That Miserable Writer's Block

Wow, months is a long blockage.

I would suggest sitting down for a set time each day and typing away at that story you see so clearly in your head. Just see what comes out. Something is better than nothing.

Since your block has been so long I would approach the writing very gently. Do NOT start on either of the stories. Instead, make a concious decision that you are not ALLOWED to write on them for, say, two weeks, a month, whatever works for you. Then set aside some time each day to write, maybe 15 minutes, maybe an hour. Write anything and everything, except your stories. Write memories, different writing exercises, whatever. This way you'll ease into writing again, finding a voice, finding your style. By the end of the two weeks/month you'll be itching to start writing your stories!

When I have a dry spell I do what Sean Connery had the kid do in Finding Forrester. I start with a paragraph of a book I love and go from there to get the juices flowing again. However I don't do what the kid did and try to use it for anything other than a writing exercise.

Ok, so I'm slithering my way into the YA boards when I technically don't belong here, but I just thought I'd let you know what I do when the well runs dry.

During my first couple years of college I had little time to daydream, and so I had a friend send me a sentence every Friday. I would write her a short story and send it back to her sometime before the next Friday, when a fresh sentence would appear in my inbox.

It worked really well for me. Someone else's sentence, but my story. It's a lot like the Finding Forrester thing LG suggested.

lostgirl said:

When I have a dry spell I do what Sean Connery had the kid do in Finding Forrester. I start with a paragraph of a book I love and go from there to get the juices flowing again. However I don't do what the kid did and try to use it for anything other than a writing exercise.

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He didn't know the first paragraph had already been published; Connery's character let him think it was free for his own use.

Regardless the first paragraph still wasn't his.

But if it hadn't been published, he could have still used it, because it wouldn't have been breaking any copyright law. Connery let him think he was free to use it.

Although, having said that, didn't he say whatever was written in that apartment had to stay there? So I guess we're both right.

Off topic, I know, but I love films about writing...especially Secret Window (and not just because of Johnny Depp...)

Azraelsbane said:

Ok, so I'm slithering my way into the YA boards when I technically don't belong here, but I just thought I'd let you know what I do when the well runs dry.

During my first couple years of college I had little time to daydream, and so I had a friend send me a sentence every Friday. I would write her a short story and send it back to her sometime before the next Friday, when a fresh sentence would appear in my inbox.

It worked really well for me. Someone else's sentence, but my story. It's a lot like the Finding Forrester thing LG suggested.

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EVERYONE belongs on the YA thread. Best place ever.

I'm actually afraid of my WIP right now. I keep opening the word document accidently and crying a little bit. Unfortunately, I'm not kidding.

Read mine. You'd die laughing.

And it's not even comedy.

When I wrote my book, I had my three characters stuck in my brain. I knew them, but I had no idea what would happen to them. So I just had them show up at school together and watched what happened. The first 8 drafts were mostly trashed, but each time, I got closer to my story. Characters were added, some were taken away, but the 3 stayed. So if it's a character driven story, just put them somewhere, anywhere and see what they say to each other. Something should come from it. Good luck.

You're not alone, piano island. Until a few days ago, I was on for four whole months of writer's block. I couldn't write anything that I was actually interested in, anything I felt compelled to write. Then I sat down and decided to re-work my YA novel . . . and it's going great. I realized that I didn't have closure with my character (the first character I ever made); I'm so happy to be telling his story again. I never realized how close I was to him. It's as if he's real.

Shady Lane said:

EVERYONE belongs on the YA thread. Best place ever.

I'm actually afraid of my WIP right now. I keep opening the word document accidently and crying a little bit. Unfortunately, I'm not kidding.

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I feel ya, Shady. I'm currently writing the last chapter in my novel, and I feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall. I know exactly what needs to happen, but my characters are being jerks. *sigh*

I bet your head will work out a conflict while you get started on the story.

Danger Jane said:

I bet your head will work out a conflict while you get started on the story.

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Unfortunately my head IS a conflict.

I recommend EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) for dissolving writers' block. I've written a free report about how to use it for writers' block. Yes, there's the offer of a product to buy, but the report is complete and comprehensive and valuable. You can get it at www.unleash-the-writer.com/freereport.

Hope this helps.

I've experienced that same terrible writer's block that lasts for months. Before, whenever I got a little block I would just keep sitting down, keep plugging away, keep exploring until the block got over itself.

But sometimes that doesn't work. If you try to force yourself past a block it can make it worse, because sometimes the reason you are blocked is because you're trying to force your writing instead of being playful with it.

Do whatever you can to tell your brain that it doesn't have to write the project you want it to write. Write something else, don't write for a while, whatever. Wait until your brain actually wants to write.

For me, this only worked when I approached my WIP from a whole new angle. I started coming up with ideas for a completely different project, one that I thought I would just think about for fun but might not ever work on. Then I realized that these fun ideas could work with my blocked WIP, and suddenly my brain wanted to work on that WIP again.

Good luck. I know it sucks.

If it were me, I wouldn't touch either of the two ideas. They're incubating - not ready to hatch yet. But it doesn't mean you can't be writing and getting into that frame of mind. Who said "use it or lose it" about writing? Whoever did was a genius. The more you craft your thoughts into plots and sentences, the easier it comes. You can tell when you're in the "zone" when your dreams come out plotted!

When I need to write something, I break out my embarrassingly large CD collection, put on a favorite, and listen to it with my eyes closed and headphones on. Then I plot a story that would go with that tune. Works like a charm, and I'm great fun on long car trips with the CD player . . . uh, NOT!

I'm right there with you. I'm not blocked so much as I know the characters aren't ready for me to tell their story just yet. So I've taken a break from my writing (just now getting back into it) in order to let them flesh themselves out in my head.

Already, I've got a better idea of what they're about, and what they're like. I'm just worried that by the time I get ready to start telling their story, they're not going to be talking to me.

They're going to be screaming.

I'm a big fan of writing in a journal every day, no matter what. Some days I just write about being too tired to write. When I really feel blocked, like I want to write but nothing's happening, I start writing down all the questions I have about the next piece of the plot and then brainstorming solutions. then I go to bed and think about it while I fall asleep. Usually within a few days, I'll be standing in the shower and words will pop into my head. Maybe just one sentence. But holding it in my head until I'm dry and dressed gets me going, and when I finally have a chance to sit down it's already there and somehow that's enough for me to keep going and do another sentence or two, maybe even a page or four.

Hi,

I'm a YA visitor too--but title of the thread caught my eye.

Lots of good ideas here. A problem we all have at times. But I agree, 4 months is too long.

Here's a book you might find helpful: "Unstuck: A Supportive and Practical Guide to Working Through Writer's Block" by Jane Ann Staw (St. Martin's Press, 2003).

http://books.google.com/books?id=tU...+Jane+staw&btnG=Search&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title

Full disclosure: I know her, consider her my writing mentor. I was lucky enough to connect with her seven years ago, when I signed up for my first creative writing class--she was teaching it.

Good luck!

Susan

I had this problem a while back. I was itching to write about this character, but I had no idea where it was going to go. I let it mull around in my head trying to decide what to do. Out of boredom I started writing down the things I did know I wanted to happen etc and the next thing I know I had a rough outline for a seven book series.