Symptoms of Writer's Block

ProtoMatic · May 4, 2011

Or, what do the expression Writer's Block mean to you?

For me, I have my story all laid out neatly in headlines (chapter names?) so I'll remember sequence of events and such, and I also have notes on things I know I need to add for each chapter.

So, for me, writer's block isn't about being stuck on making up what comes next. For me, it's agonizing for hours, days or weeks over how to start a paragraph, for example, or the first line in a chapter. And until I have that initial sentence, I can't justify going forward. That's writer's block for me, and it usually means I'm stuck looking at that part of the story from a very limited perspective, and most often when I solve it, it's because I've turned that part on it's head in my mind and looked at it from an entirely new angle.

How does writer's block manifest for you, if at all? And what seems to solve it most often?

bluntforcetrauma · May 4, 2011

Mine is brought on during my plunges into depression. Once I can see daylight again, writing flows pretty well. YMMV.

Jamesaritchie · May 4, 2011

The symtom of writer's block is not writing. The cure is sitting your butt down and writing.

You can't justify not going forward.

ProtoMatic · May 4, 2011

That's not answering the questions I posed though. Where in your process do you experience writer's block, and how, if at all, do you relieve it?

To answer your.. comment.

Jamesaritchie said:
The symtom of writer's block is not writing. The cure is sitting your butt down and writing.

That's quite like saying that the symptoms of ebola is being sick, and the cure is to not be sick anymore. :tongue

Jamesaritchie said:
You can't justify not going forward.

Maybe you can't.

I'd rather work on a different area of the story for a while.

TheMurf · May 4, 2011

For me writers block is nearly always the best way to frame a chapter. I know what should happen in that chapter but how do I frame it.

This involves fitting it in with previous and future chapters, POV to use (sometimes I switch to a different first person for special chapters) and, as you say, what the heck words do I start with.

At this point I put it at the back of my mind and go off to do something else. The answer usually comes from my subconscious and then I am off and running again. Until next time

heisei · May 4, 2011

I don't believe in writer's block.

I do believe in fear of the blank page and procrastination, though. I have a severe case of both. Combined, they manifest into something very similar to what you described. I also find it quite impossible to make them go away.

ProtoMatic · May 4, 2011

I love those moments, when some problem I've been agonizing over for a long time suddenly pops into my head. For example how to bring two characters together, or making a reason why a character does something.

Do any of you try to write every line as well as you can the first time around, or do you first sketch out, draft, the whole story before cleaning and tightening up?

ProtoMatic · May 4, 2011

heisei said:
...

I do believe in fear of the blank page...

I know exactly what you mean. It seems I get stuck most often in the beginning of a new chapter, where I just have the text Chapter XX on the page and nothing else. It's a bastard to get over..

Bufty · May 4, 2011

Protomatic.

Go back to the listing of Threads in this sub-Forum and in a box above the thread listing is a special sub-Forum of dedicated Writers Block threads called Outwitting Writers Block that was, I believe, created both to stop this topic constantly cropping up here creating pointless divisions of opinion and because to many folk it is a real issue.

You should find what you seek in that sub-Forum.

TheMurf · May 4, 2011

ProtoMatic said:
Do any of you try to write every line as well as you can the first time around, or do you first sketch out, draft, the whole story before cleaning and tightening up?

Sketch, draft, repeat as required (sometimes for ever such a long time)

Libbie · May 4, 2011

Thinking I suck, so there's no point to writing today.

ProtoMatic · May 4, 2011

Bufty.

I'm asking what I should do to get over writer's block. It's a conversation about people's experiences with it, and how, if at all, we've overcome it personally. I'm not interested in some generic step by step solutions, I wanted to hear personal experiences. If some people want to spew bile on it, then that's their problem.

In my experience writer's block doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. Someone get stuck on making up story, others, like me, get stuck on formulating sentences, for example. If you don't wish to read the thread, just don't.

Bufty · May 4, 2011

Have you bothered to check that sub-Forum out?

That's where folk are who believe in and have suffered from, or are suffering from, writers block.

ProtoMatic said:
Bufty.

I'm asking what I should do to get over writer's block. It's a conversation about people's experiences with it, and how, if at all, we've overcome it personally. I'm not interested in some generic step by step solutions, I wanted to hear personal experiences. If some people want to spew bile on it, then that's their problem.

In my experience writer's block doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. Someone get stuck on making up story, others, like me, get stuck on formulating sentences, for example. If you don't wish to read the thread, just don't.

ProtoMatic · May 4, 2011

Libbie said:
Thinking I suck, so there's no point to writing today.

Aaaw. *pats shoulder*

I know I suck. The thing that keeps me writing is the hope that I'll get better by the time I go back to revise.

bearilou · May 4, 2011

Libbie said:
Thinking I suck, so there's no point to writing today.

This one gets me the most, except change 'today' to EVER.

TheMurf · May 4, 2011

bearilou said:
This one gets me the most, except change 'today' to EVER.

As in "I am never, ever going to write again. Drat, I just did"

It's addictive, it will always get you

whimsical rabbit · May 4, 2011

Writer's block to me means that I know what to write but the right words, phrases, descriptions, don't come to mind. As I've been writing this novel for bloody ages, I'm trying to get it right, not just get it down at this stage.

I'm hopeful that with my next novel things will not be as such. That I will have both the confidence and most certainly the experience to get it down in a way that won't make me want to scream in despair after I read it...

I do think that writer's block exist, but I also think it's something that becomes less and less of an issue with experience.

SilverBirch · May 4, 2011

Libbie said:
Thinking I suck, so there's no point to writing today.

This, exactly. And knowing that the only way I'll get better is to write more, but hey, I suck so much that there's no point in writing at all. :Headbang:

GlobalWolf · May 6, 2011

Generally, for me it's a psychological thing. I'll decide that my writing is so abysmally awful that there's no point in even continuing it. I'll abandon the present story thinking I'll start a new one, but I'll "know" deep down inside that the new one will be awful too. So, I'll go for months or years without writing anything substantive.

HobbitTon · May 6, 2011

When I get it, I just write and erase continuously because I think it is flat out terrible.

Gothic Vampire Queen · May 7, 2011

There was a period on where I was stuck on a chapter for months. Now, the ideas are starting to flow more easily. I don't know if it's because of the new music that I have been listening to, or gathering gothic images on the web.

P.S-Now when I get blocked, I just stare at a photo for about 10 minutes, and then I would start writing more. I know, it's weird, but, *shrugs* to each their own.

whacko · May 8, 2011

ProtoMatic said:
So, for me, writer's block isn't about being stuck on making up what comes next. For me, it's agonizing for hours, days or weeks over how to start a paragraph,

That's not writer's block then, old chap, it's some sort of fear based upon making a big entrance.

If you know the story, write it down. Start halfway through a chapter if need be. You can also go back and add bits as and when required. Taking things out is usually the toughest.

And if that fails, invest some money in a nice whisky to get you over your stage fright. Being in Oslo you might have to save up.

Lovely part of the world but hellish expensive for a tipple.

Regards

Whacko

ProtoMatic · May 9, 2011

Woha. I didn't realize this thread was moved. Thought it got deleted by some vengeful mod.

Seems to me most people here experience writer's block as lack of confidence in their own skills as writers. Here I was thinking it was usually lack of content to put down on the page. Good to know that I'm not the only one with this issue.

whacko said:
That's not writer's block then, old chap, it's some sort of fear based upon making a big entrance.

If you know the story, write it down. Start halfway through a chapter if need be. You can also go back and add bits as and when required. Taking things out is usually the toughest.

And if that fails, invest some money in a nice whisky to get you over your stage fright. Being in Oslo you might have to save up. Lovely part of the world but hellish expensive for a tipple.

Regards

Whacko

I'd still call it writer's block though. It still manifests in an "inability" to get words out of my head. :tongue

I don't drink alcohol if I can avoid it.

And that's not JUST because it's about as expensive as gold. Maybe I should begin, but I really do hate it with a passion. Anyone who say they like that taste must be MENTAL! But then again, my tastes lie in more.. herbal.. substances, so maybe I'm the mental one? Too bad that doesn't give a confidence boost.

whacko · May 9, 2011

ProtoMatic said:
my tastes lie in more.. herbal.. substances,

And I don't think you mean tea, heh heh. Waste of good tobacco if you ask me. Three glasses of firewater and you'll have a dozen chapters done before you know it.

The telly will be in the back garden though.

Regards

Whacko

Layla Nahar · May 9, 2011

I see writer's block as inhibition on the ability to express one's creativity. It is procrastination, a word which many people believe to be a form of laziness. However, many people see the constant putting off of desired tasks as a form of self-sabotage/self-protection (an odd combination). It can manifest itself as difficulty starting projects, trouble continuing once started or having an excessive number of projects, to give a few examples.

I had trouble with the first two and I've managed to get some level of balance with my writer's block, though every day is a struggle. I think "writers block" is not something that comes and goes but something that is always there and you always have to cope with, like tendinitis or alcoholism.

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