Have you ever had writer's block?

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Writer's block has been a problem on-and-off for me for at least a few years now, and it's been especially bad recently. It makes it very hard for me to get writing assignments done.

Have you ever had writer's block?

P.S. If your answer is "once", choose "yes, a few times".

Pretty frequently. I often have trouble figuring out how I want to word things.

I've had it for years now, just finally begining to break back through and start writing again.

Here's my "how I started again" method:
I decided to force it, and just write a story. But I couldn't decide what was supposed to happen, if anything. So I got a dice, and made a key card. Then when I was stuck, I'd roll to see what my character did/ where she went/ who she saw. The end result reads a bit like a choose your own adventure book, but it worked. I've been writing off and on again since.

Here is something you can try for writer's block---I have taught English on both the high school and university levels, and I did my master's thesis on this. The use of instrumental music is a valuable tool in promoting writing. For example, if you get writer's block, try to find an instrumental selection of music that would fit the type of writing you are attempting to do. Then, let the music play and pretend like a movie is coming on your TV, or at the theatre. You should be able to imagine a scene appear for your story---or whatever. If you are writing an essay instead of a short story, imagine it is a documentary coming on the history channel or discover channel. Let your thoughts flow through the music. It might take some practice and getting used to, but trust me---it works.

Once the thoughts come, you can always tape record yourself describing what you imagine so that you don't lose it. Or just take some notes. But, it is important that as the creative thoughts come to not interrupt them. Good luck.

I find what I call 'writer's block' is when I don't even care to have an internet connection - I mean I am done with it, put it up . . . because the frustration of what I want to do is being pushed into the background of what the new mania I have is emerging.

I go in and out of what I am intensely focused on and that used to be OK, mainly because I didn't notice it. But now, when I want to have a writing project I have the Aspie presentation of getting intensely interested in sewing, instead. This is great for my wardrobe but does not progress the writing project, that is languishing in it's undeveloped state in my documents folder.

Merle

As a would-be writer, a friend who is a professional screenwriter recently gave me a couple of tips:

1) Knowing I'm an editor at heart, he advised me to not let editor-me get in the way of writer-me, "Or you'll find yourself writing chapter 1 for the rest of your life. Just pour it out there, then go away for a while. When you come back, you might find what you wrote is crap, or you might find it was a gem and you just didn't know it at the time."

2) I have notes - nearly a perfect short story in and of itself - from my great-grandfather describing his civil war adventure which I now see as a blockbuster movie or adventure novel just waiting to happen. My screenwriter friend advised that as I transcribe the notes to my computer, "Do it all at once, then start rewriting it in your own words without going back to your grandad's notes. In other words, don't worry about getting the minor details right. The parts that stick out for you will be the parts you expand on. Any parts you forget are parts that didn't stick out for you and probably should just as well be edited out anyway."

#2 I haven't started on yet, but it sounds like a fun (if slightly scary) way to go about the thing.

#1, my friend's advice helped me overcome nearly a year's worth of writer's block on a rather difficult section of a current project!

- Jo

I'm a writer by nature and profession and I've never had writer's block. I can be left mute and paralyzed in a face to face conversation, but give me a paper and a pencil (or a computer) and I've always got lots to say.

Frequently my mind is in 'warp speed' while my body is stuck in traffic.

I get writer's block a lot.
I've found I write best collaboratively. When I'm writing by myself, I tend to get stuck rewriting what I already have and often getting stuck trying to figure out to how to get to the next planned plot point (because I tend to leave out a lot of important detail when I structure stories before writing them). When I'm writing with someone, it's a lot easier to just throw ideas at eachother and see what works and to fill in eachother's blanks when the ideas are missing something. It's a lot more fun, too.

Yes! Writers block was always a nightmare for me in school. My trouble isn't with writing itself so much as the inability to write without a suitable topic. When the prescribed topic doesn't properly gel with my personal interests or my style of thinking I start sweating bullets.

For example, in my high school writing class I had to write an essay about a specific life event that significantly changed my beliefs / worldview. Alas, for the life of me I couldn't think of anything. Not one g**damn thing! Maybe I just have a boring life but nothing has ever been that poignant to me. I think constantly so my beliefs tend to shift gradually. These kinds of essays always made me feel like the teacher was forcing me to pull something out of my ass.

I have got writer's block now. Hence the short post.

Every once in awhile...but I have several ideas.

Find a dull, repetitive activity (no, not that one!... like being stuck in traffic. Go over the story in your head. What happens next? (after you're stuck), what do you want to happen next? What's the ending? What would you have to do to get there from where you are? That usually lets your mind wander in a particular direction. I create the 'bones' (the general outline, minus descriptions or dialog), and then 'fatten up' the story, having a sort of road map to get me through.

When the history of the world is written, it might be that more things were discovered in the shower than the lab...