# Writer's block



## Bethelarien

OK, this is a major problem with me. I get writer's block frequently, and sometimes it lasts for weeks or even months. What do the rest of you do to get rid of it? Please, help!


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## HLGStrider

Write through it. Force yourself to write a page a day. At least.

That's how I do it.


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## goldmare

Try reading or watching something that normally inspires you with ideas. Or, do something stimulating, like a workout or a intellectual debate with someone (that always clears my thoughts).

It could be that you've been writing too much, so if this is the case, take a break. Then when you start again, force yourself to get back into the rhythm and keep writing.


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## Zale

When I get writer's block, I go away & do something else (usually read) for anything up to a month. Then again, I'm a REALLY lazy writer with a very low output.
I find that I write better in the (school) holidays 'cause my brain isn't doing anything else.


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## 7doubles

mental blocks are thoughts in locks
the key is a twist an imagination dudtle
pretence personnafied gender temperment
and most of all make it fun! i cannot express this enought write what you like, new charicters can often bring life back into a dead issue also alternate perception forms new perspective. give subjects personalaties


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## e.Blackstar

HLG, forcing through never works for me. Sure, your output is greater, but the feeling and the essence of the author is never really there. If I can't actually write the story, I usually either write background info, maps, etc, I figure out what will come next in the story and read or watch something with the like in it, or I just read GOOD fantasy/sci-fi (whatever matches the genre)


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## Ol'gaffer

When I get that (and I usually do) I think movies. What would my book look like if it was on big screen? Then I turn on music (instrumental only) and I start to think of different imagenary that comes to my mind. This usually works for me so try it out. Your story seems to get off really well and I urge you to write it till the end. good luck.


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## HLGStrider

Forcing it through works for me because I realized I was abandoning stories just because I reached a "boring" part. . . and most stories have one or two boring parts, the chapters between the action where nothing much is going on. . .Sometimes you can make something go on to spruce them up, but for me, if nothing came to mind I would put the story asside and go through a period of activity, rarely coming back to the same story. I still have a stack of half finished manuscript from this time. Forcing it through has stopped this. Now I can make myself write something all the way through. . .and if it is dry I can go back and rewrite it, even throw out what I forced myself to write all together. . .just as long as I kept moving.


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## Orclord1990

Hello!!


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## Jesse

Hehehe...hi Orclord. I too get writer's block. What I do is not write for a period of time. I want to be an author when I get older and move to Fiji (in the Pacific Ocean). The books I'll write will be nd some science fiction. Then I'll own my own home, and be away from my family. Not that I want to leave them, but none will go with me to Fiji. My mom most definately won't.


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## Lossengondiel

*Help! Please read!*

I am in a jam of sorts...no, not raspberry jam, nor grape jam, but writers block jam...

I am having problems with coming up with story ideas that I completely know are 100% original. I can come up with tons of stuff, but for the most part I'm afraid that they in some way reflect off of another published work and am afraid to pursue it.

Any ideas to how to get past this obstacle? Any help would be appreciated!


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## Lantarion

I often wonder the same myself, that my work might be too similar to somebody else's (already published) work to amount to anything but personal pleasure. But no thought is completely original; all concepts seen in fantasy books today are 'connotations' or large, *already used* themes, characters, places, languages, etc. You might say that I believe nothing is 100% original anymore. But what I do I try not to worry aobut it and just write/invent whatever feels right or fitting to me.


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## Lossengondiel

Thanks for your advice Lanty


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## elithraniel

I know exactly how you feel! Sometime I just completely give up on writing because I feel like whatever I write isn't mine; its always too much like Tolkien or another author. Tolkien's writings have become so much a part of me that when I write it doesn't feel quite right.
Sometimes what I have to do is I just have to write about my fears and dreams: write about stuff that is real to you. Use your experiences and things you have discovered for your writing: not things other people have discovered! 
 I hope that helps!


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## Lossengondiel

Thank you very much, too. Yes, I try and take subjects that are close to me and write about them...but they always seem to mirror some sort of children's story, or just any story in general...

For example, I wanted to write a story about this girl who is shy and withdrawn from the world, and her horse would help her overcome her difficulties...but that in itself seems to me like another children's story...

See my dilemma?


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## elithraniel

Well, it actually depends. 
You see, that is the problem: she is shy. And the conclusion is he horse helps her. But, stories are about how you get from point A to point B and what you learn on the way!  Usually stories have deeper meaning, even if they are a children's story. The only difference between 'adult' books and 'children' books is that in 'children's books' it is written in "a short and powerful speech."
Hope that helped too!
Elithraniel


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## Lossengondiel

Yes it did, thank you!!!


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## Zale

I have had that problem myself. Sometimes it seems to me that there aren't any truly original concepts left to write about. That, of course, is the point; nobody had ever imagined Orcs until Tolkien invented them, and no-one will think of the next truly original idea until some bright spark hits us all between the eyes with it. Then we'll all plaguarise that.


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## Arebeth

I have exactly the same problem -I think all the people actually trying to write must understand that. I'm writing things that are either absolutely boring or childish, and when it seems good for once I always read almost the same story somewhere.
(When I don't, it means that I'm speaking about people that are so recognisable that I think I can't show it to anybody.But, sometimes people don't even understand what you are saying clearly so, if it's quite enigmatic they might find it good without even knowing that they are far, far away from what you were trying to say.) And the same subjects are coming back... We are haunted, I think. But that's not _always_ bad. Sometimes it can help you to accept your thinkings as _normal_ -if it's a good thing, that's the question. Anyway, all the books you've read since you were 4, all the films you've seen, all the songs you've heard and even those you have been told of, they will always be a part of you and a part of your writings. They will tell your culture, your loves and your lies.
Personally, I found out that people never understood my writings like I thought they would. It's frustrating, but it's also a protection.
The only thing I can't stand is people that are trying willingly to copy somebody else's work. But it can't be good because, it's not their style, not their own _obscure fascinations_. Keep writing.


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## Eilana

I'm yet another person who's going to say 'I know exactly what you mean!'. The bigest problem i have is that when i have an idea, it seems new fresh and fun, but I can never get it down onto paper the way I want to and it always sounds different to what was in my head!

It seems ok while im writing it (sometimes) but when I read through it seems stupid and pointless and just not what i expected! My friend was writing a fan-fic recently for another friend, and she kept e-mailing me the bits she'd already written. i don't know what she thought of them before she asked me to read them, but i hope i gave her some more confidence (although I think she was confident anyway) but I can imagine that would help. Maybe you could try that?


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## Zale

Hmm. Sounds like another bug of mine. Sometimes I look at something I've just written, and see thatit's evolved into something completely different from the original plan. It seems to me I have almost no control over how those sorts of thing turn out.


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## Lossengondiel

Thank you all for your advice...really, it helps. I look back over things that I've written (the longest of them being about 42 handwritten pages) and I find that I cannot even bear to finish it because, like you all said, it seems, well, childish. I always come up with so many stories in my head, and I can never seem to get them down on paper in time before they disappear and are taken over by something else. Then I try to write that down, but soon after is replaced by another thought. 

I wonder if I'll ever manage to finish something that I've started...


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## Arebeth

Last time I began a story, I was absolutely confident and sure to finish it. It used some of the materials of my previous writings, so I really had "something to say". I wrote 85 pages on my pc in two weeks (it was last month, duing holidays) and then I just... lost interest. It all seemed so pointless.
But I think that, for me anyway, there are times when I really wrote much and then I'm totally unable to write anything for days, weeks, or even months. So I try to keep all my writings somewhere. Sometimes, as I grow up, things I've wrote before begin to have another meaning. I realize that I was actually saying more than expected, and that in fact all these stories where just one,and that in one piece it takes all its meaning.
At the moment I'm just writing when I really need to. I don't spend hours trying to find something because I know it's useless. But maybe, next week or next month I'll start writing all the time again. And maybe, I will finally finish this story. Even if it's childish and ridiculous and silly, I feel that I have to finish it before starting with something else. To grow up, and be able to master my writing. I hope I will, but don't try to success to quickly. It's not a race.


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## Lossengondiel

Yes yes, I know what you mean about the whole "not-being-able-to-write-anything-for-days/weeks/month" thing. I always have a spiral with me wherever I go in case the Muses inspire me...but more often than not I don't have anything to say...


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## Lantarion

You know, I was wondering: over the millenia, people must have written hundreds of thousands of fictional books, right? And there can only be so many general genres and topics to go around, right? So that would mean that every genre must have several hundred topics, and each topic must have several hundred _variations_! Because otherwise poeple wouldn't read them anyway, if they were all alike.
So maybe we shouldn't worry about writing something 100% completely unique, but about producing an excellent and insightful _variation_ of the themes and topics that were once unique. It helps me at least a bit when I look at it like this.


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## Eledhwen

"Hero with a Thousand Faces" is a book by Joseph Campbell which is now out of print, but it is famous for being the inspiration behind Star Wars.

Campbell argues that there are no new stories, that all the angles have been tried and used and that there are surprisingly few of them.

There are other books on a similar theme which are well worth reading for aspiring writers. Check some reviews in Amazon.Com (there's a link from this Forum). It was Aristotle who first mooted this theory (It would be, wouldn't it!).


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## Lossengondiel

> _Originally posted by Lantarion _
> *So maybe we shouldn't worry about writing something 100% completely unique, but about producing an excellent and insightful variation of the themes and topics that were once unique. It helps me at least a bit when I look at it like this.  *



Thanks Lanty and Eledhwen for the advice. Especially Lanty for this little bit that really does make a load of sense to me, and I should try and remember that more often when I'm trying to write.


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## Zale

Either decent execution of a completely novel concept, or excellent execution of an old but good idea. That is, it seems, what's needed for success.
I can (and have) gone for years without writing anything of import. It has to take a back seat to academic work. But this year (13), more frees = more time for writing.
I hope to post something interesting here before too much longer. I'll post the 1st draft here, so your no doubt excellent comments can be assimilated into the rewrites.


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## Eledhwen

> _Originally posted by Zale _
> *I'll post the 1st draft here, so your no doubt excellent comments can be assimilated into the rewrites. *


 You'll go far!


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## Zale

Let's hope my writing is up to your criticisms...
When it arrives. Due to a slight delay expect it Tuesday, or maybe Wednesday.


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## Hammersmith

I just recovered from a three week period of almost total blockage (possibly related to the fact that I've just got internet on my laptop  )
I had gone through a time of writing 1000-2000 words a day, disciplined. I guess maybe my mind dried up. I read four books, listened to several albums' worth of music and stayed away from TV. And the writer's block has vanished! Praise be!
Sorry for the necropost, but this is a valuable thread!


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## Halasían

Writers Block is a funny thing. it seems to happen top e when I have the time to sit and write. But my muse is gone . Yet, I can be here at work and on the phone and all, and type out some great stuff which I edit later. I can't predict when I will have writers block or not. I find that if I try and 'force' through it, what I write is udder [email protected]


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## Jesse

I would just force your way through the writers block...


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## Firawyn

I;ve been told that you should stick to one writing project and not start another till the end. But for me, If I get the writers block, I just move on to another idea. This has led to a ton of unfinished stories, but it keeps me in practice. 

I find that the so called "writer's block" is not really a lack of steam to write, it's just a need for a change of scenery. For me, that works, but whatever. You have some good advice here for the rest of the members.


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## Halasían

Firawyn said:


> I;ve been told that you should stick to one writing project and not start another till the end. But for me, If I get the writers block, I just move on to another idea. This has led to a ton of unfinished stories, but it keeps me in practice.


Yes, I have files full of unfinished stories, but it seems I get the muse back for certain stories at times, and I work on that one. So yes, if you have something in mind that you're on fire to capture, then write it out!



Firawyn said:


> I find that the so called "writer's block" is not really a lack of steam to write, it's just a need for a change of scenery. For me, that works, but whatever. You have some good advice here for the rest of the members.


And its a matter of motivation on the subject. If I'm not being driven to write about something, no amount of 'forcing' will make what I write on the subject worth a darn.


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## HLGStrider

I'm still going to say force it. I think we writers see what we have written down in the first draft as too concrete. I hate editing my work. I want it perfect the first time and then I don't want to touch it. However, you can't do it this way. Even if you write it all the way through without one bit of writers block you are still going to have to hack the piece to death when you finish. HACK HACK CHOP CUT SMASH ADD DELETE BANG!

So, if you are going to have to change what you write anyway, you might as well keep writing even if it isn't very good. 

I think I have realized this because my laptop has a personality and has at least twice deleted my work when it didn't think I wrote it well enough (Truthfully, I forgot to save twice after a frustrating day when I forced myself through a page or two and then came back and found it was gone). The second time through was much better, but the experience of writing it twice honed the piece and made it that much better. 

You may not have a laptop that deletes it for you (or be stupid enough to forget to click save when you exit your word processor), but you can do the deleting yourself. 

What you write should NEVER be concrete. Editors will chop it to bits, and you need to be willing to face this and do it yourself. 

It may feel like ordering plastic surgery for your only child, but it's part of the business.


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