Best Cure for Writerblockitis?

[Ark1117]

The method that works best for me is to completely forget about whatever I'm working on and write gibberish off to the side that somehow quickly spirals down into XXX territory, or taking the piece I'm working on and forcefully writing it in XXX territory. Forcefully.

 

[Kaellpae]

I think the best thing to get me writing, or at least shooting out ideas, is a Red Bull. I know they don't actually enhance your brain like they pretty much claim to, so it's probably a placebo effect on me. Nonetheless, it gets me shooting ideas out for writing, songs, and sometimes even youtube videos. Depending on what sort of art I want to do.

 

[The Blue Lotus]

I use a few things to clear a blockage...
1) I watch the History channel and Discovery. (Yeah I'm that Lame!)
2) Take a walk (I prefer the beach but thats just me)
3) Start doing shoots (if you are over 21) Spark up a BS convo with someone that you can safely debate something with Say starttrek as an example.


IF all of those fail: I call nap time and then write about my dreams... usualy I can spin them into something wacky enough for my tale.

 

[Thistlefizz]

Just write. Anything.

I've certainly used this trick. Sometimes I will start writing about how I have writers block and just can't think of anything to write. Sometimes I'll turn on the TV and try to transcribe the dialogue. Sometimes I'll just write "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" over and over and over again. I find that eventually my subconscious gets so bored and frustrated with what I'm doing that it finally pops up ideas for me to go off on.

 

[Philip Overby]

I agree with Fnord. Write. You can write down what you're going to do for the day.

1. Go shopping
2. Eat lunch
3. Extinguish the Eternal Fire of the Grimlock Tribe
4. Buy bananas
5. Slay the serpents nesting in my kitchen

You may get ideas that way.

 

[kefkah]

A muse in the form of a self perceived "adventure". Walking to the store that you always drive to, going to a new restaurant by yourself, stopping in at some odd the beaten path gas station and meeting the colorful locals. I find that the events contained within those moments provide details... kind like seeds. They get planted in my brain and want to be shared. It breaks the dam so to speak because that certain smell, that one funny laugh or sly grin writes itself and adds ink to the pen.

 

[Torby]

I would go off and indulge in one of my other interests as far from the book and computer screen as possible.

 

[victoria stiles]

Some times I love to watch movies and listen music. It is good to hang out with friends. I also love reading story books and novels that time.

 

[Author-Vic]

Write! Seriously open a blank wp and start putting down random words... If nothing else you will end up with a poem... BTW I have found over a period of time that it is impossible to put down totally random words (even if only to me they will have some connection) and thus I start expressing ideas.

 

[Dreamer]

I find that I am most successful at getting past writer's block if I simply walk away from the assignment or creation that I am
working on. If I try to force something out I usually end up completely stalled. Sometimes just to sit in a very quiet location,
away from all distractions, I can sit and relax and just let my mind wonder. This works best if I am outside as I live in the country. When the weather doesn't cooperate I try secluding myself in a nice bath or I kick back on my bed and close my eyes.
As all situations of writer's block for me can be different, if the above isn't working I try turning on the radio. I am not a classical music listener in my day to day activities, but it helps best when writing. Music that I normally listen to distracts me too
much or I start to sing along. Just a little background noise sometimes helps to relax my creative spirit.

 

[Whitefur]

Although I've started writing two years ago, I have yet to experience the full version of a writer's block. The only moments when I came close to it was when I had to write tedious scenes I planned 3 or 4 chapters later. "Ok, I'll finish this chappy, then I'll get on the next one and flesh out that idea". THAT isn't a good advice, especially if you keep thinking about what you're going to do. If you follow a plan and you know what you want from your story, then the forest you plan on going through suddenly turns into a swamp, and even the simple steps become tedious. At least that's how it works in my case.

The best way to counter this is to leave room for possibilities. Nothing can beat the excitement of discovering a new idea and the eagerness of implementing it into your story.

If that doesn't work, then I abandon the project I worked on and start doing other things, all while trying not to think of what I left behind. If enough days pass and my mood for writing that part returns, then I'll most likely tackle it again. It's never a good idea to write something if you feel tired and generally uninterested by it because there's a high chance you will do a not-so-good job.

 

[RedRidingHood]

When I find I just can't write, I just stop writing. I go and do something else completely unrelated to what I'm writing about. I find that baking or knitting really helps. It eases me and then when I sit down at my computer, I'm able to type again. Another thing I find helpful is writing something I know is terrible. I don't like how I feel when it comes out, but I know that eventually I'll get somewhere with it.

 

[Lord Darkstorm]

For me, I read writing books. Nothing like getting an understanding of an aspect of writing I didn't already know to jar some ideas loose and give me some new ideas.

 

[Whitefur]

For me, I read writing books. Nothing like getting an understanding of an aspect of writing I didn't already know to jar some ideas loose and give me some new ideas.

I agree with that one, but there's something else involved. The pending pen, I call it. This strange phenomenon usually occurs when you need to write chapters based on an already existing plan. The ideas are there, but the mood is quite absent. That's what I hate the most besides writer's block: leaving your writing desk for a reasonably long time ( one month and a half in my case)

 

[Lord Darkstorm]

I always find that if I lack the motivation to write something, or find it slip fast as I do so, there is usually something wrong with what I am writing. If I don't want to write it, usually know one wants to read it. That's when I go back and look at what I'm doing to see what is wrong, and go back to figuring out how to make it work better, up to throwing the whole scene out and rethinking it.

 

[myrddin173]

I just listened to this episode of the Writing Excuses podcast. I think they had some good things to say about ending writer's block and why it happens in the first place.

 

[EParadise]

I pick up a book....fantasy of course because that's what I write... and I turn to a random page. I close my eyes and pick a word, write it down on a clean piece of paper, and then I turn to a new page and find a new word. I do this til I have 5 words. Then I force myself to connect the 5 words in some obscure way through a sentence. USUALLY this will build into more than a sentence, and sometimes into a full page. I use this to come up with new scenes, new stories, and quite frequently quirky new characters. I use to do this in my writing journal every day before I started on my "real" writing for the day. It opens up my inner muse and gives me all new ideas.

 

[Johnny Cosmo]

I've not solved the writers block problem. I probably should start looking for a method that works for me, because I usually just wait it out... which isn't exactly productive.

 

[Misusscarlet]

I'm suffering from writer's blockitis right now it sucks. Reason why I haven't been on here much. I could write about 5 pages a night while I am working my graveyard shift then bam I'm only able to squeeze out a few paragraphs. Sucks big time. I usually listen to music or try to find someplace that resembles the chapter I am trying to write right now. Like I am stuck in a chapter where I just landed on an island and am in a forest. I go find a place that has lots of plants or trees and just sit or wander around the area and daydream about what will happen in my story. Then there's the times I am way to excited about writing it that I cannot get my thoughts together to actually write it out. Great eh?

 

[Qfantasy]

When I get writer's block, I take a break. When I am ready to come back to the computer, I try to figure out why I can't seem to move forward. More often than not, I've written myself into a corner and the only way out is to make cuts. It might be a single scene or action taken by one of my characters, or it might be an entire chapter just isn't working and so I remove it, save it for possible use at a later date and move on.