The Writer's Block & Inspiration Thread

[Tsukuribanashi Kemono]

Prompts can help greatly, if only to get you started so you can get to the stuff that really matters. The writing shops here on Gaia are full of ideas.

On a more personal note, something that has helped me out in the past is I would take an OC of mine and role-play AS my character. I wouldn't just try and imagine what they would do, I would actively find communities, either online or off in the real world, give my character a complete profile, then I would become them for several hours as I interacted with other people's characters. Even if the situation you find your character in is way out of the genre you need or is way off from what is supposed to be happening in your story, that's fine. The point is to get to know your characters. Once you know them as well as you know yourself, they'll tell you the story themselves.

~Tsukuri

[Dire Lovemoon]

Thank you fello Gaia writers! Always going to check this thread when I have writers block smile

[ToL Guardian]

I enjoy listening to music when I have writer's block. Sometimes my mind wanders off to different subjects though.

But if my writer's block is only limited to one part of the story, I generally go to write another part where I know how I want it to go. Then all I have to do is write the 'bridge' to get there. It makes things a little easier at least.

[lmiller95]

I have paper back called "the Triggering Town" a friend gave to me. It is full of advice and thought exercises and prompts, but it isn't heavy handed at all. Sometimes just reading it gets my mind wandering.

[Lekituzl]

lmiller95

I have paper back called "the Triggering Town" a friend gave to me. It is full of advice and thought exercises and prompts, but it isn't heavy handed at all. Sometimes just reading it gets my mind wandering.

Actually a writer called Anne Lamott has a book called Bird by Bird that is really good. It's not heavy handed either. It talks about taking it easy, but also making sure you do TAKE IT and continue writing. =3 Pretty good read so far.

Actually I'm pretty sad. I've had a writing buddy for years, that also helped me bounce off ideas. And now she just... won't quit argueing with me. Like, we keep arguing about creative things, and it really is starting to bug me and put me in a mental block. =(

[lmiller95]

Lekilollytuzl

lmiller95

I have paper back called "the Triggering Town" a friend gave to me. It is full of advice and thought exercises and prompts, but it isn't heavy handed at all. Sometimes just reading it gets my mind wandering.

Actually a writer called Anne Lamott has a book called Bird by Bird that is really good. It's not heavy handed either. It talks about taking it easy, but also making sure you do TAKE IT and continue writing. =3 Pretty good read so far.

Actually I'm pretty sad. I've had a writing buddy for years, that also helped me bounce off ideas. And now she just... won't quit argueing with me. Like, we keep arguing about creative things, and it really is starting to bug me and put me in a mental block. =(

Thanks for the suggesting with Bird by Bird. I'm putting it on my list. The one on one group make it hard for this reason. I've found that odd number groups (3-5) work best because you have somebody that usually tries to mellow it out and get back to tasks. Maybe just remind your fired why you started your peer group to begin with.

[Lekituzl]

lmiller95

Lekilollytuzl

lmiller95

I have paper back called "the Triggering Town" a friend gave to me. It is full of advice and thought exercises and prompts, but it isn't heavy handed at all. Sometimes just reading it gets my mind wandering.

Actually a writer called Anne Lamott has a book called Bird by Bird that is really good. It's not heavy handed either. It talks about taking it easy, but also making sure you do TAKE IT and continue writing. =3 Pretty good read so far.

Actually I'm pretty sad. I've had a writing buddy for years, that also helped me bounce off ideas. And now she just... won't quit argueing with me. Like, we keep arguing about creative things, and it really is starting to bug me and put me in a mental block. =(

Thanks for the suggesting with Bird by Bird. I'm putting it on my list. The one on one group make it hard for this reason. I've found that odd number groups (3-5) work best because you have somebody that usually tries to mellow it out and get back to tasks. Maybe just remind your fired why you started your peer group to begin with.

Getting back to task. That's a good way of wording it. I might pin that on my binder when I'm working with her. razz And I will try that and remind her.

We mostly have one problem. She like's one specific type of hero/villain... mold, I would say. And she hasn't figured out where to put it into any of her works quite yet, so she wants to put it into EVERYTHING we talk about! Like, we were writing a book series together, to see how it would go. She wants it in that, a video game we planned on attempting to make, role playing we do, questions over the phone, emails. Like she makes it all about that type, and will not talk to me about anything else. It's drivin' me nuts. I mean. I do realize that that is what her passion is, but jeez. >_<

[lmiller95]

Well, write what you know. But maybe just remind her that there is more to the story then just the characters archetypes and they have to be fleshed out or no on will take time in getting to know them or the story.

[Svampbob]

V i c e y

I didn't even know this thread existed!
I've read through it all but I don't really think I have writers block.
My issues are I'm extremely self conscious about my work and ideas and I can never write beginnings. I have an amazing imagination and most of the stuff I want to write I see in my head as a movie. When I go to write it out it all just suddenly feels and sound stupid and pointless.

Any ideas how to fix this?

Every creative person goes through this feeling. Every single one.
Remember that first drafts always suck, so it's OK for them to suck. You can always go back and improve and change things.

Here's a quote from Ira Glass:

Quote:

Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.

https://vimeo.com/24715531

[SawuScimitar74]

I tend to get writer's block often. Whenever I do, I take a break from writing to maybe get something to drink or take a nap.

[Yume Yokohama]

Hello everyone I could use a little help. I'm working on a fantasy novel, and I came up with a type of merpeople that where living sea coral. These sea creatures spend most of there time as sea coral. There typically are bright in color to attract there food source fish and plankton. They rarely take on there more human like form unless endanger. Once they find a good spot to live they normally live out there lives in that one spot. Some of the more willful sea creatures will move about.

The character in question I'm thinking will have purple skin with blue and green fish scales. He can generate these fish scales on his body from the fish he has eaten. He will have coral like horns but I'm drawing a blink on the rest of him. I want him to be able to walk on land to join the group in my story. I'm not sure how I can spin it so its possible.

[faded pictures]

A little inspiration can go a long way, which is why I adored the writing contest thread. They provided a lot of scenarios and fun tings that made me want to write, gave me ideas that I didn't know I could have. What happened to it?

[Zev_Dragon]

dramallama awesome thread I want to just read it