deadcatwithaflamethrower:

norcumi:

charity-angel:

Writer friends

I’m sure this situation is familiar to all of you: I appear to have writer’s block.

This isn’t the first time it has happened, but for some reason it’s really bothering me this time. Is it possible to push through? Is there a way to kick the block where it hurts? I have fics that are staring at me insolently – one of which I REALLY want to finish (despite the fact that Star Fever week has officially ended).

::offers hugs::

There’s a few different approaches I’ve got, with varying success.

1. Taking a break.

This one is annoying, because I feel like I shouldn’t NEED to break from writing. Sometimes I do, and usually what happens is I settle in for something a little brainless like Warcraft – that means I’m doing something repetitive and needs a bit of thinking, but lets my hind brain romp off and chew through whatever issue is holding things up.

It’s a bit tedious, and no guarantees on when things will break through, which makes this my least favorite approach.

2. Working a different story

Some days, this means a paragraph here and then a paragraph in a different file, and then a few lines on a third one. Any word added is progress, even if it has to be rewritten later,

3. Talking to someone about the fic

This notion is two-fold. First, there’s the squee approach: if someone is willing to hear about what you’re working on, it’s sometimes very energizing to just lay out all the shiny. You get to condense down the details and skip over the boring bits while pinning down the fun stuff (and if it’s over a chat program, you can copy past that for fun lines you want to actually use, not to mention you now have a very functional outline).

Secondly, this sometimes knocks ideas loose, or the other person can contribute “oh that’s neat but what if?” commentary – please note that around some people (@dogmatix @deadcatwithaflamethrower ::FISTSHAKE:: <333) this can be VERY DANGEROUS and sometimes leads to a number of new AUs, or fic that has taken off into an entirely new direction which can be quite longer. But other people CAN find angles past a block that you might not.

4. Writing a more interesting bit to the story

Sometimes, you just gotta skip over the annoying bits (I might have documents with [FIGHT SCENE HERE] or [POLITICS] or [THE TOK’RA ARE STUPID] in them as placeholders). There are times when having a fun thing to write is a good motivator – “I just need to get through this stupidness and then I get the FUN thing! :D” deathmarch – but then there are times when rewarding yourself for doing the thing in the first place is needed.

5. Slogging through it, bitching the entire way

This is my least favorite approach, but it’s probably one of the more useful. It doesn’t matter how bad or stilted or boring it might seem, it’s just getting letters on the paper. I personally tend to pick a song for background music, set it on repeat, and just keep it there until I’ve done what I need to get done (part motivator – I want to listen to a new thing – part soundtrack, part timekeeper – I’m this far into the lyrics I’ve been at this for only a little bit since I last registered the chorus type of thing). It’s annoying because one wants to sit and judge the writing, or fix it to make it better, but that can be done later. Just…writing and writing and writing until the fucker is done. Set it aside, do something rewarding and different for a bit, then the next day come back and see what you need to rework.

I swear, it’s usually less than one would think.

6. Filling up the well.

Creativity isn’t bottomless, and creative types need fuel. If you get stuck, the above methods might work…or you may be running on fumes and need a recharge. The way to do that is to (figuratively) unplug from your own work and plug into someone else’s for a while. Read a good book or twelve. Watch movies or television shows that you like. Enjoy someone else’s stuff for a day or three, because it really does help to allow your brain some chilltime.

Also, sometimes it will help shake something loose and then you’re running off to the keyboard. I’ve been mid-film more than once and swearing because I AM HAVING IDEAS NOW BUT THE MOVIE ISN’T OVER YET.