I. can't. write.

antiquixotism · Dec 23, 2009

Does anybody else fall into situations where they just can't write? I'm driving myself crazy. I try and write, and then I hate what I write and then I just want to go to bed. I'm going to drive myself mad if I don't do something about this! Any suggestions?

Matera the Mad · Dec 23, 2009

Take a week off from writing.

AlterEgox5 · Dec 23, 2009

Matera's right on. Take a break before you go crazy. Or write something else that you don't need to focus on. Let yourself ramble. Don't care about how good it is.

Trust me, most of us get to that burnt out point some time or another. A break is a good thing.

Kalyke · Dec 23, 2009

Have you accomplished anything?

ejaycee · Dec 23, 2009

Just write about how you feel, how your day was, what you want to do, what you're reading, describe your surroundings—whatever comes to mind. You don't have to read it, but it does help ease that blocked-up feeling you get. Plus, sometimes some pretty great stuff can come out of spontaneous writing like that.

I find it works for me. The feeling I end up with when that happens is like someone's put their foot on my hose while it's on, and the relief of writing a rambling few pages about nothing much is like the pressure's relieved. Don't expect wonders from yourself. Just write.

A lot of the time things like this happen because you have unrealistic expectations of yourself, even if you don't realise it. Nobody expects a first draft to be perfect, and even the best of the best (you know, those authors you think of with such awe it sends shivers down your spine) will often write total crap, probably more often than not.

Let go any ideas you have of grandeur—at least for now, and push that damn foot off the hose, and start writing.

In fact, when you've finished writing, put it aside. Don't reread for another few days, or even weeks. A lot of the time, when you reread right after, you can get frustrated with yourself. "This is crap," you say, and throw it in the bin. But maybe, after some time, allowing yourself to cool off and detach yourself from it, maybe it won't look so terrible.

I know that this has been a long, rambling reply, but I hope I've been of help!

Exir · Dec 23, 2009

Use Her Name said:
Have you accomplished anything?

Ouch, that's particularly harsh. Jumping to hasty judgements much?

CK Matthews · Dec 23, 2009

Just get away from the computer and stop writing for a while. Take a walk or do something else that's creative. Give yourself time to get excited about writing again. Use this time to read. Reading the words of others will give you more than enough fuel. Good luck.

RevisionIsTheKey · Dec 23, 2009

I've had days where I just could not write too. Could not even write the "just write anything" kind of stuff. (Journaling actually stresses me out; always has.) Thought I would never want to write again, but it passed. It always passes.

On those bad days, I read instead of writing. I read the kinds of stories and books I want to produce (and it often gets me over my slump.) I also use my slump time to read books on writing (which I don't have time to read when I am not in a slump.)

Relax. You'll be back soon. :e2cheer:

Wayne K · Dec 23, 2009

I went outside yesterday and shot my snowman.

I can't write when I'm depressed, it's the only emotion that does that to me.

I don't drink when I get that way, and I'm kind of beat up so I can't go for a run or anything, but I still need a jolt to the system to get clear of it sometimes. So I got up and grabbed the pistol, and shot an innocent snowman.

Then I wrote a love scene that I'm in love with. My wife, before she went to sleep, said "I read that first chapter, it's great"

I'm not advocating for snowperson violence, and pleae children, don't try this at home.

Wayne K · Dec 23, 2009

I don't know how old you are, so suggestions are tricky. I'd just say, go do something that inspires you. Move a muscle, change a thought. Something like that.

Go have fun. Get away from the computer for a while.

EclipsesMuse · Dec 23, 2009

This is good advice posted so far.

I had this problem a few weeks ago. Every time I tried to sit down at my computer to write I got frustrated. When I even thought of my novel I got frustrated.

So, after 5 hours of venting on yahoo messenger, I decided to take a break. After a few days I had the urge to work on a short story. As, i worked on it, ideas for my novel started forming in my head. I have come to the conclusion I was trying to hard to get the story out.

So, I agree with Matera, Do something else for a little while to relieve some of that stress you are feeling.

Cassiopeia · Dec 23, 2009

Don't take a day off from writing. Go do something physical then write all your personal stuff down in a journal in Word so you can type it fast and then plant your backside in your chair and write even if you think it sucks.

bettielee · Dec 24, 2009

Do something else you love.

Just for a little while.

and think about writing, and then you will discover if you love writing enough to get you back to it or not.

gothicangel · Dec 24, 2009

Quite frequently! There have been times I considered quitting the idea of getting published.

Which may be a part of your problem. Stop trying to be 'good enough' and write for fun. You can sort out problems in the rewrites.

Cassiopeia · Dec 24, 2009

gothicangel said:
Quite frequently! There have been times I considered quitting the idea of getting published.

Which may be a part of your problem. Stop trying to be 'good enough' and write for fun. You can sort out problems in the rewrites.

I agree, that sorting out the problems in the rewrites is the only way to handle this. I'm just a bit niggly about you saying to stop trying to being good enough. The only way we get better is by reaching to better our talents.

gothicangel · Dec 24, 2009

Should have re-phrased that. I think 'being good enough' is something to be sorted in the re-writes. I've got bogged down in the 'trying to be perfect in draft 1' and it killed my creativity for ages.

When I write a first draft, I think plot and character then more plot and character. I worry about the technicalities in later drafts.

Maxinquaye · Dec 24, 2009

The real writer's first lesson to learn: first drafts are word-vomit. Resist the notion to edit it, or you'll be stuck editing what you've already written, and second-guessing yourself, when you should be writing new stuff.

Been there, done that, a lot

Sophia · Dec 24, 2009

antiquixotism said:
Does anybody else fall into situations where they just can't write? I'm driving myself crazy. I try and write, and then I hate what I write and then I just want to go to bed. I'm going to drive myself mad if I don't do something about this! Any suggestions?

Don't aim for perfection with your first draft. Try thinking of it as a first tiny step. Once you've got those first words down, now you're on the second step, which is to improve it. This is also the next N number of steps, where N could be 1000... but it could also be 2 or 3. You don't know until you try it, and you might be surprised how quickly you get your story close to how you'd like it to be. Hating your first draft isn't something unusual, but an understandable reaction to something that still needs a lot of work, so try not to let it stop you continuing with the other necessary steps. Keep going, one step at a time, and you'll get there.

NeuroFizz · Dec 24, 2009

I. can't. write.

Yes. You. Can.

Tell us what is going on in the scene you are working on right now. DO NOT tell us what the entire story is about. Don't even tell us about genre or anything other than the immediate scene. Who is in it? What is going to happen? What is the setting? Time of day? What is the tone of the scene? Is it a happy scene? Sad? Tense? How will the scene end?

C'mon. Give it to us. It doesn't have to be in any detail. Just tell us.

YAwriter72 · Dec 24, 2009

Read! When I get stuck like that, I read a good book. It always loosens the muse and words.

Elias Graves · Dec 24, 2009

I just keep plowing on. If its garbage I can always rework it or toss it later. I find that by keeping my habits going I get back into the groove a lot faster. If I take a break then I sometimes find it difficult to get going again if I quit for a while.

EG

Clair Dickson · Dec 24, 2009

Ask yourself-- why do you hate what you have written? What is it about those words that you hate? Are they stilted sentences-- fixable in a rewrite. Does the plot seem stalled-- what needs to happen next to get things moving again?

When I get stuck on my writing, it means I have a problem with what I'm writing or how I'm writing it. I can spend days on the same [expletive deleted] scenes. For me, going off and doing something else doesn't fix the problem-- that's like my attempt to get out of doing the dishes by cleaning my office. Dishes were still waiting for me. For me, it's necessary to figure out what my problem is, then work on solving it. Usually, it's plot problems. I'm writing garbage because the plotting at the time is garbage-- filler scenes or cliched tensions that I don't immediately realize are filler or cliched.

ALL writers get frustrated with their writing. Not all writers think this means that they can't write. Most just think they are temporarily having trouble, but that they can overcome it.

"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right." ~Henry Ford

Jamesaritchie · Dec 24, 2009

If you hate what you write, stop reading it. But I think the best advice has already been given. If you can't write, then don't. Go do something else. No time limits, no worries about getting back to writing. Just go do something else and let nature take its course.

Libbie · Dec 24, 2009

Cassiopeia said:
Don't take a day off from writing. Go do something physical then write all your personal stuff down in a journal in Word so you can type it fast and then plant your backside in your chair and write even if you think it sucks.

I completely agree with this. Yes, we all have times when we think everything we do sucks out loud. And it probably does. I don't think the answer is to stop writing. The answer probably is to do something else in addition to writing -- at least, that helps me. But it's too tempting to turn that day or week off from writing into a month or a year. That won't help you be more creative, and it won't train your brain to get yourself through these slumps.

Mix up some new experiences into your day, and keep writing daily, even if you hate everything you write. Eventually you'll start to love it again.

Life is very short. Don't waste a day's worth of words. I wasted almost a decade because every time I sat down to write I hated what I produced, so I would go long spans waiting for things to improve. They never did until I just accepted that I hated my own writing and worked through it anyway. Now I love my writing. Nearly all the time.

Cassiopeia · Dec 24, 2009

I know it's hard to hear, I know it's really hard work, I know we lose confidence over what we are doing, I know we can obsess over it but that's the nature of being a writer.

I have learned not to think TOO much when going through the first draft. It's like any other job, it's work, it's work EVERY day. We don't get to NOT show up for work at job where an employer is paying us to be there and on time.

If you are writing just for the heck of it then it's no biggie but if you have a goal in mind, then that goal HAS to be a part of your regular routine. Just like any job you can schedule your time away but not for days and days and I don't recommend you take a day off at all from writing. Even if you are writing in your journal and not on your WIP, write EVERY day. Something, even if it's 200 words.

And hold yourself to a standard that doesn't allow for angst for more than a half hour. If you are getting stuck on AW for large blocks of time, chances are you're being distracted.

Writing is not only an art, it's a discipline.

I. can't. write.

a modern-day existential alice.

Bartender, gimme a Linux Mint

Expert Procrastinator

knows nothing of your ruined garden

Out of the cradle endlessly rocking

Beta reader on the look out.

Sigh...

Questing

Otherwise Occupied

I'm a sparkly fairy princess!

Toughen up.

Otherwise Occupied

Toughen up.

That cheeky buggerer

The grad students did it

someone let me off this crazy ride

Unrealistically Optimistic

A dark core to every cloud

Worst song played on ugliest guitar

Otherwise Occupied