The Bloggers With The Most To Say
The ever burning problem for writers: Writers Block.
Okay. Pretty simple. I go in spurts. I have weeks where I can't write enough, and then I'll go weeks (sometimes longer) without ANYTHING to write.
So, how do you keep the flow of QUALITY content coming?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jorah Day on -
I blog daily- i'm familiar with the cycle.
I am a firm believer that writer's block doesn't exist. We either have something to say, or we don't. I never suffered from it after I came to that conclusion. Also, the conclusion that "having nothing to say right now is ok."
Sometimes you just need to make a fart joke.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Barclay on -
I like it. Maybe I'll have to attempt to adopt a different mentality about the entire thing. I usually always have something to say, but when I sit down in front of my screen to write something substantial...I blank.
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Permalink Reply by Gina on -
I agree with this. It doesn't need to be brilliant, and I have found that the "normal" and non-brilliant is what people respond to anyway.
I actually have been super busy and haven't had the time to sit and just write like I want to, and all my stories are jumbling around my head, clamoring to get out. I have all these blog posts started with me or two sentences written to jog my memory, but they're unfinished. Ah... Life.
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Permalink Reply by Nagehan on -
I agree with Jorah. I spend my life around writers and I don't believe in writer's block. If you don't have the intention to write, or, if you don't constantly have ideas brewing in your head to write new stories, articles, etc, you can't call yourself a writer. It's easier to blame it on 'writer's block' instead of admitting the intention to write isn't there to begin with.
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Permalink Reply by Freeman Dyson on -
Many great writers have famously had writer's block, and had all the intention in the world to write. Anyone can write at any instant, writing something good continually is a different matter. It is a struggle. Every great book, play, script, whatever, puts the creator through this hell. Real genius and inspiration comes at the strangest times; it isn't planned, and can't be planned.
"There is no such thing as writer's block for writers whose standards are low enough."
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Permalink Reply by Jorah Day on
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I agree and disagree.
My statement regarding not believing in writers block might have been misinterpreted. It was personal, and not aimed at everyone. As someone who writes daily and yes, does struggle occasionally to provide quality content quite persistently... I don't necessarily think that if you don't have ideas constantly you're not a writer.
I may not be typing, but I'm always 'writing.'
it's just my personal belief that if I think I'm suffering from 'writer's block,' it may be that I simply have nothing I want to say. And then, I accept that and I stop torturing myself for a result.
If I do have something I want to say badly enough, it may take me a while, but I eventually find a way to put it into words.
...sometimes that involves opening with a fart joke.
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Permalink Reply by Jorah Day on
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Also, as an offered remedy that might have been lightly implied in my last two responses... I offer this Buddhist wisdom.
"The root of disappointment lies in expectation."
... take the pressure off yourself if it gets to be too much. You can't expect yourself to write like Hemingway because you're not Hemingway. And he shot himself so... maybe he should have have lightened up on himself?
I bet a fart joke would have helped.
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Permalink Reply by Gina on
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I understood what you meant. I know a lot of "aspiring authors" who talk about writing like its the worst chore in the world. They FORCE themselves to sit down and PUSH out a few pages. Editing is torture. New story ideas are impossible to come by. They PUSH through the AGONY of writing every day.
These people are not writers. A writer is someone for whom a story is always waiting to be told. Like Freeman said, quality can be difficult to muster, and inspiration cannot be planned, but the desire, the need to write is always there.
I told a friend, one these aspiring authors, that maybe she should reevaluate her decision to write. We look at people in "boring" corporate-type jobs and tell them to chase their passion. The same goes for those who are forcing themselves into creative-type jobs. If you're miserable at it, then it's not for you, even if it's the type of thing other people chase.
And that, I believe, is what you meant when you said you don't believe in writer's block. A true writer always wants to be writing SOMETHING. Even if it's fart jokes ;)
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Permalink Reply by Peyton Smythe on -
When I think I can't write, I write about being unable to write. I don't usually get writer's block until I go a day or two without writing at all. As long as you write something everyday, it'll be hard not to find SOMETHING to say when you want to.
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Permalink Reply by Lynn | TOAR on -
Usually when I have writers block I just do a old myspace survey to get my juices flowing. I am not sure what kind of genre your blog is, but since I focus on randomness, it works out for me. I would just suggest writing about nothing until something makes you angry enough to rant about.
http://randomistathoughts.blogspot.com/2011/12/lets-just-be-in-my-p...
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Permalink Reply by Freeman Dyson on
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A quote one of my professors relayed to me: “The easiest thing to do on earth is not write." I realized that was true when I had to write a 100 page screenplay and just sat in front of the screen, not writing. I am mainly talking about fiction, which I think is a much harsher writer's block. All fiction really comes down to 3 things: What the character wants, the obstacle to that want, and resolution/outcome. So think about what people want, what is in their way, and how they deal with it. In everything.
You can also play the "What if?" game. Look at what you have written so far and say to yourself, "Well, what if this happens? What if that happens?" Just keep on thinking about what ifs. This will help create a causal chain.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Barclay on
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This is really sound advice. I've been working with the "What If?" exercise today and I love it. And as far as the what they want, what's in their way and how they deal with it part...I think that's going to come in extremely handy when I start my novel.
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