writers block
By Celestiamoon
@Celestiamoon (231)
Canada
June 16, 2008 9:07pm CST
I remember when I was younger I used to write all of the time. I used to write short stories and poems. I would write in a journal and now I find I can't even do that. Writing was always a part of my life. It was a way for me to get out my feelings as well it was calming and a stress reliever. Then all of a sudden I couldn't write anything not even in my journal anymore. I just could not seem to write what I was feeling. I was blocked. It has been years now since I have written. I have tried and there just seems to be nothing there. Has writers block ever happened to anyone else? How long did it last and how did you get rid of it? Or maybe you are going through a block right now?
4 people like this
11 responses
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
16 Jul 08
I don't believe in writer's block. I believe in periods of time when one doesn't feel like writing, but there are times when one doesn't feel like going to work either, but maybe one feels like eating. So one writes, if writing is one's profession, that is.
I think we all can do what we have to do when we have to do it, and concepts such as "writer's block" are luxuries that occur to people who don't HAVE to do it (or don't really want to do it, or a combination of the two)
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
23 Oct 08
OK, I can help you with that. Try to envision writing as a skill rather than a talent and at first divorce yourself from the process. It isn't about you and me, it is about the topic. Once you have a topic, you have to center in on what is important about that topic and what cause-and-effect relationships there are concerning it. This may sound tedious but once you get the knack it only takes a few minutes.
To get started, instead of staring at a blank sheet of paper, you divide the paper into several columns with headings such as these:
Things I "Know" about your topic.
Things I "Don't know" about this topic.
What I "Like" about this topic.
What I "Don't like" about this topic.
Don't write sentences at first. Just list the things you know or like about the topic first. Then look at your list and see if you can find relationships between the things you wrote in your list.
Regroup the list then so the things that belong together are in the same group. You should have 3 or 4 groups. Which group has the most items listed? That is the one you start with and just start tying things together.
Trust me on this, there IS something there, it just isn't going to be born all at once like Venus rising out of the ocean foam. Bite into a little corner of the project and go from there. You can do it. It only takes two things--skill and desire.
@Celestiamoon (231)
• Canada
23 Oct 08
I think that I would have to disagree with you. I would love to be able to write again very much. When I sit down with a paper and pen however there just seems to be nothing there.
1 person likes this
@littleowl (7157)
•
22 Jun 08
Hi Celeste'-I have writers block now and have done for the past 6mnths or ao-I write poetry and normally always do my journal but like you that has all stopped for now.
I was only the other day that I was giving my friend a special card and it was blank inside so a small poem came to me and I wrote that down...am not really sure what causes it but it does annoy me-your friend littleowl
@Celestiamoon (231)
• Canada
13 Jul 08
Sorry that it has taken me so long to respond. I have been very busy and just come on here for minutes at a time. I know what it feels like to be totally blank like that. Hey a poem came into your head so that has to be a good sign. Best of luck :)
@terilee79720 (3621)
• United States
17 Jun 08
Hi Celestiamoon,
I've fortunately never been plagued by writer's block. There's just too darned much to write about.
If you still have writer's block, sit back for a while and just begin to read about all the drama here at mylot.
If you can't find something to write about at mylot, then you're really stuck.
There's something about everything here. I have found more motivation just by reading discussions than you can shake a stick at.
Comedy, sadness, drama, heartache, sickness, and more. Religions of all kinds, cooking, pets and Mother Earth.
This place is filled with the cure for writer's block. Trust me.
@ella1bella (839)
•
17 Jun 08
It depends on the mood that you are in aMoon,sometimes if you are in a carefree mood and there are no worries floating around inside your head then the ability to write and be creative is there,but often if you have a busy mind and your life is full it leaves no time for the imagination to run riot.but im sure that it will all come back to you,and you only have to write for fun so just put your pen to paper and see what happens.
@Celestiamoon (231)
• Canada
18 Jun 08
You are right about my life being really busy. Also I used to write at night when I was younger but now I have two kids and when night time comes around i just want to sleep.
@JadeFantasy (34)
• United States
17 Jun 08
I love to write and I use to put together quite a bit of works but my life got so busy that I feel like I have lost it. When I go to work on my stories I feel swamped with life that I cant think about what to say.
@Celestiamoon (231)
• Canada
18 Jun 08
I think that may be my problem now ... when I first lost it that was not the case but now I think that may be why I can't get it back.
@Johnnypenn (237)
• United States
18 Jun 08
I hate writers block. Especially being published and all, it's a bloody nightmare without the big knives to help me along. That's why whenever I'm in a funk, I read stuff and I put on "Secret Window" to try and get inspired.
@cwilson26 (2735)
• United States
17 Jun 08
Yes I had writers block for the longest time and it drove me crazy. I thought I would never come out of it but I eventually did. I write articles for Associated Content and I went 7 months before I could get back to writing for them again. Writers block is nothing but pure torture to a writer.
There is a forum I am member of that has helped me get out of writers block and stay out of it. Here is the link if you want to check it out:
http://www.accentuateservices.com/xmb/index.php
My user name on there is cwilson26
Hope you start writing again and I hope this forum helps you as much as it does me. Good luck. :)
@Celestiamoon (231)
• Canada
18 Jun 08
I have taken breaks and when I go back to it it almost seems worse ... or maybe it just feels like that because I just can't seem to get anything flowing
@bongkarpasang (1377)
• Indonesia
17 Jun 08
I remember I was having writer block for around four years before I finally got it back. but I'm not as good as I used to be.
I think the root of my problem was that one of my book (I didn't publish it, just for personal dedication to someone who had passed away) was lost because of someone's recklessness. the person lent the book to someone else without my permission, the book later was lent again to another and another and then the last person told me that the book disappeared from her house! how come!
it took around four years before I finally wrote again, and I can't wrote as well as I used to, probably we can say it was kinda my 'writer depression' rather than writer block?
@Celestiamoon (231)
• Canada
18 Jun 08
Good to know that I am not the only one who has had the problem for years.
@Xdrowninghavocx (3117)
• United States
17 Jun 08
Every writer should have writer's block at least once in their lives. Writer's block happens to me every time I start a new chapter or a scene in a script. Sometimes it can take me weeks until I find out how to take a step forward. There's no real way to get over it because you need to experience a break in your writing to create something fresh. You just need to wait. And while you're waiting you can try and look for influences in other writings that you can add to yours.
@Celestiamoon (231)
• Canada
18 Jun 08
Thanks for the response ... I guess having writers block makes me a real writer than hey? lol
@uklizzie (52)
•
17 Jun 08
Writers' block has happened to me a few times and I think that trying to force it just makes it worse. The last time I had it I was in the middle of writing my book and I just couldn't think of anything to say, or even what might happen next in the story. The notes I had made while planning it were hopeless as I couldn't even remember writing some of them. This lasted a few weeks and then a friend suggested stopping work on the book and taking a rest and then going back to writing something totally different. I started with writing little poems, then trying to describe object around me in a funny kind of way. Next I read news article and then rewrote them in my own way. Slowly, it came back and I started scribbled away once again. (By the way, it might not work for everyone but I find that going back to old fashioned pen and paper instead of word processor can often get things moving again.)
