The Writer's Block & Inspiration Thread

[The Crimzin Katana]

I find that if I stay up late at night and listen to the radio, I get some pretty good ideas.

[Mistysha]

The Crimzin Katana

I find that if I stay up late at night and listen to the radio, I get some pretty good ideas.

Same here, I seem to get more ideas late at night and early in the morning. I have a book about writing songs and it suggests to take a walk or sleep when you're at an impasse, so you can see the problem from a different perspective. Though I hate sleeping...Hahaha

[Extrapolatron]

Here's some general advice for staying motivated: Stop whilst you're still enjoying it. If you stop when you don't want to stop, your motivation will stay with you and you'll find it easy to get back into things. If you don't stop until you're bored out of your mind, then you're leaving yourself tedious work to do when you return to it, and you'll end up procrastinating.

I discovered this whilst I was reading, but I've realised that it can apply to pretty much everything that you generally enjoy, but get bored with after a while. If you consistently love or hate doing something, this is not good advice for you - but if you kind of alternate, it's always best to stop when you're enjoying it.

[manicsubsidal]

[Stryfesgirl]

Hi! I'm not sure it's a form of writers block, but I just can't seem to find a good way to start my book. I want it to catch the reader's interest from word 1 but it's hard. Anyone have suggestions on how to maybe start off?

[Selieno]

Not sure about the rest of you, but whenever I have a hard time finding what goes next I just roleplay out the last complete scene myself, picturing myself as the character and acting accordingly. Then, when I'm done and exhausted, I sit down and write everything I just did. It's especially helpful if you're trying to write a fight scene to just stand up, take a character, and start acting.

[x.Marsh[mel]low.x]

Man, I have the worst luck getting stuck in blocks of dialogue. And transitional pieces from one scene to another are cloudy and I get definite writer's block there. Tips/tircks?

[Mistysha]

Stryfesgirl

Hi! I'm not sure it's a form of writers block, but I just can't seem to find a good way to start my book. I want it to catch the reader's interest from word 1 but it's hard. Anyone have suggestions on how to maybe start off?

Depends what your book's about, I guess. You can start off with a word that gives an idea of the topic. Something like "Death." or "Again." seems to leave a strong impression (on me, at least, haha). Or you could start with a sentence that resumes the story well too. For instance, there's a book called "L'avalée des avalées" ("The Swallower swallowed" ) from which everyone seems to remember the first line, which roughly translates as: "Everything swallows me." And that idea of being swallowed and what it means exactly is highlighted throughout the story. You can try to think of something impacting or intriguing about your story and put it into a short sentence.

[loonaboots]

XXX∂αηcєнαℓℓ нчsтєяɪα sαчs :

i've found a tumblr with a lot of prompts. it usually helps with my writer's block (which sadly, is pretty frequent).

[Crazy Courtney 10]

this really did help me

[Errant Wrath]

The best way to work through writer's block as the first page says is to write right on through it. You can always go back and edit later.

Another thing that helps me is working on two or three things at once. Sounds weird but if I get stuck on something I am working seriously hard on I pull out something else to work on and sometimes working on that will inspire me for the first piece. Sometimes I find its just getting into a groove.

I am also going to recommend a dream journal. Why? Because even writing as little as a paragraph a day is good. Also, because I have had many a dream and a nightmare or two inspire me for stories. Even if I only take the smallest detail from it to wrap around.

Also, not to toot my own horn but I write very realistic sounding dialogue or so I have been told by one of my Professor's who is a published children's book author. So, if someone needs help there, or edits I don't mind looking at things for others. Just realize that I can't do 100 things at once. I can multi-task but that doesn't mean that just like the rest of the world I only have so many hours in the day so I might work slow.

I promise to give good advice though, and this usually make's up for the fact that I might not find every single grammatical error.
.

[Ame-Koi27]

Stryfesgirl

Hi! I'm not sure it's a form of writers block, but I just can't seem to find a good way to start my book. I want it to catch the reader's interest from word 1 but it's hard. Anyone have suggestions on how to maybe start off?

I have been there before and I think I may be of help. smile I actually got off the phone with my best friend- we often cowrite together,and what started out as a talk about a fan fiction that she and I are working on, and it slowly turned into this idea of a original story starring our own characters in a reality/fantasy like setting,and we talked about what should happen and who ends up with who et cetera and that was purely from us talking.
It honestly depends on what exactly what you're writing about, but I generally write drafts,scribbles etc,and I usually beat writer's block by listening to music and certain play-lists that keep me on task if this made any sense.
Or if you need some time like a break, go outside and take a walk and let things from reality come to you,and let your mind wander, though I would suggest having a notepad/note book in case you get the urge to scribble things down.
Another thing: Take your time with your story- Treat it as if it was a baby or something worth real value to you. Some books take a life time to write.
- Another thing about finding the right words to capture your readers, I know it sounds easier said that done alot, but, write the words from your heart- it has been proven that the best stories are written from things that lie in the heart....

I hope this helps biggrin

[SamManson30912]

I hate writers block but i just take a break when i get it.

[PAUL-NAT-X]

i guess new ideas come randomly for me. that's why i need a notebook and a pen wherever i go.