Thread: Writers Block

Yes I'm stealing the name of this section for my thread title...LOL!

Anyways for anyone who's reading my newest fan fic "Loving Hope" will notice that I've gotten up to chapter 4 posted. This is the third version I'm working on for said story. The first version I did was just all over the place and made no sense so I got rid of it and started on version two. Well after getting up to chapter 30 half way through writing chapter 31 I just couldn't do it anymore. I hated how it was going because it seemed like it was 90% fighting and no one getting along. So once again I got rid of it and started on version three.

Now here's the deal I've gotten to chapter 4 posted here but now I'm stuck. And I don't want to rush things which I've been known to do. I've done better with slowing things down when I write and keeping track of things.

What do you guys do when you encounter writers block? I mean I have a bunch of little ideas but the way it's planned out is that they will be later on. It's like I have a whole that I don't know what to put in it.

Any and all help would be great.

Originally Posted by Caite-chan

I mean I have a bunch of little ideas but the way it's planned out is that they will be later on.

I think that this is your biggest problem. Rather than worry about what you're going to write specifically, figure out what needs to happen to get from where you're at to where your other ideas start. With some luck you'll come up with a few good ones and things will work out. When I come across a part of my story that I have nothing planned out for, I like to go for a run to clear my mind. I think about where the characters were left off, and how exactly they would react to these new situations. The story kind of writes itself when you look at things from the characters' perspectives. I'm writing a journey fic though, so the format is really easy since it's all laid out for me.

In the end I can only give the same advice I give for just about every predicament ever. Grow a pair, sit down, and do it anyway. Yeah, you might write something that sucks, but then you just scrap it and try again. Writing, as with any art, is a time consuming process. You might end up throwing out hours worth of writing, but eventually you'll come up with something good and it will be well worth it.

I listen to music or watch cartoons if I need gag ideas. Sometimes, I'll even walk away from the project for a while.

Here are a couple of things you can try to get rid of writers block.

1. I've mentioned this before on the forum, but I often go back and read my story, either from the beginning or from the last chapter when I get stuck, which especially helps with keeping characters, tone and voice consistent. It can also get me in the mood to write when I'm not feeling it.

2. Another thing that I find helpful is going back in your story to when things were last working how you wanted them to and start rewriting from there, instead of picking up from where you left off. Sometimes the problem isn't you, it's that you haven't set yourself up well for what you are trying to do, or you wrote yourself into a corner without realizing it.

3. What AetherX said was really good advice, and it's usually what I do with all my chapters. I figure out what I want to accomplish, and then write what needs to be written to get from point A to point B.

4. As LightningTopaz said, step away and write or read something else for a while. If it's fanfiction, you can read something from the fandom you are writing for to try to get in the mood to work on your own.

In your particular situation, where you say you have a hole that needs to be filled up, just put something fun or exciting or funny or fluffy, something you want to write, even if it doesn't really accomplish anything and is basically filler. Firstly, readers actually tend to like that stuff in small amounts, secondly, it can give you something to work on, and while you're writing, other ideas will probably come to you naturally, or you'll figure out how to make this 'fluff' piece into something a little more relevant. Just some ideas, I hope they work out for you.

Walking away can even mean stepping away from the PC/notebook/whatever you're writing on and go do something else. I've had ideas come to me on long walks before.

Music helps too. Most of the awesome scenes in Unpredictable were written under the influence of Two Steps From Hell.

Thanks for the ideas and suggestions it's really helped out a lot. I always love to listen to music when I write because I seem to get a lot of ideas that way.

Pretty much what LightningTopaz and NoirGrimoir said. I watch something, listen to music, or play a game. A lot of what I write is inspired by a tv show or movie or video game. Heck, I wouldn't even be writing fanfiction if it weren't for video games, so yeah. Doing this stuff also motivates me to continue, depending on what that something is. For example, I predict a lot of Super Luigi chapters coming soon enough since Nintendo declared 2013 the Year of Luigi. lol

When I get writer's block, I move onto another project. This usually means... abandoning that project, because by the time I get back to it, I don't know what I was doing.

To prevent forgetting what I'm doing in a story I have a running list of ideas at the bottom of the document. Just a basic outline of what I want to happen next in both general and specific terms, along with reminders and overall fic ideas. For example, one of my characters has a Flareon that refuses to go into its ball. I would suggest never ever doing something like that, because I always seem to forget that the Flareon should be there. To remind myself, I have FLAREON typed in big letters at the top of my idea list.

But yeah, it helps if I forget where I'm going next and makes it easier to remember random ideas I have.

Originally Posted by Caite-chan

Thanks for the ideas and suggestions it's really helped out a lot. I always love to listen to music when I write because I seem to get a lot of ideas that way.

I have had whole chapters inspired by songs before

Originally Posted by LightningTopaz

Originally Posted by Caite-chan

Thanks for the ideas and suggestions it's really helped out a lot. I always love to listen to music when I write because I seem to get a lot of ideas that way.

I have had whole chapters inspired by songs before

There is that Justin Timberlake "Suit & Tie" song I really wanna do either a chapter or a one shot too. Lol.

Originally Posted by AetherX

To prevent forgetting what I'm doing in a story I have a running list of ideas at the bottom of the document. Just a basic outline of what I want to happen next in both general and specific terms, along with reminders and overall fic ideas. For example, one of my characters has a Flareon that refuses to go into its ball. I would suggest never ever doing something like that, because I always seem to forget that the Flareon should be there. To remind myself, I have FLAREON typed in big letters at the top of my idea list.

But yeah, it helps if I forget where I'm going next and makes it easier to remember random ideas I have.

I've found that this helps so, so so much in getting things done. I list down a whole bunch of goals for the chapter and if I'm missing more than one, I keep on writing or find somewhere to squeeze them in. I list off the characters who should appear, why they're important to the chapter, the places that are visited, which Pokemon the characters are carrying at the time and any wild encounters (the last two applied to a pokemon story, of course). Really helps keep things together as well as combat minor writers block.

I've also found putting it at the top works better than at the bottom. I don't know why it is, but it is. For me at least.

Originally Posted by AetherX

To prevent forgetting what I'm doing in a story I have a running list of ideas at the bottom of the document. Just a basic outline of what I want to happen next in both general and specific terms, along with reminders and overall fic ideas. For example, one of my characters has a Flareon that refuses to go into its ball. I would suggest never ever doing something like that, because I always seem to forget that the Flareon should be there. To remind myself, I have FLAREON typed in big letters at the top of my idea list.

Ha, try keeping track of a cast of over 50 characters. lol I have to do this in my FE fic, though in some chapters, the army is divided into two groups. It's pretty challenging, but I managed to do it pretty well so far. I have a list of my characters so I don't forget anyone, with some names typed in one color and others typed in another so I can tell who I've introduced and who still needs to appear. But this is only for the protagonist characters. The named enemy characters aren't as numerous, so I don't need a list to remember them all. Same for the side characters, those that aren't enemies, but can't or don't fight.

As for a story outline, it ALWAYS helps to make these, even if your chapters aren't that long. What I do is type out the major events in the order which they occur in the chapter. Sometimes I still wind up in writer's block, but it helps some anyway. And I also keep ideas for future chapters or stories written in separate documents so I don't forget them. Cause knowing me, I'll come up with a bunch of ideas, especially for Fire Emblem fics. XD