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[Ancre]

Hello everyone !

I love to write. I used to spend lots of time writing poetry, little stories, lots of things like this. I don't consider myself great, and most of what I write is probably of very bad quality, but I enjoyed writing nonetheless. It is one of the few hobbies I have and that I can do at the moment.

But, since a few weeks ago, I can't to write anything down anymore. I have text files full of unfinished lines and paragraphs. I still have ideas to put down, I still want to write, but I can't just sit and write anymore. For some reason it doesn't work. It's very frustrating.

So, I'm sure I'm not the only one to whom this happened, so I wanted to ask, how do you get past that kind of block and start writing again ?

[lordcooper]

Read.

[shadenight123]

Read.

listen to music, watch films.
writing is outputting stuff from your brain.
you need to input stuff in it to unblock it when it gets clogged.

[Vector]

Spend a few months ragingly depressed, and next time you have a little seed of happiness and enough energy to do something, write the hell out of it.

Actually, my big thing when I write is to listen to the same song or CD on repeat for the entire duration that I'm writing.  Most notably, I listened to this for about 400 pages (read: 8 hours a day for a year, as I was only in middle school).  When I find a new song I like a lot, usually that's enough to kick off a new story or summat.

[eerr]

You need to interact with people, and the world.

Also the internet doesn't count.

It really doesn't.

[King DZA]

Think. Long periods of intense contemplation can do wonders in terms of getting mind juices flowing.

[nenjin]

Drink. It certainly worked for many of history's great authors!

(And don't listen to me.)

[LordBucket]

I'm sure I'm not the only one to whom this happened

Writer's block

how do you get past that kind of block and start writing again ?

Stop trying. It's difficult to push water through a hose. Allow the pressure to build and it will flow on its own.

[clockout1]

Writer's block sucks. As some people suggested, one alternative is to not write at all and think for a while, or to let it alone until an idea comes. That works, but one of my teachers taught me a different method that usually does the trick.

The method that works for me is the polar opposite of not doing anything; take five minutes and just write nonstop. It doesn't even need to be coherent, because once you get started ideas seem to come much more easily.

[Trapezohedron]

Writer's block sucks. As some people suggested, one alternative is to not write at all and think for a while, or to let it alone until an idea comes. That works, but one of my teachers taught me a different method that usually does the trick.

The method that works for me is the polar opposite of not doing anything; take five minutes and just write nonstop. It doesn't even need to be coherent, because once you get started ideas seem to come much more easily.

This. Not doing anything made me wait for about 3/4's of a year just to get an idea to make music. The same logic can be applied in writing, and I think that finding ideas is much, much more effective that waiting for it to come to your doorstep.

[Ancre]

Thank you for your help everyone ! I'm already doing a few of the suggestions you gave me, but there's a lot more I've never tried.

And thank you LordBucket. I knew there was an expression for it in english ! I just couldn't find it.

I never thought of trying to write nonstop for five minutes to kick-start the engine. I'm going to try it !

[Loud Whispers]

Go outside, early, EARLY in the morning. Ever gotten lost in the city at 3 am? Quite beautiful really, so quiet.

Basically, anything that inspires an emotion you can cling onto, that brings up a concept - hang onto that concept, and put it down to paper.

[eerr]

I still suggest talking with people!

Go out and have a long conversation with anybody.

[UltraValican]

Go outside, early, EARLY in the morning. Ever gotten lost in the city at 3 am? Quite beautiful really, so quiet.

Basically, anything that inspires an emotion you can cling onto, that brings up a concept - hang onto that concept, and put it down to paper.

Wanna get mugged?
No offense, but that's not the wisest idea if you live near any large concentration of people.

[Loud Whispers]

Wanna get mugged?
No offense, but that's not the wisest idea if you live near any large concentration of people.

He he, just don't go anywhere stupid at the wrong time ;P