paragraph. Thinking it out ahead of time and having an outline helps me, too. Sometimes research for the story gives me ideas and helps me to write.

Best wishes!

[storyfan.livejournal.com]

Your efforts have given us some wonderful fic, too.

[emeraldreeve.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm looking forward to more of your stories!

[pantropia.livejournal.com]

Can't do it. Either I have my writing head on, in which case I'm just about incapable of doing anything BUT write, or I don't, in which case there isn't a snowball in hell's chance of me writing anything even halfway decent. And I really don't

[pantropia.livejournal.com]

...sodding keyboard. See, I can't even manage to write a comment without cocking it up.
I really don't know any way of changing to writing-head and back again.

[toodlepipsigner.livejournal.com]

a snowball in hell's chance of me writing anything even halfway decent. And I really don't

BOLLOCKS
*ahem*
Take it back. You're super. Where would we be without you?

[pantropia.livejournal.com]

I really must stop using shared machines and forgetting to log in. *sigh*
It's a Writing Head On thing. If I'm not in the right headspace to write, I write shit.

[georgeodowd.livejournal.com]

I'm not one to provide sound advice on these matters, because *ahem* I take about nine months to write one rubbish chapter, but... here are some things that have been slowly having an effect on me:

(1) Don't make writing your number one priority. I actually got this advice from a freelancing website in an article on how to stay productive. If you're like me, you're going to procrastinate on whatever has the most pressure on your to-do list. So don't make it writing... make it washing some underpants, or cleaning the precarious stack of dishes in the kitchen. Then when you write, you still get that little guilty buzz of putting off the thing that's been irking you for weeks.

(2) Get outside. About 90% of all my plots and plot breakthroughs have come from taking my horse for a walk in the forest, or going for a run around the lake. I find getting away from all this bleak technology does wonders for my creative drive.

(3) My favourite: National Novel Writing Month. This puppy teaches you to write BALLS TO THE WALL. 50,000 words in 30 days. You don't have time for writer's block. It's not meant to get you from zero to a publishable manuscript (although for some lucky bastards, it does)... it's meant to teach you how to write when you think you can't. I figure if I do it eleven more times, I'll finally get over my hang-ups and learn how to just write. But for now, it's certainly taught me that there's only one way to get it done, and that's to write now, edit later!

Good luck! We need to see more from you! :D

[georgeodowd.livejournal.com]

Oh, I knew I forgot something. When I get stuck in the midst of it all, as I am right now, in fact, I find that reading aloud really helps to (a) make an objective pass at the whole thing and (b) get back into the flow of the story. The best part of this is attempting a Bertie-voice in the privacy of your own home. :)

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

Some of the things I do, both for fic and for published nonfic writing:

Keep a notebook around all the time. This helps to not let any of the good ideas get away.

If you get too distracted by the aethertubes, take your laptop and get out of the house away from the web. Go to a coffeehouse or the library or someplace that doesn't have wireless and work on things there.

Have some cheerleaders. You need betas too, but cheerleaders help keep your interest and your morale up when you're writing and you can look back at happy cheerleader notes or emails later on and be encouraged.

Find someone to write with. Sometimes just sitting down at a table with someone else who's there to write can be a strong reenforcement. You both know you're there to write and, while you can have a little conversation too, there's always that bit of pressure that you are there to write and you won't want to look like you're not writing in front of your writing friend.

Collaboration can work well for some people, particularly if you have complementary strengths. When one person is feeling overwhelmed with the project, the other one can pick it up and run with it for a while.

I don't have a formal job so I end up being at the computer a lot of the time. I keep the file or window open that I'm writing in so that I can go back and forth from other stuff when something whacks me upside the head.

That hypnogogic state between waking and sleeping is great for lovely fic ideas. So is the shower, as a few others have pointed out. Dreams can be useful material as well. Play with the images you get. This goes back to the Keep A Notebook item: having it nearby when you wake up means you can scribble down bits of dialogue or images or whatever comes to you before it escapes.

Practice with fic prompts! They can be short and fun and you can toss them off when you're stuck on something else. They'll keep the brain juices flowing happily as the main project percolates in the background.

Give yourself a little reward of some sort when you meet particular goals. It doesn't have to be anything big or important; maybe take a break and watch a movie if you've written three pages, or whatever. If it acts as incentive, use it.

Be an obsessive insomniac. Also, be insane. At least, that works for me.

What? It does!

I write something every day, even if it's an email or an LJ entry. Even when I'm not working on a project, I'm usually writing something because I spent most of my life online. This doesn't always help me finish my projects, but it does mean I get practice every day in saying things in an at least somewhat understandable manner.

This is stuff that works for me. I've had two books professionally published, I have essays or poetry in at least half a dozen more with a couple of others coming out this year, I edited a collaborative book project, and I've had articles published in a number of magazines over the years. Last night I finished a paper for an academic anthology, and I don't have any degrees to speak of, just some really good research juju. I'm currently 53,000 words into an AU Jooster Epic of Doooom with Doomsauce and still running; I'm in chapter 4 of 8.

It's doable. Just keep kicking at it.

[niektete.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much, everyone! I'm going to take these good ideas and go run with them now. Hopefully, I'll be back with fic before long :)