Whats your weirdest ritual to beat writers block?

This isn't a weird ritual, so I'm breaking the rules a bit, but I have decent advice for beating writers block for anyone interested.

Let go of caring how things are worded, spelling, grammar, bad ideas, everything. Just continue the story. It's harder said than done, but it works - I believe. Just imagine, and write what you imagine.

Then go back when you've had time away from it and start cutting out the boring parts, the things that don't fit. After that it's up to you. What you edit, rearrange.

I'm taking that from Stephen King's famous advice, 'kill your darlings.'

Ah, not for nothing is he the King.

I do that, and also I do improv writing. One fun thing is that wordpad from Windows XP will actually work on an android phone. I put it on my phone, and now I can type random stories wherever I am. I don't think about anything, I just type whatever words come to my brain, without expecting it to make sense. Good things definitely come out of it. I managed to come up with a story where a guy debates a telepathic rock about why said rock should not rule the world. It was great.

Usually I sit on it, listen to music, and read, because those are things that can inspire me. I've also figured out that at least for me, writer's block is often a symptom of my story not being well enough fleshed out. So figuring out what needs work(ex: my magic system) often helps.

Sometimes just sitting down and writing anyway does the trick too, though it usually doesn't.

I don't know if it's weird or uncommon but I find random household chores like washing the dishes, vacuuming, laundry, etc. to be really helpful. Things that I can do to keep my body busy but let my mind wander are generally most helpful.

(A few days late, sorry)

I've found that ignoring it completely helps me to overcome it. I just leave stories that aren't working half-finished. They have this weird way of connecting with one another and then coming back to me in a whole new form, and then I have a brand-new story compiled of past unfinished stories or story ideas. Of course, some stories you just have to buckle down and finish even though you don't want to, but there's a fine line between a story that's not working and a story you are feeling lazy to write.

I also put them aside for a bit. Usually though, if I'm stuck on something, a long walk or bike ride helps clear my head.

These are amazing! I go for the cup of coffee route, so I wouldn't consider it a genuinely weird ritual.
BUT I've loved reading all yours and might try a couple. xD

I drink tea, a LOT of it.

Does 'lie face down on the carpet and cry' count?

It doesn't beat it, it just means I get to go "Oh look, I couldn't write anyway! I've got to clean up this mess some idiot made of my carpet..."

Seriously though, it depends on the cause. Some blocks have to take their time, be it to work out where you've written yourself into a corner, or if they require the resolution/management of whatever external problems might've triggered it. For less intense blocks, then music (I love creating playlists for my stories or characters. Choosing songs makes me think about what I'm trying to get across from a different angle), or if you've got a rebellious streak then sometimes good old fashioned reverse-psychology helps -- I'm not allowed to work on something until I've finished some other task (the more tedious the better!).

I drink so many caffeinated beverages that I become so pumped up that writing becomes necessary just to calm me down. Lol.

Right now, going back and editing my last chapter helps me push through writers block. Feeling like I am improving myself helps give me some motivation!

DanielSTJ said:

I drink tea, a LOT of it.

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This helps to dislodge the blockage?

My technique is to pace the room (or house, if I am alone) and speak aloud about the point in the story in which I am stuck. There's lots of gesticulating and acting. And yes, I do feel like a bit of a prat.

It's not for everyone, but it might give someone an idea. I do online tarot readings. I find that the exercise of interpreting the cards to create a helpful reading for the querent gets my creative juices flowing.
I also write by hand, just jotting down the story line and any dialog that occurs, then use that as notes when I sit down at the computer. If I try to "create" at the computer, I find that my writing is stilted and choppy.
Isn't it funny (and wonderful) how we all have our own methods?

My preferred mental stimulant is chocolate. But so far as a ritual goes, I guess the thing I do most often is a hot shower, put on a sports bra instead of an underwire, turn on the tv to something relatively meaningless (Chopped is great for this), and stick a dental pick in my mouth so I have something to chew on. It works most of the time, at least enough to get a couple sentences out of me.

Cindy From Oregon said:

It's not for everyone, but it might give someone an idea. I do online tarot readings. I find that the exercise of interpreting the cards to create a helpful reading for the querent gets my creative juices flowing.

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There's a tarot deck out there called "The Writer's Block Tarot". The author/creator is Vivian Caethe. I have one. It's really nice - wonderful images and color, great feel to the cards themselves. I haven't used it much so I'm not comfortable with it yet. But I think I'll probably just sit down with it and a notebook and go through some of the spreads to see how they work for me.

When I get into a slump I find scrolling through cover art and reading +++ helps me. Scrolling through my favorite authors on amazon and just looking at their book covers really inspires me to write. In my head I'm saying "I want that" I want to scroll through my name and see beautiful book covers with stories I want to tell. I'll scroll through authors that I don't read, but I love the look of their novels even if their writing style doesn't suit me.

So for me its very visual.

Drink...a lot...and listen to music and watch movies.

I read.

When it's not that bad, I find that doing the dishes works to get me over it (and I have no idea why either). When it's especially bad, however, nothing seems to work to get me over it except, of course, me pushing myself to bull through it, which makes what I'm writing worse than what it was when it (the block) struck. Walks don't seem to bring me the key to unlocking the doors to my inability to write or edit, and neither does me speaking to my characters or even thinking of them. I find that the block that occurs when I'm editing to be the worse type I've ever experienced, because it puts me at a complete halt in what I'm trying to do (which is read what I've written then edit it to be better).

So far, it's been a combination of things that's been helping me. My main problem was not knowing what the plot is (I'm a 'pantser'). So it's been a combo of switching between stories (I have two WIP at the moment) when I feel stuck, talking with fellow writers at my writer's group (it's a working group rather than a critiquing one), and simply putting in the work.

I think allowing myself to simply get back to work on my WIP without worrying about how much I've done on it in the past few weeks (or even years at a couple of points) helps the most. Changing when I write - on a Sunday rather than after work on a Thursday - helped. I don't feel too guilty about trolling internet since I know I have the afternoon to write so long as I do switch between the two.

i don't know anything but may help to read up to where the story stopped, and think and feel what the character in that moment really wants, really fears...is the hero running away or has the story turned and the hero is bloodied and walking back into the fire, what made him or her to be on that train or elevator or swamp to begin with. is he/she wearing expensive shoes or boots or etc. is it raining. is she or he cold. hungry. etc. climb back into your story. your scene. feel that rain. feel that fear. feel the beginnings of forgotten courage. etc. if that sort of technique fails, going fishing or hard work or time with old friends is good for helping to stir the story pots. the stories are already there. all of them. of course recognizing them and grabbing them and not messing them up is the difficult part.

So I know writers are different, and very divided on this issue: do you plan your novel, or just write?

The first layer of advice I can agree on: write the way you write. If you do better writing on a whim, do it. If you do better planning, do it.

However, there's a key word there. If you do "better."

Many times when I hear a writer say they have writer's block, I ask them if they plan out their novel. And almost always they say they don't, but they don't like to plan.

Consider, while you don't enjoy planning, you may do "better" by planning. I write plot-heavy novels--books where you can read it a second time and still enjoy it, because there's so many details to relate to each other, that you don't notice until the second read through. However, I pull this off by planning. It has the added benefit of making it impossible for me to have writer's block.

When you're able to open up a document that says, "Chapter 08: Jane goes to school; Jane gets into a fight with a boy; teacher puts her in detention," (boring example, I know paha), then how can there be writer's block? You know the beginning, middle, and end of that chapter, and you fill in the details with unique ideas that come to you.

You can ebb and flow this. For my current book, I didn't break it down by chapter. I wrote a bunch of stuff that led to about halfway in my novel, and from there I just wrote, because I knew the entire direction I wanted to go.

Just think about planning

Consider that you might also do worse by planning. I know I've found it makes my fiction writing worse: once I've planned a novel out I have already discovered the story, and there's no reason for me to write it. I'm far better discovering the story as I write. It gives me something to write for. Planning kills that.

Old Hack said:

Consider that you might also do worse by planning. I know I've found it makes my fiction writing worse: once I've planned a novel out I have already discovered the story, and there's no reason for me to write it. I'm far better discovering the story as I write. It gives me something to write for. Planning kills that.

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I agree. If you don't plan, AND you've been able to finish novels, then clearly planning isn't for you.