So far I can’t motivate myself to write down the story that’s been floating around my brain for the last couple of years. It seems that I am inclined to write only when I am in a bad mood, but then again, I don’t want to write things with a negative outlook.
Did anybody around here ever suffer from writer’s block and if so, how did you overcome that? I am curious to know, whether there is some general recipe to it 
Have you actually started writing the story yet? or do you just have ideas floating around in there you want to some day get on paper?
you could try the discipline approach…set aside a certain amount of time on a strictly regular basis and make sure you acutally spend that time writing… if you don’t “feel” like writing - just jot down a few random thoughts…doesn’t matter if it’s related to your story or not… you might find that in time it starts to come together
Yeah, it’s called sitting down and writing.
Seriously, sit down and force yourself to spend a certain amount of time writing. Don’t worry how it looks or sounds; don’t worry that the phrases aren’t correct. Just write. In fact, you might even grab notebook and pen and do it away from the computer, so you’re not tempted to make constant corrections. Once your set time is up, you can go on if you’re on a roll, but don’t stop before that time.
almost like an echo in the room lol
Tal and Deadlyaccurate, that’s a good suggestion. I’ll cram time to write into my schedule then.
In this particular case, I wrote a 3 page exposé, in order to have a rough idea what I want to do with each chapter, but so far I have only finished the first page of the actual story.
Assuming that you two have some writing experience, I wonder, how much time I should set aside for writing? Granted, only I know how much time I have available each day, but I wondered how much time I should reserve for one sitting. Usually it takes me an hour to write one page, so perhaps I should start with an hour a day.
Well, it took me three years each to finish my first two books and a year and a half to finish my third (but it’s unedited). I suspect my fourth book will end up taking about a year.
An hour is a good amount of time. The more the better, obviously, but do whatever’s comfortable for you.
actually, i have to confess to having no writing experience, but this DOES apply to many things and i saw no reason it shouldn’t apply to this situation
Made me think of my education days when I strugged to get through writing essays etc… was only when i became disciplined, and sat down and just wrote…that i actually got anywhere…
Also applies to my current “career” although it’s not writing, it is creative and the discipline approach works for me there too…when i’m not motivated and dont’ feel like working on something, i find that acutally making myself sit down and at least do SOMETHING on it is usually all i need to get me going
Try switching gears. Instead of writing the Story that Just Won’t Come, write a treatise on different mechanisms within fiction writing for developing this or that aspect of a character. Put snippets of fiction in as illustrative examples. Then write a second chapter on your favorite plot structural devices for elaborating tension by cascading one concern into another, again illustrating with snippets of fiction. The snippets you use need not have any overlap with the book you’re stuck on, but they can; or you can sketch out totally different characters and situations instead.
Or, if that’s too close to home, write a manual on The Purchasing and Setting Up of Audio Components for a Really Groovy Home Entertainment System. Or do the autobiograhy of Yourself in Middle School, as best you can recall it.
You may find that you wake up one morning with huge scenes and fully completed dialog and chronologies of small events and everything in your head for your book, and an irresistible urge to convert it from brain format to word processor format before breakfast
There is no single right answer to this question, so it’s not really a GQ. Since it’s about writing, I’ll move this thread to Cafe Society.
bibliophage
moderator GQ
Write the easiest stuff first, as well. Namely, if you have a scene or character or bit of dialogue in your head that’s fully formed, write it down. Don’t worry about how it fits in with anything else. Later, you may find yourself intrigued by how the different pieces fit together, what would lead a character to say such a horrible thing, or just how the heck you’re going to get your protagonist out of that fix.
Inspiration and passion come first; don’t write unless you have them, and if you have them, write about that before anything else
Curiosity can then drive you a good ways; I’m always discovering the details to stories as I write them
Be fully prepared to throw out evertything that you’ve just written following the above rules. Eventually, you’ll start revising and some scenes, no matter who strongly you pictured them, will have no place in your story.
Tie an ice cube to your head. You’ll be able to write something soon after.
Unfortunately, what you write will probably be “Man, my head is cold!”
You might find something in the suggestions on combating writer’s burnout.
Ah, yes, that was an interesting thread. Thanks for posting the link
Here is how I conquor my writers block.
About four years ago, I read Lord of the Rings for the first time. I was so intrigued by Tolkiens writing style, I decided to put my plan of writing a novel about a sword into action. As a youngster, I wrote two Stephen King type novels (meaning they lacked any real substance) which I deem unreadable. I wanted to undertake a huge project, but did not want to end up with the same miserable result. That can lead to quite a tremendous writers block.
For me, the trouble was with where to start the story. What sentence should I use to get the writers hooked? I knew where I wanted to start, but there was nothing in that passage that sounded like it was worthy of a novel’s first line.
So, instead of dwelling on the first chapter, I started to write passages. I’d spend about an hour a night writing a passage, and then I would save it in a file that would make it easy to decipher later when I needed it. Lo and behold, I had about 500 pages written (over the span of about four years) before I finally figured out what to use for the first line of the book. I decided to start with a small prologue dedicated to a different character that would end up being an integral part of the story (a Gandalf-like character, though my Gandalf is much darker than Tolkien’s…I haven’t named him yet, so far he is just referred to as “The Dark Rider”). I finally found a way to start: “The Dark Rider’s steed galloped viciously through the sightless night”. I have changed it a dozen times since I first thought of it just ten days ago…but my first chapter is finally beginning to take shape.
I now have 500 pages of rabble of which I plan to actually use about 200 or so in the finished book. My first chapter is now 12 pages long, though I do tend to do a lot of proofreading and revising. When I’m finished, I want a product where every single word has relevance to the overall story.
And if I get stuck on where to go next with my story, I still write random notes. It is not uncommon for me to pounce out of bed at 1 AM to write a (seemingly important) passage down so it won’t be lost to dreams.
Good luck.
If it’s story writing you’re interested in, here is my 2 cents.
It sometimes helps me to do some fact-checking: if you have an idea of the background of some of your characters, check to see what they do, what they would be interested in and talk about and how they talk. This may lead to extended searches in libraries and on Internet, and give you facts that may inspire you. Be careful however that you do not get lost in a deluge of useless information, or get sidetracked into irrelevant issues.
Furthermore the act of thinking about the characters’ personalities may help you again to concentrate on the story. Again asking questions helps. Why would person A speak to B, and what would B say in return. How would the subject X crop up in conversation? How have A and b met? Such questions may aid you in getting a firm grasp of the subject matter and the story.
Other tricks that professional writers apparently use are diagrams for plotting the structure of the story. These may suggest lacunae in the story which you may get inspired to fill. Also using symbols and motives may help (for example a bird motive, by repeatedly using bird-related imagery or actual birds cropping up in the story descriptions). Such tricks can help you to make the story coherent and give you help to fill up things.
In my experience, the best way for writing a story is having a story to tell. Trite but true. If you have a real point to make it is easier to motivate yourself to make it a good point and to properly present it. If you are not sure what you are going to say, you will beat around the bush, bore the reader and yourself. That is, except if you are an extraordinary gifted stylist. A good plot, however, is always worthwhile.
When considering the above, remember I’ve never really published a story and haven’t written one in over a year now (busy with dissertation research). SDMB has quite a number of more seasoned authors (some actually published) among its members; with proper bait you might draw them out for regaling you their experiences.
BTW, the suggestions of the other posters are excellent as well.
You might need to experiment a bit to see what works for you. Others have suggested forcing yourself to sit down and write, even if what you’re writing almost stream-of-conscious. I’m sure this is good advice for some; you should try it and see if it works for you. But it decidedly DOES NOT work for me. When I’m stuck and having trouble concentrating on writing; or if I’ve got a particular story stumbling block I’m having trouble overcoming, I get up and go outside for a long walk. I don’t spend the whole walk thinking about the story or the particular problem. I just enjoy being outside, think about stuff and life in general, and kind of zone out. Since I’ve probably been thinking about the story for a while before the walk anyway, it will invariably slip into my subconscious, and I’ll start thinking about the story or problem without even trying. Kinda like sneaking up on it! More often than not, by the time I’m done with my walk, I’ll have gotten my creative juices flowing again or overcome the stumbling block. That’s what works for me, anyway.
Have you thought about writing about your writer’s block? It helps grease the wheels.
Try finding a different:
It’s amazing how the correct combination of paper, pen and table location can clear some types of writer’s block.