Mwahahahahaha

Here's a challenge: What is writers block to you?!

An icky icky feeling that makes you want to cut what ever it is causing it out of your soul!!!


Was that too dramatic?

If you cant be dramatic on a writing forum..where you can you be dramatic?

Writer's block to me is like losing a part of yourself..only you can still see it..you just cant use it.

niffah (12:37am Mon, Dec  1, 2008)

If you cant be dramatic on a writing forum..where you can you be dramatic?

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Quote

Writer's block to me is like losing a part of yourself..only you can still see it..you just cant use it.

Good analogy.. but I'm totally with Kimberley.. Writers block aggravates the shit out of me.. I can't stand it at all!!!

Writers block is a curse

  thats the first time i heard bunny swear!
writers block is something that makes me wanna punch walls.
but i dont!
xx

life

Lunar (07:09am Sun, Feb  8, 2009)

thats the first time i heard bunny swear!

Wow really? I've been behaving then

lol apparently so.
amoosing.
xx

- a pain in the butt
- a good friend (sometimes for my mental health)
- a chance to brainstorm my way out of the hole
- a break from my keyboard
- a chance to listen to one of my favourite podcasts to get inspired

Writer's block is..... very frustrating for me. I love writing, so if I don't have the motivation or if I'm stumbling over the words, it can feel horrible. What is a writer who doesn't write? Gah!

Writer's block is one of those things that grow bigger as I feed it worry and frustration. I just do something else for a while.

Writer's block is a silent, insistent call to stop you trying to get words down on the page - or onto the screen. As soon as you recognise that it is SCREAMING at you - walk away from any writing implements.

As a writer, your imagination, your inner life and your private worlds need space and openness to refresh, regroup and create.

If you treat WB as a negative thing - then that is exactly what it will be. But recognise that of all the special qualities that make you a writer the ability to churn words out is only one of many processes that go on in your mind, intellect and psyche.

If your treat WB as a positive thing - and call it something else - then you will find that the urge to spew the words out will return.

I don't have writer's block anymore - I go into a wonderful fugue state in which I may not even, apparently, be thinking about the problem in the story line/plot point/scene in question - but when I emerge from that state I find that the phrase "verbal diarrhea" is inadequate.

Also, when you do emerge from whatever you decide to call this state in which your subconscious is at work, just write, write, write - no self editing, don't worry abut spelling, grammar, punctuation .... you can do that another time.

My "state" is called "Climpleeping the Cloombatties" - it needed a name without any implications/suggestions or other writing-related hangups.

I love my cloombatties - and "to climpleeple" is a very abstract verb.

Writer's block is a monster, seriously I hate it so much. When I suffer from it, I have no idea at all what to write. It could be even worse. I could also mean that I have a great idea but I can't write a convincing sentence. I wish there were pills for writer's block

To me writer's block is when you want to write, but you can't because you're not motivated. I've had times when I get on the computer to write, but I end up staring at a blank screen. One thing that helps me with writers block is taking a few days to unwind. The time away helps me relax and soon my creativity is kicking in again.

To me, writers block is when I know what I want to write, but I can't find the perfect way to write it.

   I normally write in a stream of consciousness fashion instead of in an organized way.  For me, writer's block is when I am not motivated to sit down.  That is why I think structure is important - not structure in writing but in the act of writing.  I appoint a specific time of day to sit and write and even if it comes out all messed up in the beginning I find that after about five minutes the words just start flowing out onto the screen.

   My time to write is at night when the kids are fed and the dishes are done.  From seven pm to eight pm I am only allowed to write.  I cannot leave my desk until the clock shows eight.  It takes some time to get into a good habit but once you have done it a few times it becomes a routine.  There are no excuses - that tv show can be dvr'd, the game can be played later, the book can be read at any time but that special hour is reserved for writing.

I am a writer, and I have worked in this freelance roll for over a year now. When I get writer's block, it is incredibly frustrating, and this is because of the fact then when I don't write, I'm simply not able to earn any money. With bills to pay, it is hard to cope when I feel that way.

Luckily, though, I only usually get writer's block when I'm writing fiction at the time. This means that if I don't have anything to write on my novel then I can just take the time to go and do some other paid work that is more fact based, possibly some articles or proofreading. So generally I can find something that I'm able to do when I can't think of anything to write, but sometimes I just want to sit and work on my novel but I'm unable to.

I find that getting out of the house and doing a bit of exercise, even if it's just going for a walk, is something that helps. Sitting at the laptop and staring at the screen is never helpful, and that only means that I get wound up about everything even more. So getting out there is very important and is something that all writers should try when they have writer's block.

Writer's block is the tendency to procrastinate combined with the guilt of doing so. In some ways it seems counter-intuitive to say that it's not a lack of something to say or a lack of ideas, but it is rarely a lack of anything except the will to make a decision. For me, it usually comes from having too many decisions to make, too many paths that are all equally enticing or repugnant. So instead of throwing a dart at them and following the one it sticks in, I back off, telling myself I "can't do it right now." Since it tends to be cumulative for me, the next time I come back to that piece, I'm even more reluctant to take it on, and the project fails and sits in the drawer getting dusty.

My usual cure is to work on a different project, or take the time to read something entirely unrelated to see if that makes the decision easier, or presents a more viable solution to whatever caused me to slow down in the first place. If that doesn't work, I fall back on a high school writing exercise: describe a city in at least 300 words, but if that's difficult, make it a neighborhood, a single street, a single block, a single building...a wall...a single brick. I usually don't have to go all the way down to the brick, but sometimes it does help to narrow my focus that far.

Sometimes I also find it helpful to write the end of the scene that is causing me problems. If I know where I want it to end up, it's not as hard to write through it to get there--I find conflict scenes difficult, so that's where most of my blocks occur--even if it doesn't actually resolve the way I thought it would.

I think there are probably as many definitions as there are writers, and three times that many cures. And of course, I know at least two who say that writer's block is only an excuse to have ice cream.

I really like your definition, Trace!

My writers block would be not able to continue my writing where I left off. It also means that I cannot think of anything to write because I sometimes have this strange writers block, which I cannot write anything until I take a long break from it. Well, a long break will last me about a day or two.

Writers block isn't something I've dealt with in a while, but I can certainly talk about artists block.
I really like Trace's description of it though.
For me, I find the most helpful thing is to expose myself to new influences. Read some new articles, go watch a random movie from the 80's or something.
Then I go trawling for music. Music is key for me. Go find something I haven't listened to in a while, rediscover music that lit an old fire or if I'm lucky, and this one is the best, I find something totally new that I can sink my teeth into.
And then I just draw. Scribble. Doodle.
Doesn't matter if it's garbage, it helps dislodge that block.
And I might start to get ideas from those 'new (or refreshed) influences' trickling in.
And I can make something with a bit more substance.

Writer's block is sitting in front of your computer and bleeding. (Credits to Hemmingway, though I paraphrased th quote.)