That sounds cool. I may hollar at ya later for help on something, sys, so don't be TOO surprised if ya hear from me sooner or later. I'm in a bit ofd a writer's block at the moment, though. Drat it. :P
Peace.
I've been there on the writer's block (near nervous break down, money trouble, health problem, job problem....) I had my readers begging for update and feeling guilty as hell becasue I couldn't give it to them.
So I said "fuck it" and walked away. I didn't quit. What I did is I mentally put everything in a box, shut the lid and took a vacation from it. Now I can open the box pull out one or two fics, work on them, update and still keep the box closed.
I'm not producing at the speed I once was but then again RL hasn't settle down yet. I've just learn to balance what I can and still write, even if it mean I can't write everyday because one that day RL was shitty.
Someday I think writer's block is you brain tell you it's time to take a break and relax.
I have to agree with Foxy. If you've been going hard, sometimes it's good just to wind down, so it stops being a chore and goes back to being fun :)
Wolfie, I hope you can come out of it. Try dogin something different (and fun!) to see if that helps :)
I don't so much get blocked as I get distracted; when I'm drawing I can't write, and vice versa. Are you actually sitting down and not writing, or are you not even sitting down in front of it? Thsoe are 2 different types of "blocks".
Cheers,
Red.
What I do with writer's block hits is work on another fic. If I get writer's block again, I just go to another fic. Or, I write on a scene within the fic I'm doing, then go back and write up to that point in the fic. It helps a lot, especially on long fics, like the Throttle of Themyscia.
I also write on fics within a fic's "universe". For instance, the Throttle of Themyscia, where Throttle goes back in time and lives with the Amazons of Paradise Island for 3000 years. Lots of things can happen in 3000 years, so writing a shorter fic within the timeframe of the main storyline. Also, things happen after the main story. That's another sourse for short fics. Sometimes writing these smaller stories helps with the larger one.
What I do with writer's block hits is work on another fic. If I get writer's block again, I just go to another fic.
This is what I usually do, too. Or draw something...usually a pic connected to the fic. THAT usually gets my creative juices flowing again.
And then, too, SOMETIMES when I stuck when I'm trying to draw, I'll work on one of my fics, and I SOMETIMES get my drawing urge going strong, too. Hey, whatever works, right?
Peace.
Here's a type of writer's block I haven't figured out how to overcome: The imagination just turns itself off for no apparent reason. When I get writer's block, it can last for YEARS. My latest bout, that I'm just starting to come out of, ran for about five. However, I think that was because the story I was working on (Not BMFM-related) was getting me in deeper than I could handle at the time. It turned into a bit of political intrigue, and I am most emphatically NOT a political person. Having to navitage the minefield that selecting your candidate in the voting booth has become helped a lot. I guess sometimes you just have to let your life experience catch up with your storyline...
I've found that when you get to the point were you can't write anything you have two options (at least for me I do)
The first is to start a movie in your head (most of the time they're Mary Sue) and let it play until you're Muse is interested again. The movie doesn't have to be about whatever fic you're write but it can help.
The second option is to start another fic in which you pour everything you're feeling right now into it. Thats how I ended up writing my first Biker Mice fic.
I like that idea about starting a movie in your head. I'll have to try that next time...
There's writer's block and then there's writer's block. And I'm not a writer who believes that either type is just an excuse from the wanna-be writers. Heather Sellers has a chapter on being blocked in Page After Page. Her block was a nervous breakdown followed by a horrible car accident and lasted three years. No one should have to suffer that kind of block.
Here's my first ideas on treatment of writer's block in Writing Tutorial #25. I still agree with them. Health issues and stress will block you every time.
But I didn't look so closely at the stress issue back in 2003 when I first wrote that tutorial. And it has come back to bite me in tail. I went through a crisis with too much on my plate, and most of it having to be done and could only be done by me. I let go of all my hobbies and dried my tears with "this makes me a stronger writer, this is only temporary, this is what I have to do, this is the adult thing to do."
My original fiction froze up. The original fiction I had put everything aside for to finish, so I can become a published writer and prove I can do it. I couldn't find the time or energy to put pen to the paper, much less sit down and type. I concentrated on homework and the paying gig, and felt guilty over the novel and despaired ever finishing it.
Then I let myself get sucked into Red Planet again. Today, the novel started flowing again. Now, I still have all the same stresses that I had before, some have eased up but they haven't gone away. I added back something fun, something that I do that won't bring me fortune and glory but a grounding I desperately needed.
So go though the linked list, make sure you are doing something fun, and see if you're still blocked. If you are, email me. I don't want you to reach Heather Sellers's level of blocked.
Founding member of the Throttle Lusters United.
"Yeah, I love when you guys toss me off your bikes, don't let me fight, eat all my groceries, complain if I ask you to do something." Charley muttered.--"Family, Friends, and Foes"