The Mighty Pen Writing Club discussion

Hints, Tips, Cures.

Discuss "The bane to a writers existence" here.

It's evil. We hates it. We has it and will post a more substantial comment once it is gone. We will now stop talking like Gollum from The Lord of the Rings now. :D

xD
I hate writer's block. Before I go to bed ideas attack my head. I wake up thinking "yes, this is going to be cool!" I sit in front of the computer (or hold a notebook) then I go dumb. "Wait is this right...?"
I'm gonna stop talking now ;)

Writers block has stopped me for more then a month now.
IM SO ANNOYED! I just cant write a thing!

I went to google and I hope this helps:
http://www.tcc.edu/students/resources...

I think sometimes for me it's that i get bored and i just want to quit. it sounded like a good plot and everything but then i can't think of what to do next. This has stopped me lost of times.

I hate it when I have great ideas then forget it...if I do it's when I'm not able to write it down. I hate writer's block in general...I have no inspiration and I want throw whatever it is I'm using to get the idea down across the room. What helps is music...writing at nigth...and snacking... :D Not great if you want to lose weight though.

I barely forget ideas anymore.

If i have an in-depth idea, scene, character, or just an inkling of a plot-I write it down.

I always have fresh paper on my desk/bedside table/living room bench.
I always have a pen in those places to-so i can just write.
I never forget ideas that way.

But at school, I will just write it down on my hand.
For example: the other day I had a really good idea for a plot. All i had was a pen-so i wrote it on my hand.
It was a looooonnnggg plot, so by the end of the day, my whole forearm/front and back of my hand was covered in writing.

Lol I'm a huge storyteller so all day I tell it to myself in my head so I don't forget and know excatly how I want it to be when I write it down!
Writers block exists only if you let it. The best cure is to just keep writing and before you know it, its blown over!

This is something I've found in my own writing; it may or may not be true of any of you, but I thought I'd share anyway.

I get writer's block whenever I'm trying to force a character to do something he or she would not normally do, or when I'm forcing the plot in the wrong direction. Usually it takes me a couple days of just being frustrated and hating what I'm writing to figure it out. Then it takes a couple days to figure out how to fix it.

Hmm....sounds true....that's some good stuff to know. I'll take that into consideration. :D

For me it usually means what comes next isn't in my head. If I watch a movie or TV show that is more plot-driven I can usually think of a similar scene that would fit in my story. It's a bit derivitive, but I can get passed that part, keep writing, and later, when I have a better idea I can fix it.

Yeah...that true also. :D Half the time I realize all this after the fact when I'm ready to destroy my work.

Ick, what I hate the most is having the idea in my head all formed and all and being unable to put it accross the way I think it! Then I get all frustrated and my minds goes blank.
I.HATE.THAT.

...I hate writer's block, and I get it frequently. And I don't know how to make it go away, either. All I know to do is to keep brainstorming, and trying, and eventually it'll click and you'll get going again. In the meantime: cry, get mad, and try not to hit your head against the wall is all the advice I can give. :/

i've tried all of that but in the meantime all that has helped is a new story ^^

See, I do that, but the story that triggered the writer's block is still just...stuck. :( I really just need to sit down and get it all figured out. I think I really should go back and rewrite a lot of it. Even though I hate rewriting...it's painful.

Tell me about it. Heart Seeker is like 8 chapters (so, ok, it may not be that long, I know but still) and it needs LOADS of correction... I hate rewriting. Usually because some mistakes are so basic they make me want to hit my head on the pc screen.

@ Jillian
Ditto about the tears. About the rest too.
:)

Being a writer is just an emotional experience. At least, in my case it is.
I cry when I can't write anything, and then when I have lots of ideas and inspiration I'll get all weepy because I can't sleep at night.

And a random question: Do any of you ever get moved to tears by your own characters? I do sometimes. I put myself so much in the place of my characters that it feels almost like it is me. :S

Jillian -always aspiring- wrote: "Well, I've cried because I've been moved by the hero of D (you know who I'm likely talking about, Hope), so -- yes. I'm moved whenever my characters have some semblance of growth -- expanding beyo..."

I'm so glad I'm not the only person who really gets into their characters! I get so emotional sometimes, it's ridiculous. It's mostly their growth, interactions with others, a major event in their life, etc. I just love my characters too much. :)

Heck, I get into other people's characters, I wouldn't get into my own? When writting one's past, if it's too traumatical I'm like "snif...the poor kid...snif" then my mama asks what is wrong with me and I'm like "It is so unfaiiiiiiiiiiiir"... Mama thinks I should relax a little. She isnot a writer and thus she doesn't understand... ^^

Hahahah...But I do Alkyoni!!! That happens to me all the time!!!

Aww lol thats pretty funny!

Thank you guys (teary eyed). Only you understand me!
...
Did it get too melodramatic??

Haha, I've never cried over my character, but I laugh at stuff I've written. I feel a little crazy, laughing at my computer sometimes.

Isis wrote: "I get writer's block whenever I'm trying to force a character to do something he or she would not normally do, or when I'm forcing the plot in the wrong direction. "

I've heard this and I find it's true. When I get writer's block, it's because something isn't working and I have to figure out why, even if I have to dump a whole project or set it aside for awhile. When I can figure out what isn't honest or not explored enough, I can move forward.

Something that can help is character sketches. Before you start writing, write out a sketch for your character. Put them in a different situation and think through how they would react. When things happen in your life, ask yourself how your character would react. Most of your writing is done away from the computer, thinking out scenes, working through your character. Keep a notebook handy by those places you think most (mine is when I'm trying to go to sleep) and write it down. Sometimes waiting for inspiration in front of the computer gives you anxiety and it doesn't work out. Sometimes trying to get something perfect can stop you from moving forward. Sketch it out, know it's bad and you'll fix it later, and move forward. Rewrites are awful, but they are an integral part of writing.

I always hear or read where people say they get writer's block. I have never experienced that in 23 years of writing.

Now, I do get in the I don't feel like writing mood and when I do, I can't sit at my computer and write.

Now...what happens when you get writers block during a school's project....right now...I'm going through this. *sobs*

Writer's block is where you want to write but you can't think of anything....even though you have set characters and such you sit there without a thought as to how your story will go....you get frustrated...

Jamie wrote: "Writer's block is where you want to write but you can't think of anything....even though you have set characters and such you sit there without a thought as to how your story will go....you get fru..."

I have never had that feeling.

I do get the I don't feel like writing feeling and when I don't feel like writing, I don't write. I stay away from the computer, well writing wise.

....hm...interesting....you are immune to writers block....I wish I had that....

Jamie wrote: "....hm...interesting....you are immune to writers block....I wish I had that...."

I would always hear or read other writers say they have or had writer's block and I never had it yet.

I'm the same way with reading. If I am not in the mood to read, I can't read a book.

yeah...same here. :D I don't read books when I don't feel like it.

I might can help people get out writer's block. I can give writing ideas. Well, after I know what they are writing and if a person needs help. I write contemporary stories, so I can help with that line of stories.

Well...its not just that it's wording and all...the process just isn't coming together..things don't make sense...you aren't sure how to make it work.

I do like 99% of my writing in my head. Scenes always come to me.

I find that listening to music helps the words flow.

Argh, writers block is a pain.

Especially when I have a really great idea, but I just don't know how to put it into interesting words.

Yes! Like if im trying to narrate a great scene that i have in my head but i cant put it in words!!

Catherine wrote: "Yes! Like if im trying to narrate a great scene that i have in my head but i cant put it in words!!"

Exactly!! I blame myself. I'm sure if I submitted my ideas to say, Ellen Hopkins, she'd immediately turn it into a bestseller.

Hmph.

This is why I'm taking writing courses & stuff so that I get better. I want to do my best, but I can't when there's a huge wall blocking me from finishing my darn book!

I hate that feeling of, "Wow, this idea is so AWESOME!" And writing it down in this feverish excitement and feeling absolutely brilliant, and then reading it over the next day and thinking, "Oh...this isn't as good as I thought..." -_- And then, having to rewrite it...I said this before, and I'll say it again: Rewriting hurts.

Sometimes life just hits you....walls are natural....maybe if she realized you were trying to make the best for her Poindex....she wouldn't be so reluctant :D

oohh my WORST enemy. I have to move away from my laptop for a good hour or two before attempting to pick up where I left off, otherwise I get a very strong urge to throw my laptop out the window :)
To cure it? usually it is a matter of me reading over what I had previously done and figured out where I can go from there...otherwise I just go and do something else until another wave of inspiration hits me like a ton of bricks. this is the moment when I apologise profusely to my laptop and apologise for hating it XD

I just hate when I can't find the right words

Catherine wrote: "I just hate when I can't find the right words"

oh yeah...that is the worst lol happens to me a lot!

i third that

The thing about writers block, for me, is that it means I did something wrong. It's my character saying "nope, that's not what I want to happen. And I'm not telling you the rest of the story until you go back and make it right."

So if I backtrack to where stuff started to get choppy, and find my smooth point again, and just re-think the whole next section (or just take out things that don't need to be there: example sometimes a chapter should end and I'm trying to drag it out for some reason, when I should just end and start the next chapter on the next day) it usually goes smoothly.

then again, my characters are EXTREMELY controlling over my writing.

I had people tell me that their characters speak to them and tell them what to write. I found that strange at first, because my characters don't speak to me.

I lead my characters.

hahaha Lindsay would KILL ME if I tried to write her story without letting her tell me what to do... she'd probably murder me in my sleep lol

yeah they talk to me. they call me a crazy eccentric writer for a reason ;)

I GOT OUT OF MY WRITERS BLOCK!!!!!

Ive had it for over 2 months. Not a word to paper.
Now i can write again :)