Do you ever get "writer's block"?

Yes, I do believe in it, and yes, I have had it before. This last bought lasted for almost four years. I could still write non-fiction, as in the newspaper articles I wrote every day. I still had ideas, but when I sat down to write them, I couldn't get past just jotting down the ideas. I would almost get nauseous trying to do it. It all started right around the time I found out I was pregnant with my daughter and continued even after she was born. I had post-partum depression that I didn't seek treatment for, until she about 18 months old. After treatment, I was some better, but I still had writer's block.

I'm just now getting back into it again. And, I'm so thankful. I've never missed something so much as I did my fiction writing.

If you want people to visit your brand-new blog, why not ask?

writer's block

No, I don't believe wirter's block exists unless you think it does. Did you know writers block was pretty much unknown before the 19th centruy, and was extremely uncommon right up until the 20th century?

Outside of actually clinical writer's block, a medical condition, it was, in fact, unknown.

Even after a writer claimed to have it, it was rare, even after literary journals started listing the very few writers who copied the first guy. The real outbreak, the pandemic, of "writer's block" only spread and became common with the rise in popularity of teh internet.

Sitting down and being unable to think of something to write is not writer's block, it's an excuse not to do the hard work.

It's not a complete breakdown of the subject, and it's somewhat inaccurate in a couple of places, but The New Yorker has a pretty decent article on "writer's block."

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040614fa_fact

I don't get writer's block per se. Mostly I get writer distraction...it's when I can't find the energy or creativeness to sit down and actually write anything. I have plenty of ideas and actually writing wouldn't be that big of a deal...I just don't feel like it. I've had it for the last couple of months. I'll sit down and write maybe two paragraphs and then give up. I just don't have the mind for it. I guess it's really just a product of depression which I've been suffering on and off for awhile now.

kristie911 said:

I don't get writer's block per se. Mostly I get writer distraction...it's when I can't find the energy or creativeness to sit down and actually write anything. I have plenty of ideas and actually writing wouldn't be that big of a deal...I just don't feel like it. I've had it for the last couple of months. I'll sit down and write maybe two paragraphs and then give up. I just don't have the mind for it. I guess it's really just a product of depression which I've been suffering on and off for awhile now.

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Kristie, I know part of mine came from my depression. I wasn't really sad; it was more than I didn't enjoy anything anymore. I didn't want to do anything at all. I did write some while I was pregnant, but I didn't have any ideas for anything longer than a short, short.

There are all sort of blocks that come up, for me. Last year I didn't feel like writing at all, after applying myself constantly for several years, straight. I really felt empty, almost dead inside. Then, towards the end of Ramadan, I got this feeling, this itch, that something was upon me. That I was ready to 're-enter the fray'. And then it came. My first publishable book.

But there's also that pedestrian sort of laziness, that 'man alive, I do not want to sit here and pump out pages!' But then after the first couple of paragraphs, that falls away.

Don't break yourself, Kristie. But keep at it. With grace, and patience, you'll work through this spell.

A wise man said that whenever there are things in life that are disharmonious and hurtful, for you, being patient and acceptant of yourself will lead you to their other side.

I second that whole heartedly.

My biggest problem is get-upper's block.

caw.

I don't get writer's block, but I do suffer from Chronic Procrastination.

If someone could invent a pill for that, I'd be all set.

Writer's block - oh yes, I know it

Southern_girl29 said:

Yes, I do believe in it, and yes, I have had it before. I still had ideas, but when I sat down to write them, I couldn't get past just jotting down the ideas.

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Hi!
This is a bit like me. But my writing goes slightly better in these days.

I wanted to respond to this but then I ... um... well... hmm...

dang.

The only time I can't write is when I am either exhausted or I don't have the discipline to focus on the writing. All of which I blame on myself. I have three kids running around and they interrupt me a lot but the only days I don't get anything on the page is when I choose not to sit down and process those writing thoughts that when churned out of my fingertips become a story.

Can anyone tell me why we don't have a section for Writer's Block in the FAQ?

Or did I miss it somewhere?

Been writing for about eight years, and have never had it. It exists, I know, but I've not been subjected to it.

Shadow_Ferret said:

I wanted to respond to this but then I ... um... well... hmm...

dang.

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Weasel.

caw.

Block? I dunno. Burn out, yes, sometimes.

I paint for a living, I'm constantly milking my brain for creativity, and sometimes--usually following the frantic convention season, when I've had to whip off fifty paintings in two months or something--I get purely burnt out on the act of Making Up Interesting Stuff. I'll do a dozen sketches, start ten paintings, and won't finish any of them. The motivation is just not there.

It's not block, per se--I have no problem getting ideas, I have ideas like a swamp has mosquitos, and I'm about as fond of most of them--but I run out of the passion to turn the ideas into something more. Every idea I look at and go "Bleh." But they're not bad ideas. Most of them would be fine if I wasn't mentally exhausted. Even very stupid ideas can make great paintings, but you gotta have the passion and the stubborness to get 'em there.

Generally I wind up waiting for THE idea, the idea that I'll really care about, which is akin to sitting in the swamp and waiting to be bitten by one particular mosquito. This is a stupid thing to do, and once I realize I'm doing it, I take a day or two off and go to the zoo or do some gardening, or something, and then I go back to throwing crap against a mental wall and seeing what sticks.

Thing is, I sort of suspect that my brain is not so much tired as hungry. It needs fuel. Creativity feels effortless sometimes, so we get this idea that it IS effortless. It isn't. Creativity doesn't come out of nowhere. You have to feed it. Read a lot. Do things. Feed your brain. Give it raw materials to work with.

I don't know about writer's block as a medical condition, but I've definitely had it as a psychological affliction. A combination of distraction, fatigue, and depression can wipe me out for months.

I have a quote taped near my home computer that says that writer's block is simple laziness--an excuse for not applying oneself. (I wish I knew who I was quoting, but like I said...at home.) I completely agree. Any time I claim to be "blocked" it's simply because something was difficult or I was feeling uncreative. As soon as I acknowledge that, I'm one step closer to working through it. (Or putting it away for a day or two.)

Yes, when I am stressed then I cannot write, just because then I am completely without motivation. But otherwise I never knew writer's block. Just lately I have been stressed too much with exams and work.

You are not blocked, you are just stuck. Don't give it the respect of a name. Don't give it gravity or mass. Don't see it as anything but a point which you have to get past. It gets bigger, the more you acknowledge it. Go to the page again, and again, and again. Stare at the page until your eyes bleed, if you must, but you do not have writer's block because it does not exist.--Author Christopher Moore

I refuse to pay homage to it or turn it ino some kind of unsumountable condition. I may be tired, a story may have taken a wrong turn, I may be confused or stressed. Thos are all common, manageable human conditions with solutions. I may need to take my ancient laptop and a bag of Fritoes off to my bedroom and spend the afternoon listening to old Incredible Hulk Re-runs while I slog through whatever I'm struggling with. Or I may need to go to Montana for a week and stay with my dad who doesn't have the internet and get up at six every morning to write while the house is quiet and the mountains are still shadows.

But I am never blocked.

One opinion of what writer's block is and suggestions on how to deal with it: Elizabeth Moon - Writer's Block.

It's not so much a block for me as it is a wall that I feel I can't get over. I know why I keep staring at this wall - lots of work and money stress, and other discontent I need to deal with. It's no surprise that writing isn't coming to me right now.

It'll come back, it always does. I just have to take care of some stuff before it does, that's all. Then, the wall will come down.

Patience is supposed to be a virtue, right?

Karen

I know this thread was started as a blog invitation, but it seems to have taken on life here. I'll weigh in.

I have difficulty writing when I'm stressed, depressed or burned out. I know I'm pulling out of a bout of depression when I must write. I don't call it writer's block, because my writing isn't the only thing I find difficult.

Sheila

I've suffered from Writer's Block in the past, but I do not suffer from it as much now as I did years ago.

Pretty much, I don't suffer from it as much because I do not push myself beyond what I'm capable of handling. I am of the opinion that pushing myself too hard can actually bring the Writer's Block on.

Also, lots of distractions tend to bring on the Block. If I am distracted by, say, lots of television or music, I am more likely to suffer from the Block than when I'm not listening to music or watching T.V.