Published, burnt out, and new here

[Sailor Kenshin]

Look what a high-speed internet connection will get you: the time to look up some really good forums!

I'm a published writer who has been burnt out/blocked/overworked for going on two years. This is my longest dry spell, ever. And conversely, last year was a good one with about 15 acceptances/publications ("burning inventory," was how a friend phrased it).

I'm not sure exactly how or why I stopped writing. Dean Koontz said "overwork." (Don't get excited; I don't know him. That's gleaned from his excellent book on fiction writing).

I'm struggling to get back into stride. Any helpful suggestions?

[SometimesBored]

Use whatever inspiration you used when you first started writing. For me, I'll read some books, and that'll make me want to write.

[mammamaia]

...if you can't get fired up about writing something after that, writing and you must've parted ways for good:cry ...

...seriously, even just scanning the day's tv guide is a good source of ideas... or any section of any newspaper...

...even just scanning a page of the dictionary will suggest a plethora of things to write about, for the ever-fertile [if momentarily on vacation] mind of a real writer...

...try all three and see what happens... love and hugs, maia

[maestrowork]

My inspirations come from my wacky dreams. I dream in movies... vivid imageries... and I'm not even in these movies... the last vivid one I had combined "The Stand" with "Waterworld" with "Noah's Ark" with "Titanic" with "Blackhole" with "Deep Impact" with "Heaven Can Wait"... incredible.

[Stephenie Hovland]

Maestro,
Do you do anything to make yourself dream? I haven't had a really good dream for quite some time. I used to have complex, almost indescribable dreams. Don't know if I could have even put them on paper. But, now, it just doesn't happen. Any suggestions?

Stephenie

[Sailor Kenshin]

I really am scared that writing and I have "parted ways for good."

I used to have the most incredible dreams also. I even crafted some of them into stories. Now I barely remember them, and when I do, there seems to be no point writing them down.

This is the longest I've ever gone without writing. Today I forced myself to work on material for a chapbook, and it's all---(the words I want to say are forbidden. Let's just call it not very good).

[maestrowork]

Drink half a glass of Coke and have some frozen yogurt before you go to bed. Works for me. Oh, yeah, turn on Sci-Fi channel and fall asleep watching reruns of Twilight Zone.

Seriously, I don't know. Sometimes my dreams are very mundane and I forget about them. But sometimes they're so bizarre I'd wake up remembering every detail. Not all of them translate well into stories, but some are pretty good -- one recent one involved a gay teenage spy and a thousand "little people" (let's be PC here) FBI operatives in a race to stop alien invasion using Cindy Crawford as a decoy...

[Kayama Bliss]

My dreams are increasingly the impetus for my writing.

And music. The novel I'm working on is a romance. Music by a certain musician always seems to get me "in the mood" to write about the characters in this particular novel.

Reading can also get me in the mood to write. Sometimes reading others' work, but my own will do as well...

Bliss

[mammamaia]

sailor...
if you email me, i can give you some exercises that might stimulate that 'at rest' talent of yours... i've not had the problem myself, but some of my mentees have suffered it from time to time, so i can at least relate second-hand to your distress... if you can put up with a curmudgeonly old broad, we'll see if we can't jump start ya...
http://pages.prodigy.net/rogerlori1/emoticons/bounce3.gif

love and hugs, maia
maia3maia@hotmail.com (maia3maia@hotmail.com)

[wwwatcher]

I say "Dreams let me dream about a story tonight," over and over as I drop off to sleep. You might also want to try - "Dreams let me know why my writing is blocked." You can also fall asleep saying you'll remember your dreams. These suggestions may take a night or two. They usually work for me exactly when they're supposed to.

Like Maestro, sometimes when I've watched something on TV that's been particularly engrossing it ends up in my dreams too.

Sweet Dreams
Watcher:peace

[ShamanDarkRaven]

They say Eating bannanas Before bed can invoke bad dreams (If you are into horror). Personally, fo me, I find starting out to do new things important. You have to live life to write about it. Sometimes for new ideas you got to try at new things. We all learn something from those experiences.:rofl More often than not, I totally mess up when I try, but I do learn. I think my life could be a tragic Comedy :grin I also sometimes just take a break and cut myself off from the world when my mind get's cluttered. Sometimes my brain get's so overloaded with troubles of people & what's going on that I can't think beyond it. :coffee Have some cocoa and chill out....once a writer (in my perosnal opinion) always a writer. It's something ingrained in those of us who do write. :thumbs

[Sailor Kenshin]

Thanks, Shaman---bananas are worth a try!