How do you get over writers block?

[Dountmindme]

I am collecting my ideas in a file, little by little, so I can start writing any kind of novel. Well at the end, I just had a sudden impulse and saw how should my first 15 chaps of a novel go like. Then I need only to fill them up. Well sorry, that will be my first novel and I still won't publish it. It will be a great eyesore for the readers. So let's get to the point. I am writing the first 15 chapters, but at the same time, I am writing other ideas in my notes, fur future references. I hope at the end I can come up with a full story. The end of the story? I don't know it. Just going with the flow.

Edit: Let's see if I keep the tempo up or not, The problem will come after the 15th chapter.

Yeas that’s my problem as well~
Like, what comes after those chapters.
Well, it seems like you have a great system going. Where as I...I have no system. I probably do need one. My thoughts come to me randomly, but it’s mostly my dreams. Those dreams are the source where my ideas, and what to write come from.

 

[boboverlord]

If you struggle to write the main story, then you may go to fill in world-building instead.

 

[ioriangel]

Before writing a single line I plan my story from beginning to end. Build the world, and then the characters. I only block on scenes and the execution of the arc of a story. Music helps, watching some TV show for inspired does it for me too.

 

[Deleted member 2533]

I just learned of my style like yesterday when I asked my elder brothers and sisters inSH Discord. Do it at your own pace. It doesn't matter how.

Mine is like driving at night with only headlights as a way to see the road. These 'headlights' are my one sentence or few, "intention scene". Then I 'steer' or write further more scenes to reach that intented scene.

Just let it all flow.

 

[Vanny]

In between each chapter, do a rough layout of what's in the next chapter. This helps. And maybe do some clarifying on the characters involved; this makes writting what's next easier, for me. And remember to write each chapter with intention. It helps to control story tone.

 

[mrsimple]

Write all the time.

I don't mean just writing stories, or ideas, or anything to do with creativity. Just write. It can be nonsense. Something that pops in your head, like a single quote from somebody, and if you write it down, it'll kick something closer into getting back in action. Just keep working on those gears and they'll get moving.

It is a lot like what writers state: force yourself to write. But in this case, you are writing down whatever comes to mind or floats around you. Maybe writing down what somebody else had said would help too. Trying to write down how they said it, their tone of voice, the expression on their face, the mood they were in, what kind of mood you were in when you heard it, and things like that. Just write these things down and it will exercise that creativity until writing becomes a regular thing.

And to show for it, I don't have a lot of time to write. I'm at work a lot, twelve hour shifts through the evening, night, morning, and plenty of mandatory OT on top of my regular schedule. So I write down notes. That was the only way I could've written my stories within half a year. I was a non-stop writer.

Right now, I have a lot more issues going on, so I've not been as capable as I was before, and I don't know how well I'll improve, if I do, before I get myself back onto the fast lane. In any case, I keep writing, and that is what I suggest you do too. Just write whatever and make it a part of your life for as long as you have it. :)

 

[S.D.Mills]

@FemmeFatale is right. In the professional writing environment, you don’t have the luxury of skipping around and pretending to be productive. There are outliers, but in general what’s called writer’s block is not a problem with what is next. Plot is not what moves a story; it’s characters. Usually a writer is stuck when they don’t know their characters well enough to know what they would do next. If you don’t let your story say what it wants to, it will fight you to the death.

So, sit and stare at a wall and take your characters out for a date. There’s a saying, “No tears for the writer, no tears for the reader.” Suck it up and sit there until you and your characters have worked out your differences.

There are a few cheats if you’re on a deadline though. One is the Rule of Nines. Write 10 different options, pick one, and move the f*ck on.

 

[TheBoredDreamer]

Writer's block can get much shittier but luckily for me every time I was able to get some new ideas.
Well, not for the current novel I'm writing but rather for new ones.

I read about the suggestion where @lnv said skipping chapters might be a good idea but I am not really sure if that's really usable. Since if you thought of some sudden twist in the middle of writing, you won't be probably able to connect the story again and have to rewrite the whole thing.
Although I keep the general direction in my doc, I still think letting the story flow is a better option.

Aside from that, you can keep a music playing in the background but yes, it's just a personal preference.
I would advise songs similar to this one:

anyway, they are just random babbling from a bored guy, who didn't even publish any original work. You can just ignore them.

 

[mrsimple]

"anyway, they are just random babbling from a bored guy, who didn't even publish any original work. You can just ignore them."

I'm a bit too simpleminded to catch sarcasm through text, so I'm gonna ask: *Absolute Strengthening Technique* is your original work, right?

 

[TheBoredDreamer]

I'm a bit too simpleminded to catch sarcasm through text, so I'm gonna ask: *Absolute Strengthening Technique* is your original work, right?

No? It's a Fanfic.

 

[S.D.Mills]

No? It's a Fanfic.

 

[TheBoredDreamer]

Hmm, so it was funny enough,

 

[mrsimple]

Hmm, so it was funny enough,

Apparently.

 

[TheBoredDreamer]

Apparently.

It's all good then... knowing smile

 

[TLCsDestiny]

There's so many different writers which makes me start to think that there would be different types of writer's blocks...
I know that sounds weird...
Some people have writers block because they can't think of what to put in next in the story, troubles with the plot or what not. Then, the opposite could happen, where someone has writers block even though the story is already set and ready to go!
To be honest, I think the solution is different. The question is, which solution is it for you to get out of writer's block...
I guess the first question to ask is, 'Do you really want to continue to do this story?'
Honestly ask yourself, because if you don't want to continue, then what's wrong with stopping, put it on hold...I'm a firm believer on not wasting your life away! Do something else!
But, if you do really want to keep going, but still have a problem, then that's when things get specific. Is it because you haven't thought the story out? Is it because you are thinking of other things? Is it because your enthusiasm is gone?
Man, now that I think about it, this is like one of those yes and no, follow the line to the next question type of thing lol. Well anyway, I guess I'm trying to say is that you might have to look deeper to find why you have writer's block instead of just saying that you have writer's block...
...I don't get out much, so maybe people know about this already and I'm just wasting my time, I just thought that I'd put it out there and get people to ask themselves why...
Dam, maybe an idea for a story hey. 'Writer's block'. One shot it! Haha!

 

[Denisat]

There is a saying I heard so from a bunch of peps who participated in NaNoWriMo:

"If you have no idea what to do, throw ninjas into the story."

This gives you a chance to create character development or conflict. Ninjas are just a metaphor for anything, sinking ships, bombs, a war, serial killer, or what do I know.

Another less restrictive option is to do anything that doesn’t take your full attention. During these times, you can run imaginative plots your head, create characters, think about upcoming conflicts... or, to put it simply, become more creative.

 

[Sabruness]

My problem is I know what will happen from chapters 5-infinity, its just connecting chapters 2 to 5 that's hard. rawr. Hard.
I should just kill off the Male Lead... that'd make life easy

That's my point, if you can't write 2-5, skip 3 and 4 and start writing 5. Sure you might need to change some stuff or rewrite things. But that is perfectly fine.

PS You can kill of the male lead, who needs them?

That's basically me. My main stories that i have the most work in are perfect examples of that way of doing things. My two oldest (in terms of when i started them) stories are split into 3 and 4 parts respectively just because i wrote chunks then i had writers block while having ideas for later in the story so i just skipped ahead and so on. I do have a vague idea of what will happen in those gaps though. Just a matter of writing the missing gaps and/or rewriting the existing old parts.

 

[OddJamm]

I just start the characters and then let them write the story for me. Not literary of course, I wish but no. They kinda just come alive in my mind and show me part of themselves, I guess?? I'm weird.. Ahem, I kinda treat my characters as my friends and I make them from my surroundings as well as a part of myself if that makes sense? When I get ideas it is often funny moments or events that my characters act out and I'm responsible for filling in the ends that will lead up to the events. I think, what would my character do to reach that point that they showed me? I write mostly for fun so I can't give good advice for those that write more professionally than me. I guess just enjoy what you do? Sorry for the bad advice Being happy always works. (Why am I like this... Someone put a bag over me and throw me into the sea already)

 

[Lukha]

I say the best way to get over a writer's block (especially for me) is to get inspiration! Do something or find something that inspires you to write or something that gets your creative juices flowing! Usually that means watching a really good movie, playing a video game, listening to amazing osts, and the like to get me inspired to write.

 

[AionSaturnia]

I think the best way to get inspiration for a story is to obtain experience with people. Something I am severly lacking in, I am afraid. Beyond that I would never have had writer's block. Everything that is not related to people's relationships comes is easy, as it has its own logic and reason behind it. People are instead very complex and illogical.