Writer's Block.

[SatSekhem]

I finally sit down to get some serious work done on my WIP and all of a sudden, I'm stuck. This is beyond frustrating. I've brow-beaten myself to finally stop putzing around and this is where I end up. So. What do you-all do when you're suffering from writer's block?

[Rhyshadow]

I finally sit down to get some serious work done on my WIP and all of a sudden, I'm stuck. This is beyond frustrating. I've brow-beaten myself to finally stop putzing around and this is where I end up. So. What do you-all do when you're suffering from writer's block?

Work on a different story - while I've yet to finish one, I have about 4 or 5 running at the same time, all in different universes (I'm an F&SF guy).

So my advise would be to work on a different one, or start one. Of course for me, it's not the 'destination' (finished product) that's the be-all and end-all - it's the journey.

YMMV

[Altair]

Work on a different story - while I've yet to finish one, I have about 4 or 5 running at the same time, all in different universes (I'm an F&SF guy).

So my advise would be to work on a different one, or start one. Of course for me, it's not the 'destination' (finished product) that's the be-all and end-all - it's the journey.

YMMV

Good advice. A friend who just had his first fantasy novel published also recommends skipping to the end and writing that.

And to the OP: If it makes you feel any better, SatSekhem, I'm blocked too, after going gangbusters last week. Very annoying.

[SatSekhem]

Good advice. A friend who just had his first fantasy novel published also recommends skipping to the end and writing that.

Technically the ending is already finished. I'm re-writing an old piece so that I can get it out and into the world! I do have to re-write the ending, though...

And to the OP: If it makes you feel any better, SatSekhem, I'm blocked too, after going gangbusters last week. Very annoying.

It really is obnoxious!

[Annie Roonie]

I finally sit down to get some serious work done on my WIP and all of a sudden, I'm stuck. This is beyond frustrating. I've brow-beaten myself to finally stop putzing around and this is where I end up. So. What do you-all do when you're suffering from writer's block?

When I know that I have something to say but am blocked about how to say it I use the sonnet to get me going. The topics vary and are not as important as the structure and being precise about it.

There is something about that kind of rule set that allows my words to organize themselves and line up accordingly to take turns trying out for a line. In the many mini searches for the exact words and the tapping out the beats, my head gets to chomping at the bit for prose and it flies thereafter. Often I have stopped mid sonnet thinking that I was ready to go, only to get halfway through an essay and need to finish the darned poem. Once the whole is working on its own to form something smaller but whole, there seems to be a transfer in understanding that allows for an essay to do the same thing.

For the blocks that come when I do not know what I want to say, I write rants or record the happenings of the day or make lists. These chores tend to spark things that may or may not become larger, but they do set me to thinking about more than a blank slate.

[Lokabrenna]

What do you-all do when you're suffering from writer's block?

Sometimes I would get stuck writing a paper for school. When that happened, I stopped thinking about it. I took a bath, relaxed, read a book, did the dishes. Actually, some of my best ideas have come from flashes of inspiration I had while doing the dishes, and then I'd abandon the dishes to write the idea down.

So, I guess I treat writer's block like it's a lost object. I stop looking and do some sort of low-stress activity.

[SatSekhem]

Sometimes I would get stuck writing a paper for school. When that happened, I stopped thinking about it. I took a bath, relaxed, read a book, did the dishes. Actually, some of my best ideas have come from flashes of inspiration I had while doing the dishes, and then I'd abandon the dishes to write the idea down.

So, I guess I treat writer's block like it's a lost object. I stop looking and do some sort of low-stress activity.

Dishes. Hm...

[Juni]

So, I guess I treat writer's block like it's a lost object. I stop looking and do some sort of low-stress activity.

This. Sometimes letting stuff simmer on the backbrain can really help.

I also go wander the internet for inspirational imagery. Pictures- particularly photography- are a major creative trigger for me.

[Altair]

This. Sometimes letting stuff simmer on the backbrain can really help.

I also go wander the internet for inspirational imagery. Pictures- particularly photography- are a major creative trigger for me.

Music--esp. music from the movies--is usually my creative trigger. I guess it helps me visualize something, and/or puts me in the right frame of mind in terms what mood or emotional effect I'm going for...and then often it's easier to translate that into prose.

[SatSekhem]

Music--esp. music from the movies--is usually my creative trigger. I guess it helps me visualize something, and/or puts me in the right frame of mind in terms what mood or emotional effect I'm going for...and then often it's easier to translate that into prose.

Music of any sort tends to help me. This may be because I have to drown out a certain four-year-old...