What do you do when you have writers block?

Question

help please. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I go back and edit what I have written, to get the juices flowing

Answer 2

I find the more you write on a regular basis, the less writer's block becomes an issue. A couple tips around writer's block that I have found effective (I'm a writer by profession):
1. Whatever your writing task -- a paper, poetry, the next great novel -- create an outline first. This is especially helpful for longer, more daunting projects. What do you want to start with? How do you want to order it?
2. This may go completely against what you were taught, but sometimes the best way around writer's block is to start with your "middle" and come back to the beginning and end later. The start and finish are the two most difficult things to write, but framing the middle part may give clues as to how to begin and end.
3. When all else fails -- do a quasi stream of concious style and write what comes to mind. Then, let it sit a while (if you have the luxery of time, I'd say at least a day), then come back and edit, tweak and polish.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

I keep writing, force myself to write. What I've seen is if you let writers block stop you, you wont be able to get back up and you'll be stuck for a while. So sit down, and force yourself to keep writing no matter if it's stupid, or doesn't make sense, or whatever. The first time you write is just to get the words on the page aways. I hope this helps.

Answer 4

idk? i already see a lot of good and helpful ansers in here. but i might as well throw my two sense in the mix. the first thing u should do is to stop writing and relax, and do at least one of two things. either try to focus on what u are writing and think of some new material on that project, (simple but effective.), or maybe stop writing for a while and go about your day in a normal fashion as u normally would. you'd be surprised how much inspiration and ideas come from even the very very smallest things we do and see in real life. you could also do what some of the people here have stated, relax your mind and take a break, or possibly walk or jog to get the creative juices flowing. ive never really tried either of them that much, but i asume they work pretty well. and finally, if all else fails, you have two options left, either abandon the story if you can no longer seem to come up with newer material at all, also try not to waste away all your time on one failed project. or, you could simply put the partially completed project away until you feel you can work on it agian, it would be, a "demo" in a sense. hoped this all helped you!

Answer 5

Looks like you have some good answers here but I will add my two cents anyway. ;)

If writing doesn't help, it usually means that you are sub consciously trying to work out a difficult part of your story. One of two things will help. Walk away from it for a day or two and don't stress over it or start writing something new.

By walking away from it and not letting it stress you out, your mind can work out the problem easier. It's akin to insomnia, you know when you sit there and think, "Man I need to get up in a couple of hours! I gotta sleep!" this adds stress and then you don't fall asleep right away anyway. Same thing with writing, if you stress over it too much you will force out something you don't intend to keep anyway.

By starting something new, you are allowing yourself to continue with a creative flow and maybe something will trigger your mind and bring you back to the issue at hand.

Either way, don't stress over it and let whatever you are working on come out on its own. Deadlines are always problems, but you'll miss it completely if you have melt down.

Go for a walk too, if that helps. It's a proven fact that when you walk, your eye movement as you look around at your surroundings and the movement of the road beneath your feet stimulates the brain and the creative side.

Answer 6

Read as many stories as you can. Go out for a long walk in the morning and jot down wahtever you see. After you come home try to link the objects. You'll get more than one story sometimes. Or pick three random words from a dictionary and start to create connection between them. Bring about at least five different ones.

Answer 7

The thing that I do to stop writers block becoming a problem is to write down the longest wordd I can think of, then I see how many words I can get out of that one word. Another way is to write down all the ideas you get in relation to your book.

Answer 8

Nothing, thats just it. Once you sign the papers to Writers Block, you can;t do anything at all, other then write another book.

Writer Block sucks, don't do it.

Answer 9

This may sound stupid, but I pick a fight/act overly agitated with someone. This gets your mind stimulated which helps me get out of writers block. I suppose anything like jogging or doing a puzzle or playing a quick game would also stimulate you. But having an argument really does it for me.

Answer 10

when i have writers block i run around outside. i watch a movie. i go for a run or bike ride. i talk to my friends i do anything and everything that would get my mind off of what im writing preferably something i like to do. things give you inspiration when you least expect it. just get your mind off the book for a couple hours. <3 :)

Answer 11

I usually go back and edit what I've written before. It sometimes clicks on what I wanted to say and then I can go to the stopping point and blast through it.
If it doesn't work, then take a little time off. It'll come to you when it wants to.