How can i cure writers block?
Are there any writers out there? Poets? Musicians? Please give me your input!
The past few weeks ive been in a crappy mood and kinda stressed, it could be the holiday season thats getting to me, but i haven’t been inspired. Im wondering what you do to snap out of this funk. What do you do to get creative?
- socalmatt24
Tags: Crappy Mood, Funk, Holiday Season, Musicians, Poets, Writer's Block
December 21st, 2008 at 3:19 pm
humm well how about taking a trip?
if you can not afford to how about
going out and haveing a good time
i personaly just right out my feelings and hope to get somthing
good out of it
but if you have no feelings then
right about your emtyness
December 23rd, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Sudden fiction, or flash fiction, helps me. Open the dictionary, point to a word, and write a one-page piece of fiction that was inspired by that word. Good, bad, doesn’t matter. You just keep writing. Most of the time, it loosens whatever is damming my creative flow. And sometimes, what you’ve written turns out to be decent enough to turn into something good.
If you’re a musician, you can also write a song using the same method.
December 24th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Go for a walk while listening to music.
Or separately.
Sleep.. plus you might have an inspirational dream.
Go out with some friends, might relieve stress.
Usually it helps me if I listen to music and I just jot down whatever comes to mind and I might strike up an idea.
I hope I helped.
December 27th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Just be yourself. Write as it drives you happy or attains your dreams. Get a fresh air and get back to work.
December 28th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Go outside and observe what is going on in your neighborhood, write down everything you see. Be completely objective in what you observe and then write it down, simply report on what you see that way you are not expecting anything creative to flow.
Writers block sometimes happens when our creative side of our mind simply says forget it, I am not working today. So what happens, we get writer’s block because our creative side of mind says hey, I’m on strike. Why he or she is on strike, is not so important as allowing the strike to work itself out.
In the meantime, go outside, if you see a squirrel run across the street, write it down. If you see a girl walk past your house write it down. If you see some clouds in the air write it down. But don’t comment on it, simply report it.
And you can go out anywhere and report on what you see. Walk up and down your street, write down the color of every house you write walk by, you probably did not even notice the colors until you decided to write them down!
And remember, you are not commenting on the color of the houses, the squirrels or the girl…you are simply reporting.
After awhile, your creative mind will see what you are doing and want to get involved. But do not let him play too soon, let him really want to play. Refrain from allowing the creative side to contribute too soon, because if you allow him back in too soon, he will simply walk out again when he has his fill.
Keep him out of the game for awhile, not too long of course, but make him really want to come back and stay for awhile.
When he chooses to leave again, go out and report on what you see…and he will come back and see what fun you are having and want to play again.
Treat the creative side like a friend who needs to take a break from playing with you once in awhile. Give him a break, he needs time alone sometimes. In the meantime, write without him, he will be back soon enough.
I hope that helps.
December 30th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
You have gotten some good suggestions here already.
I’d like to add that you should keep a spiral notebook just for “ramblings” as I call them. Writing down ANYTHING at all, but keep writing for 15 minutes without stopping. It doesn’t even have to make sense to you, so you don’t have to feel any pressure to write something good or meaningful. This is only for your eyes only. Just to get the juices flowing. You might want to sit outside to do this if possible to give you a different atmosphere than being confined by walls.
Also, picking a word…any noun that comes to mind, then come up with words & phrases that remind you of this word or would describe this word. This often times will spur you into a mini story which helps get things going.
Going to a park or somewhere that you can observe people (a mall perhaps) and writing for 15-20 minutes things you notice going on around you; sounds, people, signs, activity, etc. I once sat in a parking lot of a strip mall & watched people coming & going as well as traffic that passed by. It was amazing what I was able to observe & describe in just 15 minutes, including a fender bender right out in front of me in the street!
Another rather fun yet odd way to get juices flowing is to draw a very random design or shape…don’t give it any particular thought, just draw something simple & freestyle. After coming up with a shape, then look at it & come up with a “name” for this “thing” and give it characteristics & abilities. This was an assignment I was once given in a creative writing class. It is amazing the things that you can come up with doing this.
The worst thing you can do is sit & put pressure on yourself or worry about not writing. Just Keep Writing! About anything & everything that comes into your head, when you feel writer’s block setting in!
Good Luck to you!
January 3rd, 2009 at 6:00 am
First of all, don’t look at it as “writer’s block”. This thing does not exist and will only make you feel even more negative as the thought of “writer’s block” is very daunting!
Secondly, don’t put pressure on yourself to get back to writing. Maybe all you need is a break, and what’s wrong with that?!
Thirdly, if you know what inspires you, now’s the time to indulge in it! I write fiction and a good book always does the trick for me. If you are a musician, maybe listen to some of your favorite music and remind yourself of the reason you fell in-love with it in the first place!
January 6th, 2009 at 8:09 am
I don’t really believe in writer’s block. It’s an indulgence of amateurs. If you have a deadline for a book, you may not be happy with what you crank out, but you crank it out nevertheless.
Give yourself permission to write crap. Lousy idea, poor grammar and spelling, stilted dialogue, predictable plot… Write it anyway. Written things can be revised or rewritten to improve them. The blank pages of the ‘blocked’ remain blank.
Change your writing environment. Try something radically different. If you write on your computer in a quiet room, try a spiral notebook in a park or coffee house, or ruled paper on your grandmother’s dining room table. (Not recommended: your blood on walls.)
Perform writing exercises. (Google for thousands of them.)
Move physically. Play a sport, go for a walk or run, swing on a playground, whatever you like, but get your blood pumping. When it’s racing through your body, the brain gets plenty of oxygen–and ideas.
Give yourself blocks of unstructured time when you’re not likely to be sleepy. Find a quiet place, think about your current writing project, and let your mind wander. Rein it back to the subject as needed. This can be combined with physical movement–a long walk may be an idea wellspring.
Write daily, every day, no exceptions, for a set amount of time. If you can’t write, you must remain in your writing environment for the set amount of time anyway. Your choices are write and don’t write. No games, no internet, no music, not nothing. Write or don’t write. (This is the BIC method–butt in chair.)
Stimulate your mind with new experiences. If you’re a movie fan, see a play or watch street performance. Hear live music rather than CDs, or listen to something in a genre you know nothing about. Eavesdrop on or observe people unlike most of the ones you know. People watch (and invent lives for passers-by). Attend a sporting event (any kind, at any level) where you don’t know anyone and watch the crowd rather than the players.
And write. You don’t want to be a self-indulgent amateur forever, do you?
January 7th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Eliminate myself from the world and listen to my favorite music while I write. Works 4 me!!!