So, here's a random-ish question that certainly has nothing to do with the fact that I haven't updated any of my fics for a while.

Every once in a while, you just run into a point where you can't quite make the writing come together. You have a good idea of where you want the story to go, but you just can't go from the main idea to actually producing written material. In other words, you've got writer's block.

So, what tricks do people have for getting past the block?

 

Depends what I'm writing and what the block is, to be honest. If it's a day I just don't feel like writing and the ideas aren't coming freely, I just won't write. The second writing becomes a chore for me, I know I'm not producing quality work and it'll always be below my standards.

Other times, if I'm lacking ideas, I'll go watch a bunch of movies, read a bunch of books, listen to a bunch of music, watch a bit of TV, and engage in conversation with as many people as I can. Just to get the sluggish idea flow going again.

Worst case scenario, I drink and I go out wherever my feet take me. I'll always find something interesting.

 

I have two: ram through the wall with words, shitty as they may be (then go back and fix it), or rewrite your last scene so that you're not in that stuck position anymore, the story has a momentum on its own and hopefully, another "way of escape" (I don't really know how to say this in English).

 

The only thing that works for me is writing something different. Either a totally different story, or skipping the trouble spot and writing the next scene. Bridging from the prior to the next-most section is a hell of a lot easier if you're finding that middle part tricky.

Despite the planning that goes into my writing, I usually write in a very linear way. Just the way my brain works. Breaking out of that structure via the skip-a-scene method is difficult to break into but works surprisingly well.

That said, I'd say there's a difference between genuine writer's block on what you're trying to get on the page, and simply losing interest in what you're writing. The latter is far harder to circumvent.

 

Play a game or something, keep a notepad on your desk. When you're loading or it's idle, make notes.

 

masturbate

 

If I am stuck with a new chapter, I just start writing, it doesn't matter what comes out, just provided it's words. Eventually you get into the rhythm of it and you can always go back and fix it (or delete the whole fucking thing in some cases).

If I am coming back to a chapter that I am half-way through, I re-read the last three pages, cut the last paragraph I've written into a separate file and then re-write it in the main file. Even if it's not as good as the first time I wrote it, it's still better than staring at a page wishing and I can always put it back in.

Generally by the end of that paragraph I've usually got my brain working again and can continue through and carry on writing. If I haven't, I go back and delete two paragraphs and repeat the same thing. Knowing the sentiments you're going to convey, but not knowing the exact words is easily the best way of dealing with writer's block for me.

The worst thing I can do with writer's block is not write, because it becomes insurmountable if you just leave it.

 

Yeah, writer's block gets very cumulative. The longer you go without writing the harder it gets to start back up again.

 

Word vomit onto the page. Seriously. Take twenty minutes and start typing the absolute first things that come to your mind - doesn't have to make any sense at all.

You'll be surprised. Helps.

 

Write down something in random about story, doesn't have to make sense, Then send that to yourself as e-mail.

Look at that later and try to make sense what you have written. It helps for the papers that I write now. Would probably help for the stories as well.

 

I'll throw in my half of the Knut.

Watching movies/reading something/doing anything else beside writing might help, but at the same time it takes away the time you could have been writing.

Usually one can use a mixture of writing two stories at the same time (to be able to jump to the one you are more inclined to write that day), planning future scenes, analyzing the already written stuff - looking for inconsistencies, thinking about alternate scenes and etc.

Having some sort of scheduled time for writing should help too, but I haven't fully tired that - my life is somewhat too erratic for such schedules.

Also - whenever you are not writing, think about the next scenes. You don't have to go through in full, but usually it helps notice in advance weather you have a problem or if there isn't one - have a phone nearby, to be able to write yourself a mail or at least a message whenever you have an idea. (A few years ago I would have recommended a notebook, but mail works better in that that it's hard to forget to read an unread (or starred or whatever) mail at home than to always take a notebook with yourself. Sadly a mobile internet is slightly more distracting than a notebook)
(I usually write a few notes to myself on the next scene just before the sleep most of the evenings)
This way you are preventing the block from starting, and win a war before the battle.

Somewhere on DLP there's a link to a blog of the guy who writes Dresden Files (Jim Butcher?). There was something about planning scenes - having the scenes fully planned in advance might also help.

If there's is a problem transforming a plan into a written word, well, you'll just have to try a few times, I guess. (Although that should be easy...)

 

That's the funny thing about writer's block; it's actually used to describe two different things: Lack of inspiration/ideas, or an inability to turn your inspiration into written word.

Problem is, the two have conflicting solutions. If you need inspiration, you have to go out and look for it. If you can't turn inspiration into writing, then spending time watching movies/reading what other people have written can actually contribute to the problem, because it becomes a procrastination excuse.

 

As I had the site open on another tab, and I've just been looking at the great swampy middle, I thought I might as well post the link, for easiness.

He suggests either a 'big middle' which is just a big event that sets up some info for the next section of the plot, like what Shezza did in his Denarian series. Or a complete mini arc, a new subplot or a new character.

Failing that, he suggests just writing, even if most of the words are drivel just to soldier through it and get somewhere.

 

In my case, it usually occurs when I have a starting point, have a desired outcome and can't get the fic from point A to point B. You know, when there seems to be a huge gap between where you are, plotwise, and where you want to get, that you find uncrossable because of various logical obstacles.

It usually turns out that the whole train of thought I've gotten on is utterly unproductive and I need to start rethinking the whole scene. If you're in this situation, chances are the whole premise is flawed and you're trying to force the fic into a direction that you don't yet realize it won't go in by itself. So far, in every such case I've encountered, I've gotten out of this dead end by discarding the whole plot line (or at least its specifics) and thinking up an alternate resolution that follows more naturally from the previous state.

Writing a scene you've thought of that's set further in time from what you're stuck at now can sometimes help too - like GL said, it's way easier when the task you're facing is just bridging the two. Although, that isn't - and indeed, shouldn't be - an escape out of all instances of writer's block, otherwise it means that your fic isn't referencing past scenes.

 

Do what butcher did. Get a mortgage.

 

Writer's block. As a part-time novelist and full-time poet (of sorts) I have dealt with writer's block in more than one form. However, my solution is usually to give it a day or two of good thought and rest, and when I feel up to it, I'll start writing again. Being prolific isn't necessary, and the 500 club is a good example of how you can do just a bit of writing everyday and get somewhere very quickly. Still, I prefer to write more than 500 words at once... since I'm capable of 70-75 words a minute that much tends to just fly by and I know I can do more.

But despite any talent or typing skill, I do get stuck. For example, We'll All Fall was started last April and is still unresolved even though I know exactly how I want it to end. Granted I broke my dominant hand in the meantime, but my point still stands. The only way to drag myself free from staring at a blank page is to fill it with whatever comes to mind. If it sucks, I just delete it and start over.

When I'm writing a chapter, I have a very good idea of where I want the story to go, at least at the chapter's end. I usually write them in two or three parts, with a scene break in between, and a day or so in between writing each part so that I can consider what I want to do next. Really, if you're interested in finishing a fic and have the free time to do it, there is no reason you can't turn out a chapter a week, writer's block or no.

I also take the time to go back and re-read what I have already written after I finish each part. It gives me a good sense of direction, and a lot of times I'll find a quirk that I liked about my writing that will lead me somewhere I had not previously thought of. This has happened exactly three times with my new story, once each with the introductions of Luna, Marcus Belby and Parvati.

In short, if you get stuck either take a break and reassess what you have written or write through it just for shits and giggles. Eventually something will occur to you to help pull you from your melancholy mood, and the extensive browsing of DLP to find something to spark your inner writer. Trust me, I've done it many times before.

 

I deal with writer's block by drinking one bottle of beer (no more) and then just writing on from where I am. The alcohol stops me from going back and deleting terrible bits, so I just write and write. In the morning I have a lot of crap stuff, but it will usually give me the general direction in which I want to head.