[user123]

What do you do when writer's block hits you in the face? Do you just sit there looking at an empty screen, do you just give-up and hope it'll go away? Tell me becase I have hit the wall and can't seem to get over it:confused:

[juzzza]

Do something else. Watch a movie, go for a walk, read something else, watch the news.

Just relax you never know where you might get some inspiration from.

Last time I had writers block, I started on a different short story just to blast through the old craft pipes. Went back to the other one and bingo, fresh ideas.

[James Barclay]

I've said before that I actually don't believe in writer's block. What I have experienced is trouble with writing the next word of the piece I'm currently working on but I don't think that's the same thing. Anyway, all the below are what work for me - I'm sure there are other methods for shaking up the old grey matter...

First thing is, don't let it bother you. Go and write something else. Your diary, a newspaper piece, a short story plot. Anything. Describe the scene outside your window. Doesn't matter if you throw the work in the bin right after. What it might do is free your mind and let you find the solution to your current problem.

If that doesn't work, try examining what it is you're trying to say at that moment, where you're trying to get to etc. It might be you're trying to find the perfect phrase only you can't . When you know what you;re trying to say, write it any old how. Could be the most basic language you've ever employed but so long as you've moved past the place where you're stuck, you've won half the battle. In my experience, when you come back to that point in revision or editing, a solution will present itself because all the other pieces of the jigsaw are in place, so to speak.

If that doesn't work, walk away from your PC, notebook or whatever. Go out, have a drink (have lots). Don't stare at a blank screen, that's just depressing.

[Gary Wassner]

Try listening to some music that really moves you. I listen to Leonard Cohen, Beth Orton, Lucinda Williams, Ryan Adams, Joni Mitchell, or maybe Ron Sexsmith or Ellis Paul if I need to find that level of relfection and contemplation that allows me to write at my best - someone whose imagery and emotional content is strong and who creates characters who live on after the song ends. It always puts me in the right mood. Songs in a way are tiny, condensed stories that in a few verses create worlds that we need pages and pages to develop. When i hear how beautifully some singer/songwriters use simple phrases it never fails to inspire me!

[kegasaurus]

I find this is the best time ot go out and have a hit of golf. The reasons:

1. Your mind won't be totally on the game, so it generally ends up being a good one.

2. The walk gives you time to relax and think

3. There's nothing better than whacking the crap out of something when you aren't feeling very inspired.


If you've still got nothing, then try a short story that's completely off topic and wait for that flash of inspiration you need.

[milamber_reborn]

Thankfully I've never really had much writers block. If I've written a sufficient amount for the day, then I finish writing for the day. If I haven't, then I just continue writing line by line and it comes out, just slower. Otherwise, I just play computer games to have some fun, but that's just a temporary delay.

[user123]

Thank you all for you advice, with luck it will help me push through and get things rolling again.:)

[Pirate Jenn]

I don't have much trouble with this (can babblers be shut up? I don't think so ;) ) Sometimes, though, every word does seem a weary one. Usually, I just sit and stare and tap a sentence or two, reread the last paragraph...tap another sentence. Basically, I force myself to sit there until I've reached my quota. Usually, things pick up again. If they don't, I play a turn of Civilization and come back to it ;)

[Aidan Aasarin]

Ah, the advent of computer games. Sometimes it is a great way to clear the mind, yet most times I end up playing when I should be writing.

[user123]

I've gone that way Pirate Jenn, but all it does is bring me down and make me pick apart what I already wrote. This usually ends up messing the story up more then if I just turn the computer off.

Aidan Aasarin, your right, the games can get to you. Next thing you know hours have gone by and you haven't gotten anything done.