What is your best way of getting past writer's block?

Eskimo1990

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I've had writer's block for the last probably 6 months, maybe longer. It's killing me, I mean I want to write and am desperate to write but when I sit down to write nothing comes out.

So what is your way of getting past writer's block?
 

Shakesbear

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Ugh! crawly bug! Narsty!

OK.. getting past WB? Glenlivet. Aslo ScarletPeaches says it doesn't exist, so it doesn't! Get writing! Seriously, sit down and just write, anything. Like driving a car after an accident - if you don't do it right away you make it harder to do it later. So. write! Now. Right?
 

Ambrosia

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Start writing. Sit down in a comfortable writing place, where ever that is for you, and just start writing. Write about what you see in your space. If you are out in public, say at a restaurant, write about the people in the restaurant -- what they are wearing, funny things you overhear, intrigue (real or imagined). Don't worry about working on anything specific, just get your thoughts down on paper. Then sit with them for a bit and whatever sentence or paragraph catches your attention, expound upon it.

Or write in a different form. If you write prose, try poetry. Take a picture and write a few paragraphs about the picture. Use your imagination. What is happening in the picture that you can't see?

You will be back to writing in no time.
 

Adam

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500 words on why you love your boyfriend. Go! ;)

(Seriously, I find ANY writing on any subject helps spur me. :) )
 

L.J.

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Ya'll make me want to try writing again. :)
 

regdog

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Try writing a different genre. I was having a terrible bout of writer's block and a wise puppeh suggested trying that month's horror prompt.

There are loads of prompts around AW in all kinds of genres, go for one completely different from what you usually write.
 

Eskimo1990

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Try writing a different genre. I was having a terrible bout of writer's block and a wise puppeh suggested trying that month's horror prompt.

There are loads of prompts around AW in all kinds of genres, go for one completely different from what you usually write.

What happens when you're not even sure what genre you're even writing in?
 

Midnight Star

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I stare at a blank screen until it drives me crazy. Then I type something like "this is not working!"

No, I'm just kidding. I have a lot of ways to get over writer's block. I watch TV (which I where I get most of my ideas anyways), listen to music, even go for a walk. If all else fails, I get in the shower. I get my best ideas in there for whatever reason.

One I came up with recently is to take one of my favorite songs and write it out as a short story. I tried this with Flyleaf's "All Around Me" and it turned out pretty good.
 

Soothing Snow

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What helps me is to take a walk outside in the woods, and take pictures. When I come back I write like crazy, sometimes. What also helps is to take a nice hot shower=] it helps me relax and to get in the mood. Good luck and happy writing!


~Snow~
 

DeleyanLee

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Usually when I have writer's block, it means that I screwed up somewhere and my unconscious is preventing me from writing 'cause it knows I screwed up.

So my solution is to review whatever notes I have about what I intended to write then sit down and just READ what I've already written.

READ, not edit. No pens allowed. Just READ.

Usually as I'm reading, I'll see where I screwed up.

After that, it's a matter of fixing it and then I can move on.
 

dpaterso

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Check out older threads in Outwitting Writer's Block forum (hidden inside Exercises, Prompts, and Games) which may contain hints, ideas, different approaches. Or at the very least, make you aware that you're not alone!

-Derek
 

shyne

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Things.


Unmentionable things.
 

LaurieD

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I go back to my bigger wips and start reading them - the worse my block, the further back I go. Sometimes it's just a paragraph or a page, but a few weeks ago, I went all the way back to the beginning of not quite 15k wip. About halfway through, I was back into the story and was able to start adding words to it again - not many words, I ran out of time, but still... words...

Good luck breaking yours.
 

regdog

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What happens when you're not even sure what genre you're even writing in?

Post a sample in SYW and see what kind of feedback you get.
 

nitaworm

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I write through it (heck you have to edit anyway), join a critique group, beta read for others or take a writing related quick course. Lastly, eat some chocolate and wait for the dreams to come.
 

renegadeoracle

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I think the only reason "writer's block" can be called a block is because a block is a big chunk of stuff.

In other words, there's a point where a writer decides there's this big fat thing which has to be done yesterday or else he/she will die. But if you think about it, this is completely at odds with the way inspiration or creativity works. Nature always unfolds in small steps. And most of these steps are accomplished with no discernible fanfare whatsoever.

And what about all those dramatic stories of creative geniuses who pull masterpieces out of nowhere? Sorry to say this, but there's no such magic. Nothing comes from nothing, and everything has a cause, so all those flashes of divine inspiration are really just sudden precipitations of otherwise uninteresting natural processes which have been going on all along.

There are a million ways out of so-called writer's block. Here's one of my best ways: Notice that creativity and inspiration are never a one-person show. It's always a conversation, a dialogue and not a monologue. Everything in nature works this way. Even if you think you're sitting alone on a park bench with your writing pad, you are either noticing your constant conversation with the elements within and without you...or not.

So a good question to ask yourself might be: Where's a conversation you would like to be a part of?

And then all you have to do is participate and trust that the dialogue will return to you in inspiration all the love and enthusiasm you are willing to invest in it.