whoa, writer's block

[tempisfugit]

This writer's block is bad, really bad.  Maybe it's a lack of prompts, maybe it's just a funk (work has been sucking my soul away lately), or maybe I'm just distracted by the seasons changing, but I cannot focus AT ALL.  Any advice

Comments

[jadeandlilac]

GURL I have the same problem--my writing (with original fiction even more so than fanfic) is short, heavily stylized, and image- rather than action-heavy. I think this is why I'm also finding my got_exchange fic hard to write and stressing myself out unnecessarily over it

[tempisfugit]

thank you for all of the amazing advice!!! I decided to start in the middle of my story, and it's been much easier.

This exchange fic is really kicking my ass. I like the pairing in my prompt, but the prompt itself is on the more vague side, so I've been struggling. Plus I have this massive anxiety that I haven't been doing as much work on it as everyone else and it's going to be painfully obvious. Sigh, new writer problems.

I finally did like a basic outline - even wrote out what I wanted the basic gist of the story to be - and now I'm going vignette by vignette. 480 words yesterday, half of them fairly rubbish, but it's a start!

[mezzogiorno]

Sometimes I fear it's just a funk. Maybe try and take some prompts you would NEVER normally pick, and see what happens. Maybe you'll get some inspiration for them, or maybe the lack of inspiration for those will translate into inspiration for what you do want to write.

Another thing I like to do is just open a blank document, and just type away without thinking, setting down the stream of consciousness. From there it can sometimes be easier to reconnect :)

[tempisfugit]

I think it's definitely a funk, which makes it that much more problematic (I usually use writing to get OUT of funks - I'm in trouble if writing is now getting me INTO funks...)

I tried the stream of consciousness last night except I took a blank notebook and wrote it out in pencil, which felt strangely satisfying in an elementary school kind of way. Watched some Eccleston Doctor Who episodes and wrote for several hours - turned out pretty well, I think! Fingers crossed it carries over to today/this weekend.

[wintergreen126]

This sounds pedantic--and may have something to do with the fact that classes started today--but perhaps try some outlining? to at least get a general structure and hopefully make the process of writing something longer less daunting.

If you need some beer and brunch therapy, we can make that happen.

[tempisfugit]

I did feel like I was back in school - I outlined my scenes, wrote a really sketchy description of what I wanted the overall story to be like, and then just dove in with a scene that seemed easiest. So yeah, 480 words. Not my most productive day, but hey, I'll take it. I'm dreading going back over what I've written though - eeps.

My lovely boss is buying me lunch, so that should be rather therapeutic. If only it could be a drinking lunch... sigh...

[sephystabbity]

For me, I find it easy if there's something to inspire me. When I need to draw/write something and my mind is drawing a blank, I either go straight to my mp3 and put on some songs or I go around trolling tumblr for some quotes that will inspire me to write something. It usually works better than me staring at a blank page ; )

[tempisfugit]

I think that's part of my problem - I haven't been able to find the right inspiration. I ended up watching Doctor Who for like 7 hours and, while enjoyable, it didn't really go with my doom-and-gloom writing. And my music seems to have just been frustrating me lately. Any good suggestions?

[sephystabbity]

Well, for me it changes according to fandom. But I think (and a suprising number of other people have noted this too) Mumford and Sons' songs are perfect fits for the ASoIaF universe, for instance. The tone of the songs and their lyrics are quite similar to the tone of the series, and I've read some great graphics/fics inspired by the similarities.

[lydzi]

Oh I so have te same problem!! I got better though (well at least I like to think so). I still prefer short ^^.

Maybe cheat a bit? I do that I admit. I write little pieces and then just tie them together in the end. It's sometimes easier that way :p.