Writers block.

Mythical Tiger · Jul 25, 2009

Hi guys! Sorry if this is in the wrong place.

So, I haven't written in my WIP for awhile now. About a month. Every time I try and write, I can't think of anything. I want to write but I can't. I've tried writing other things until I could write in my WIP. It's not working. I haven't been on here in awhile either because of it. Heres the part I'm stuck at:

Alocer! I can't even control one! Now I was secretly panicking. I can see a look of impatience in Maksim's eyes and realise that he just told me to take the Murali. I take a deep breath and reach for the Murali, taking it into my hands. A weird sensation flows through my body. The Murali disappears from my hands and without knowing why, the image of my aunt and uncle, dead on the floor, appears in my mind. A sudden rage fills in the pit of my stomach and heat covers my body. I see Maksim through a haze of red step back as me and Alocer burst into flames. The flames start to grow more intense and Maksim immediatly mutters something, making the Murali float from my hands.

As if the energy had been sucked from me, my legs tremble and I nearly fall to the ground. I look up to find surprise in Maksim's eyes. But it disappears and he announces with an edge to his voice, "Tessa will be seated at the Fire table." A scatter of applause fills the room as well as urgent whispers

I turn around and am about to walk torwards the table with smoldering embers when a sharp pain goes through my head. My vision grows blurry and I feel Alocer starting to go limp in my arms. I crumple to the floor and hear someone yell my name. Kenneth maybe? People kneel beside me and try talking to me. But there voices fade as I start to go into the welcoming darkness.

Before I can black out I hear Alocer's voice, who was also very weak, tell me with remorse, I'm so sorry, Tessa. I only meant to.... That's all I hear before we both pass out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I slowly open my eyes to slits, only to close them again as I hear voices very close to where I'm lying down. There voices are to low for me to hear. I feel something move next to me and I recognise Alocer. I can tell he's not awake yet and is just starting to stir awake when I speak to him, Alocer? Are you ok, Alocer? A dull pain follows in my head and I barely keep from groaning.

T...Tessa? Alocer's voice is full of pain and exhaustion.

I'm hear Alocer. Are you hurt?

A yowl full of anguish fills my head and I open my eyes, not caring who's here. I stroke Alocer's trembling body asking, What's wrong Alocer? Are you hurt?

His reply comes small and apologetic.

That's all I have. That's where I'm stuck at. You see, I'm trying to have Alocer make a confession that he had put the image of her aunt and uncle in her mind. But I can't come up with what he should say. It's really irritating because I want to continue writing so bad. But I can't because of ths part. Any help or advice is appreciated. Thanks!

~Sam

Kenzie · Jul 25, 2009

I think the best thing is not to try and think of the perfect way he would say it. Just write it, as badly as you need to to get it on the page, even if it's just "i put the image of her aunt and uncle in your mind". You can perfect it later, and it might be enough to get the ball rolling again.

(I need to take my own advice actually).

Libbie · Jul 25, 2009

Butt in chair, fingers on keys. That's how you get through it.

Seriously, there is no trick to overcoming writer's block. You write. That does it. You really need to give yourself permission to write a load of crap, though. It honestly doesn't matter if what you write sucks. Just write it anyway. Keep in the habit of putting words into your story every single day, preferably at the same time every day and for the same length of time (or until a daily word-count goal has been reached.) And be okay with writing utterly awful crapola. This is a draft. You can always go back and edit later, when you've figured out whatever problem is preventing you from writing good stuff right now and worked out that problem.

But for now, write.

JRTurner · Jul 25, 2009

I used to think writer's block was all hooey and all anyone had to do was just start writing--until I suffered a bout of it myself. It's horrible, horrible stuff and there's no easy way past it.

1) Stop trying to get around the writer's block and just accept you have it. (Hi, my name's Jenny and I have writer's block.)

2) I looked through a bunch of books on how to get rolling again. The Artist's Way, Writing Down the Bones, Fear of Writing (it was the last that really broke me out of my writing block.) These did a great thing for me: they offered perspectives beyond me and that stupid, blinking cursor

3) Write a different scene, one you're excited about, maybe one that comes much later in the story. Sometimes, if you know the destination, the journey to get there opens itself up to you.

4) Do whatever works for you: eat chocolate, ignore me and everyone else, put on loud music or take a walk and write by hand. Whatever it takes so that you feel comfortable with the blank page. Maybe even participate on a writing challenge/prompt somewhere--even if you never show it to anyone, just getting the mind flowing in the "writerly way" can really help.

And I hope all that helps, sincerely. Writer's block sucks big bad ostrich eggs

Warmly,
Jenny

Eldritch · Jul 26, 2009

Mythical Tiger,

Just curious, does this happen to be the middle of your story?
If so, you're not alone. Many many writers bog down in the middle. The only way out is to just keep going. Like others have already suggested, write crap if you have to. You can come back later and fix it.

Good luck.

Adam · Jul 26, 2009

Sit down somewhere comfy, close your eyes and imagine yourself in the scene. Picture the characters, the surroundings etc, then run through what's already happened.

I find this helps me when I'm stuck with a scene.

BigWords · Jul 26, 2009

Everyone has different thresholds for the dreaded Writer's Block (which should have a duh-durr-durr theme-tune following it around). There's no easy 'fix', but writing anything, even if it is the most uninspired, unoriginal crap ever, is better than staring a blank page or screen.

Start a blog, do word games, play around with meanings of words... I would even suggest looking at your favorite books to try and get inspiration from those as well. If you are able to distance yourself from a game, writing a walkthrough can be a way of keeping yourself in the habit of writing while enjoying yourself at the same time. Even if you never use anything you are doing, it will keep the gears oiled.

Looking at this post in a utterly logical way, you are still writing something, even if it is a call for help, so you are able to put words together. If the tone you seek isn't coming through in your WIP, then it might not want to be written just yet. Write a short story to see if you are comfortable in another voice.

I'm not good at giving advice ("go get drunk" seems to be a bit blunt for most people), and I wouldn't offer what I have suggested if I hadn't first tried it out for myself. All you can do is struggle through the harder times...

Here's hoping you have a better time soon...

brainstorm77 · Jul 26, 2009

This may sound crazy but taking a shower works for me when I get writers block. I just stay under the spray and my mind wanders a bit.

caitlin_constantine · Jul 26, 2009

Kenzie said:
I think the best thing is not to try and think of the perfect way he would say it. Just write it, as badly as you need to to get it on the page, even if it's just "i put the image of her aunt and uncle in your mind". You can perfect it later, and it might be enough to get the ball rolling again.

(I need to take my own advice actually).

I love this advice. I do this all the time, with everything I write. I work in a profession that doesn't allow for writer's block. I absolutely HAVE to write something, and so I've found that, just putting down something, no matter how craptastic it is, is usually enough to jar something loose. Then I can come back later and revise it. No one ever said the writing has to be perfect the first time.

Mythical Tiger,

I don't write fiction, so I don't know how much this advice will help, but I've found that, with my WIP - a memoir that I am writing like a novel - I will often run into mental roadblocks with my writing. I'll know where I want to go but I have no idea how to get there, or how to at least make the writing interesting to read. In those cases, I've learned that the best thing to do is to step away from the WIP for a day or two, then come back to it and approach the problem from a new angle.

For instance, I was trying to write about difficulties I faced in junior high, but everything I wrote came across as self-centered and self-pitying and "I" this and "I" that, which is absolutely NOT how I wanted to write this. So I put the file away. A day or two later, I was driving and suddenly it hit me - junior high sucked for almost EVERYONE. It wasn't just me having a hard time. We all did.

I came back to my work and tackled the passage from that new perspective, trying to put my reader in the midst of the physical awkwardness and the petty psychological warfare and the locker-room anxiety and all that. And you know what? I loved what I wrote, about seventeen million percent more than what I'd written before. It was fun to write and entertaining to read. It wasn't perfect but it was a hell of a lot better than what I'd put down before.

Sometimes we can really trap ourselves with the path we've already taken in our writing, to the point where we can hardly envision anything else. So if the way you are going isn't getting you to where you want to be, perhaps you should try another path. Just a thought.

RJK · Jul 28, 2009

I read. First I try the novel I'm currently reading. If that doesn't work, I pull out one of my How-To writing books. As I'm reading those books, I usually get ideas about how I want to apply the information in the book to my WIP. I keep reading until I can't hold back any longer, then head for the keyboard.

Mythical Tiger · Aug 4, 2009

Thank you everyone! All of your advice has been a great help. I finally got through it. Though I only wrote a couple paragraphs. It's not much, I know. I've been busy this summer and haven't had much motivation. Man, I really need to start coming here again more often

. Thanks again guys!

~Sam

Balthaser · Sep 27, 2009

The advice in here worked.
I got my frame of mind ready and it WORKED!
I have begun writing some crappy thing, but it has opened up my mind a whole load. Rose is my main character, and I don't even know what she looks like!
Right now I am just getting what I know will happen down, and when I finish each chapter I will go back and add in description.
It really works guys... thanks a lot! I already have 1,694 words punched out.

emilycross · Oct 9, 2009

Excellent advice, thanks! I've been stuck for past 6 months! Still staring at the screen but am going try and just get the words out (even if they suck - as now i know its ok to suck

)

Margarita Skies · Mar 2, 2010

Balthaser said:
The advice in here worked.
I got my frame of mind ready and it WORKED!
I have begun writing some crappy thing, but it has opened up my mind a whole load. Rose is my main character, and I don't even know what she looks like!
Right now I am just getting what I know will happen down, and when I finish each chapter I will go back and add in description.
It really works guys... thanks a lot! I already have 1,694 words punched out.

Congratulations, Balthaser! You can do it, champ! You can do it!

Writers block.

Mythical Tiger

I RUN WITH THE TIGERS

Kenzie

Libbie

Worst song played on ugliest guitar

JRTurner

Eldritch

Adam

Not dead.

BigWords

Geekzilla

brainstorm77

practical experience, FTW

caitlin_constantine

RJK

Sheriff Bullwinkle the Poet says:

Mythical Tiger

I RUN WITH THE TIGERS

Balthaser

emilycross

is away with the fairies

Margarita Skies