How does one come out of writer's block?

Question

I am 18, and I have written about three short stories, each only about six pages long. But right now I can not seem to string any ideas together and come up with a story, how can I get my creative juices flowing? And how can I expand my stories?

Answer 1

become addicted to nicotine, then quit it, you will have so many ideas then you will not be able to sleep. or not sleep at all, that causes hallucinations after the second or third night.

Answer 2

Writer's block is nothing more than the stress you described (according to a quick poll in an English class of mine).

The best way to get through it is to write your way out of it. However, I have noticed that if you let the story appear instead of trying to force ideas to come out on a page there is a lesser likelihood that you will get "blocked." Another good way to avoid the "block" is to not write plots. Plots are the antithesis of the writing process because they stifle ideas. While they help students in high school with introductory creative writing assignments, as you mature as a writer they become worthless. For example, if you have a good and strong beginning of a story and an ending that you like, how do you get from the beginning to the end? The middle part tends to become a nightmare to overcome so that the beginning meets up with the end properly, meaning that the continuity is not disrupted.

If you want to expand your stories, I recommend asking your characters questions or picking an arbitrary situation that causes conflict and see how they deal with the situation and overcome it, or how the situation bests them. The most memorable characters and stories are three-dimensional. They live on the page and in the mind of the reader AND writer. Take some time and talk to your characters, you might be surprised what they have to say and what comes from the conversations.

And don't forget to read. Almost any professional writer is a voracious reader. It may also help you figure out a way through the inevitable tough spots.

Answer 3

Writers have two different ways to overcome this, depending on whatever your style is.

1) Quit writing for a couple days or weeks. Read a few books, watch movies, and possibly something will come to you. Perhaps take little notes, however random, and worry about connecting them latter. For instance you may just write, "man filling in potholes with gravel" and later "sun shining despite sprinkling rain" and then work them together later in one story.

2) My personal favorite - write something completely different. Like if most of your stories are fantasy, try writing a thriller or just think of some event, like a dog barking, and then write about the sound in the bushes or neighbors yelling or whatever. Do not worry about even making a story, just write, regardless of where the story goes.

*) This was just a cool writing task I did one day.... Each sentence I would randomly chose a word out of the dictionary and would use that in my next sentence. This helps build your skill on connecting ideas .

"A sudden HISSING disturbs the silence inside the tranquil house. An elderly grandmother wobbles into the kitchen, the floorboards CREAKING under her feet, and she takes the teapot off the stove. The steam from the tea makes her forehead DAMP, and she reaches into the cupboard and takes out a small elegant cup.

And so on.

Answer 4

I have two excercises I have been using daily for years...

Morning Pages...
Morning pages are three pages of writing (long hand) anything that comes to your head. Julia Cameron suggests that you make Morning Pages a practice that you keep every day while you are working through The Artist's Way, and hopefully, beyond.

When I first read about Morning Pages, my first thoughts were...Everyday? 3 pages? Only by hand? She's GOT to be kidding! What will I write about?

The point to Morning Pages isn't to write incredible, novel-quality prose. The writing you do in your Morning Pages may not even be suitable for a letter to a friend! It's the little bits and pieces that run around in your head out of control. The words may not even piece together into full sentences. What you write doesn't have to make sense to any person on the face of the planet -- or even to yourself a few days later.

When a computer boots...it does the operating system first...then the programs you see on your desktop.
When you awaken in the morning...consciousness boots untilyou are awake...but the programs that comeonline...little subroutines that tellyou you aren't good enough or fast enough or erudite enough or precise enough(you get the litany)...these things load after you awaken...but not immediately.
Morning pages allow me to put a lot of crap that would normally go underground into my subconcious and play havoc as it materialses in my daily behaviour These subroutines sometimes manifest for me as writer's block...
I do not get writer's block anymore.

Diaries.
Another excercise I use is each character in a short story or a screen play...has its, hers. his, or their very own diary. When I show upto the page and nothing comes...I retreat to the diaries and in entering the persona of the character...I remove my selffromthe need for self flagellation. After an hour or day or week of writing their diaries ( or should I say... take dictation)I always know whento return to the page and continue...
Morning Pages comes from Julia Cameron link below

The diary thingy comes from me...

Peace...

Answer 5

Get away from it for awhile. Often, our most brilliant and inspired ideas come when we're not thinking about them. It has something to do with the subconscious mind. You can't force creativity when the ideas won't flow. Go out for a walk, listen to music, or do something fun that gets your mind off it for awhile. The ideas will eventually come, but when you least expect it. It's only natural to go through a "creative drought", followed by a creative flood. With time and experience, you'll learn to tame your creative beast. I recommend reading "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron.

Answer 6

Don't try to be good, i.e., dare to be bad.
Join a writing group to give yourself a deadline.
Make a date to write at a coffee shop with another writer.
Switch from computer to pen or pencil.
Borrow a laptop and write in the backyard.
Take a walk around the block and use the time to let your subconscious mind work while your conscious mind relaxes.
Try a free-writing brainstorm.
Listen to music.
Try exercise or yoga.
Write in a journal knowing you are not trying to write for others.
Break large writing goals into more manageable tasks.

Answer 7

Listen to music....whatever kind you like I dont think it matters

Eat chocolate!......I dunno why, It helpes me think. Try it!

Take a walk....clear your head, forget about it for a while.

Take a nap....some of my best ideaz come to me when i'm sleeping, lol

Go write in a different place.......write in the park, by the river, camping, find your thinking spot.

Just write.....it dosent have to make sence, just write the first thing that comes to your head, i had a teacher that taught me that, you just sit and write for 5 mins strait you cant stop just keep writing, i would end up with a few pages of random sentences. It helped though!

Good luck!

Answer 8

One sentence at a time. Don't worry about the overall idea, just write one descriptive sentence and see where that leads.

Answer 9

Try this site:

Wikihow.com

and type in whatever it is you wanted:
e.g: Writing stories or writers' block.
I'm sure you'll find something helpful to you.
Good Luck & Happy Writing!!!

Answer 10

Walk away from it, listen to musc and just relax. It will help you to distance yourself from your work. Go back to it with a fresh head.