No!
Say it isn't so!
But it is. I cannot, seriously CANNOT write this next freakin' scene. It's making me crazy. It's tainting everything I do.
So, I've eaten a lot of Cheetos, gone swimming with my kids, edited a friend's wip, did some laundry... still nothing. It's been going on for days. Part of the problem is that I am reworking some of my writing rituals. That has really thrown a wrench in the gears. I might actually explode. It's true, ask my kids.
What I have done (just now) is started on a piece of fan fiction I've been mulling over. It's not actually productive towards finishing my wip, but I am writing, which is a good thing.
What do you do when hit by writer's block?
5 comments:
As a rule, the first thing I do is ask why. I find that there's usually a reason I'm avoiding the scene.
Occasionally, if that doesn't work, I'll blitz it: just get something down, however bad. I find that a lot of my blocks have been a build up of stress about a scene, and that they aren't nearly as bad as you think they'll be once you're able to get on with them.
Though to be fair, I'm also the guy who has deleted hundreds of thousands of words of stuff over the years because it's fallen flat.
When it happened to me, I had to go back and see where I made a wrong turn (and that's usually the culprit). If I couldn't write the next scene, it was probably because it shouldn't be written. Go see where you went wrong. If that doesn't work, think about what kind of conflict you can add (can you kill someone off?). That might be the jumpstart you need!
But just like Stu said, write anyway, even if it's crap. You can always edit crap. You can't edit a blank page. Good luck!
I search out inspiration- sometimes just random words will help, sometimes a whole sentence for a writing prompt and sometimes a picture helps. If you are still have trouble on Monday (18th)- hop on over to my blog, I'm hosting an inspiration blogfest where everyone who is participating is giving up a prompt to help other writers out. all you'll have to do is click and read :)
STOP writing about WOW and get me that scene! :)
The washing up. It may take a few days, but my sudden hits of inspiration and solutions to plot holes always come to me when I have my hands in soapy water!
If writing routines work for you, then get your body into writer's block routines too. I always hit he washing up bowl when I'm blocked, so now my body understands that that's 'sort it out time' and it works.
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