Writer’s Block

Drugs. Whether you use them or the characters they’re the perfect solution to a lot of problems including inspiration.

@danny Lowell Thompson I’m having the same problem, gonna be watching this thread. I’m trying to write a sci fi graphic novel, my first post on here was actually asking for advice/good sci fi influences. But nobody knew me then so my thread got blown off. Oh well!

@danny, watch this. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

Don’t know what type of literature you’re trying to write, but I ran in to the same thing just the other week. I knew I wanted to write, but had no idea what to write about… so I wrote that I couldn’t come up with anything, and what ensued is one of my favorite poems I’ve ever written… https://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/permalink.php?story_fbid=10150564942201693&id=115355596692.

So if I could suggest anything, write the first thing down that comes to mind; then, see if something flows from there.

If that doesn’t work, find one of your favorite passages from anything you’ve ever read (book/poem/essay/article). Take a sentence or two and start with those; see if they can help guide you anywhere…

Those two usually suffice for me when I get the dreaded writer’s block

write about what would be least likely to happen next, the more ridiculous the better. It doesn’t have to be good or make sense just get back to writing and something good will probably come to you and then you can go back and erase all the nonsense you just wrote

“Write drunk, edit sober.” – Ernest Hemingway

haha I love this quote and I love putting it to action – it can create some great work

Oh no! You hear the sounds of an alarm going off in the distance! Someone has broken in!

I suppose that prompt falls under “causing tremendous animosity upon their luck” (Might I suggest paring your language?)

OH NO SOMEONE IS PREGNANT! Deal with that one!

Or better yet, SOMEONE HAS DEVELOPED A SAME-SEX ATTRACTION THAT THEY ARE UNPREPARED TO DEAL WITH!

I would read these stories.

Not really on topic, but your remark (BirdFlyingHigh) reminds me of this personally hilarious story. There was a contest to write as short an essay as possible covering topics including religion, sex, royalty, and mystery. A 16 year old from New Hampshire won with this entry:
“My God,” said the Queen, “I’m pregnant. I wonder who the father is.”

@sean laugh out loud.

The receptionist put down her notepad. The voice on the phone had been familiar… too familiar. She looked at the note she had just taken; suddenly sinister in its graphite loops.

How had she found her?

I personally think we should just bombard with story fragments until the writer’s block clears up.

Writing is the ultimate exercise in ego control. It is sooo easy to begin attachign yourself to your story or how you think others will receive your story.

This entire thread hits close to home. I used to want to be a writer.

I gave up writing because I was becoming obsessive with it; it wasn’t healthy.

I hope your writer’s block clears soon!

Also I can tell you’re stuck, because GOD DAMN does your original post have some terrible phrasing!

Take the titles of all the songs you have listened to today (or in the past hour or two) and list them, preferably in order. Write, with a song title beginning each new line. It never makes sense when I do it, but it’s fun :)

Just write and don’t think. Not spelling, not punctuation, nothing. Vomit your words upon the page. Do it every morning for 20 minutes. Don’t look at what you wrote for 2 weeks. Just keep doing it. You will become a better writer, and you will start to generate ideas without thinking. Otherwise you can spend a week fussing over a single paragraph.
I suggest you have a read of
“http://www.amazon.co.uk/Writing-Down-Bones-Freeing-Writer/dp/0877733759”
and if you are looking for spiritual motivation try
“http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Artists-Way-Discovering-Recovering/dp/0330343580/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330496673&sr=8-1”

@birdflyinghigh “I gave up writing because I was becoming obsessive with it; it wasn’t healthy.”

How do you mean? I feel like I NEED to start getting obsessive with it.

I felt like I was constantly going in circles rather than getting inspired

I always read to get inspired. My perspective + another ones = a completely new one.

Some red wine and a little isolation. Think about as much negative shit you can. Get into a foul mood, and resolve the emotional turmoil by pouring out the negativity onto the paper, after wich comes sunshine.

When I do this I find that the result is energetic and flowing naturally into poetic prose.

@birdflyinghigh I also aspired to be a writer, but I kind of dropped that dream when I found out my true intentions for that dream. It wasn’t the need or drive for telling stories, though in some part making them. It was only the lifestyle and freedom that pushed me on. As that wasn’t an honest reason for me to become a writer, I dropped it. I feel much more connected with what Im doing now, without the bad concience telling me that I should be writing.

If your style is a copy of Ernest Hemingway’s, try writing in a different style to see if that helps. Or do some background research on Hemingway and see what inspired him, and maybe you’ll find some inspiration for yourself along the way.
In my experience though, if you’re not inspired to write at that moment, then you’re not doing what you should be doing. If you can’t write anything it’s because you haven’t lived enough yet, or you haven’t been paying attention the way you should. Whatever it is that you need to do in this moment, go out and do it. Then come back and start writing. I’m sure you’ll see the difference afterwards. Best of luck to you!

dude, just write. doesn’t matter what, just do it. write sounds make shit up tell jokes that don’t make sense tell yourself what you see what is on your mind. write and you will get inspiration. and you can’t edit your work if you have nothing written down, don’t worry about how you sound or if you spelt something wrong keep at it for a few minutes or until you get a page or just set a goal.