Writers Block

[Maze_Runner]

I have been in writer's block for an extremely long time, and am just starting to get out of it but I'm not fully. I've barely started to. Writing is my thing and I want to write so so bad but I just... can't. Does anyone have advice? Anything?

 

[HelloHound]

what I do is open a blank word document, put on caps lock, and then write out silly curse words or the outline of a plot until I feel things start to unclog in my brain

 

[icey6]

It’s all mental. If you say you’re blocked then you will be. Just let loose and write.

 

[Sola-sama]

My method is not to 'unclog' writer's block, but instead, mitigate it.

I do this by writing things that I found interest in a note. For example, I once discussed with someone about current trend of cancer treatment (with the use of CRISPR, which is literal gene-therapy), and I think that's interesting so I put them into my notes. When I need to find references about biotech, I can always refer back to my notes.

This could also be applicable to superpower (Like for example if you're reading onepunch man), I bet there are some kool abilities that you wanted to plagiarize use as reference. If you write so much things into your notes, you can use them as a method of 'unclogging' the writer's block, but this, once again, is not a method of unclogging but rather mitigating it.

 

[Deleted member 113259]

Imagine having writer's block. Couldn't be me.

It actually could. I spent a whole week on a four-parter.

Never again.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Okay.

Go on say... youtube. Here...
A playlist of music videos that I have come across over the years and said, "That made me feel something." Go hit random until you find a video that is something along the lines of the emotion you want to make the reader feel.

Daydream about a scene that has not happened yet.

It does not have to be the NEXT one. It could be the LAST one. It could be your happy ending. it could be a side plot. it could be a fight scene. it could be romance. it could be a betrayal. Whatever. Just play it out in your mind. Have fun with it. Then write it down.

I wrote the end of HKN years ago. The final 8 chapters were finished before I finished the first 8. I am up to chapter 111. I still got maybe another... 5 chapters to go before I FINALLY connect to the ending.

You see, I also write 3 times what I need. I then throw out half, then carefully pair down the remaining until I have the absolute bare minimum that I need to write the story. Remember, 50% of what you write will be below average. if you throw out half of what you write and only keep the best, then what you write will always be above average. What happens to the stuff I throw out? I have a folder called, Cutting Room Floor.

So when I am in a hurry and I need to write something FAST, I can just go to the Cutting Room Floor, put out some random shit, then rewrite it to fit what I need RIGHT NOW.

For example, Hotrod Lantern was a story I wrote on a weekend I was bored with no real plot in mind. When I found myself going, "I have nothing to publish. I need filler." I took out Hotrod, cleaned it up with ChatGPT, ran it through a spell checker, and I have a novelette as filler.

If you are doing this writing thing, seriously, get in the habit of overwriting and throwing out half. Get in the habit of writing random shit. Whatever pops into your head. Then throw it aside and forget about it. YEARS LATER, you can dive into your Cutting Room Floor folder and root around for ideas.


PS, if you are really screwed, let me know, I'll banter with you to try and give you some ideas of what to write.

 

[ElijahRyne]

I have been in writer's block for an extremely long time, and am just starting to get out of it but I'm not fully. I've barely started to. Writing is my thing and I want to write so so bad but I just... can't. Does anyone have advice? Anything?

I get it quite bad quite often. There are a couple of things that I do.

1. Write something else and come back when you feel you can. If that doesn’t work then I force myself to write one sentence and then quit for the day.
2. Edit what I have written, be that fixing errors, grammar, or polishing dialogue. I can usually improve it to some extent after a hour or two.
3. Rewrite what you are working on.
4. Start plotting out and planning future scenes and chapters.
5. Get a random word and write a chapter in your story based on it.
6. Take a day or two off.
7. Do some research on any topic that interests you.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Oh yeah, that's another option.

I've taken to going back to the start of my stories and taking chapters and feeding them into chatGPT and saying, "Rephrase the following paragraph." Then I hybrid the original and the new one. I always minimize the number of words I use. Less is more. don't waste the reader's time. So, I skimp on the fluff. ChatGPT puts the fluff back in.

But only rephrase paragraphs. When you ask it to rephrase sentences, it gets stupid. REAL stupid. it will try to make your words Woke. it will always de-escalate/remove violence and try to make your writing cringe. It gets worse when it has a single sentence. A paragraph at least forces it to stick to a topic. ONE PARAGRAPH AT A TIME. Trust me. The thing was coded by communists and it really tries to fuck with what you are writing.

But it's free, so, you work with what you got. And I like seeing things from another perspective. ChatGPT tells me what NOT to think, so if it hates what I am writing, I know I'm on the right track.

Reediting the start of your story to tweak it for improvements will help you remember plot lines you started and have not completed.

 

[Shard]

One option is to go search up writing prompts and see what you can come up with for those. I personally recommend having a specific spot/time/whatnot that you always use when writing, and mostly or completely avoid otherwise. This can help get you into the writing mindset by creating a pattern your brain picks up on. I've got a chair I use almost exclusively for writing, and it helps a lot, though it isn't perfect.

 

[ElijahRyne]

Trust me. The thing was coded by communists and it really tries to fuck with what you are writing.

Has it asked you to join a union or to take over your workplace?

 

[Sola-sama]

The thing was coded by communists and it really tries to fuck with what you are writing.

I'm a communist and I can confirm that we code that to specifically fuck you.

Just kidding.

Or am I?

 

[LitrpgBird]

I have been in writer's block for an extremely long time, and am just starting to get out of it but I'm not fully. I've barely started to. Writing is my thing and I want to write so so bad but I just... can't. Does anyone have advice? Anything?

Write nonsense words on something until you see patterns, then go write.

 

[3guanoff]

Music! Turn on the music and keep going until you find a song that flows. Then let your ideas loose. You can always revise later.

 

[Piisfun]

Writers block?

Is that:
Edible?
A place where all the writers live?
Something I can build with?

 

[Rhaps]

When I have a writer block, I just create new characters so I can bait myself into putting them in my story. I am very good at gaslighting myself

 

[EliseValkyria]

I think that a good way to overcome it is to implicitly write, I mean obviously, but what I mean is that you need that initial kick.

Find a way to write that first paragraph and then the rest of the capillary will come without thinking about it or looking for it.

Many times when I have to write a new chapter, I start with the most interesting part that I want to happen in that chapter,
I mean the chapter goes from the preparation of the bank robbery to the escape. I would start by writing, for example, when they are just a couple of steps away from opening the vault, and then I will write the previous parts once I am "in the zone".

And always try to write what you want to write, otherwise there is no point in doing it in the first place. Do you have to do a boring filler chapter and then write that next interesting chapter?

Well, change that, try to change what happens in that boring chapter for something interesting. Just think, if you as the author are bored of writing some chapter, imagine how eager your readers will be to read it later.

 

[VictorDLopez]

I think the best antidote to writer's block is to read widely and to write through the block. I know it may seem a contradiction, but the process of writing primes our mental pumps. It does not have to be writing about anything substantive or relevant to whatever caused the block in the first place. Stuck on a topic? Try stream of consciousness. Write a poem. Read a few chapters from a favorite author. Don't obsess about being stuck. Write. The dam will break.