Spankin' The Muse

[Guest Melody Fate]

I've had writers block before and I've always defined it as being unable to think of what comes next. I stare and stare, I write, and destroy it.

Now though, I've got a different problem. I know what's going to happen. I have the the story pretty much plotted out in my head. I just can't seem to find the words to bring it about.

Anyone ever have this happen to them? And if so, any advice on how to shake it off? Because I'm so tired of staring at the same page over and over again and not getting anything written. It a sense, it makes it even worse, because then I feel like I've spent the whole day writing, even when I didn't, I just stared at my writing.

Fortunately, while AFF was down, I wrote a bit ahead, so I still have stuff to post, but I'm going to run out of that really soon.

My friend suggested that I tell myself I'm not allowed to write for one week. No matter how badly I want to work on the story, I tell myself I'm not allowed to do it. She said that usually spikes her into writing, because for a whole week, she's got to save up her ideas and sort them out, without actually putting aything on the screen. While that idea does sound tempting, I'm afraid I'll like it too much.

So, has this happened to anyone else? Want to share with me how miserable it was ... and if you found any way to "cure" it?

[StoryJunkie]

Go for a walk...

Have a reviewer suggest something so far out, it just might work...

Go for another walk....

Stand outside and smoke, offering the Dominions the incense they crave....

I find I get side-tracked with my story plots when I find a really engrossing story that is so astonishing and affects me so profoundly, that I can't do anything for months.

I usually have all my plots figured out to the end, then I start writing and the characters high-jack my direction and it gets lost, or suddenly I have to explain something that hadn't occured to me.

I know every thing's going to be okay when that's all I can think about is the plot, tying things up, and it all fits like a wonderful last satisfying puzzle peice. If I take up the threads of a story later on, looking at it afresh, having put it away for a while, well, that's sometimes when genius strikes.

Hope some of this helped. (Besides, I have confidence in you!)

[polywolly]

After contending with much the same predicament of late, I completely understand. There are times when, "Steve crossed the room," seems an impossible sentence to formulate, let alone a compound sentence.

Walking away from the story for a while, or particularly that page you've been staring at for so long the blinking cursor has burned itself into your retinas, can do wonders. Although, I agree with you about liking the literary vacation a bit too much. If I stay away too long I find other plots swirling in my head and then I can stare at their half-written pages for a while.

Another trick I've used is to read the story again from start to the current, seemingly insurmountable part. Sometimes that sparks the new ideas or thought processes necessary to jumpstart the next word or two.

One I've used recently is to read a story by an author you admire, one you've already finished so you don't get sucked back into the plot, so that their way with words motivates you to write your own. Sometimes I find it helpful to write from a perspective of jealousy. "Ha! I could have put that better!" Then, I redirect that energy into my current work of smut, I mean, art...

I do feel your pain. It's more frustrating than anything, knowing what you want to say but not how to say it. It would be easier to be completely blocked so that, at the very least, you wouldn't know what you were not getting written. That likely made no sense at all, but I'm here to help.

Did the smores help at all? (see the "I am..." thread in the games forum)

To close this ramble of a post, I'll say that I've read many of your wonderfully crafted posts and I know you will overcome this hiccup in authorial bliss. You have a way with words, but words are sometimes like cats. They come when they feel like it, and then they hack up fur balls on your pillow. Wait...that's not right...

[Guest Melody Fate]

Go for a walk...

I try to walk every morning. This morning I walked for three miles. (No, I'm not crazy, I have a friend who used to walk ten miles a day, and still tries to do at least five to eight, so three is a feather on the scale!)

Stand outside and smoke, offering the Dominions the incense they crave....

Evil woman, trying to tempt me! I'm trying so hard to cut back and most of the time, I'm fine with it, but there are times when I'd love an excuse to chainsmoke.

I usually have all my plots figured out to the end, then I start writing and the characters high-jack my direction and it gets lost, or suddenly I have to explain something that hadn't occured to me.

I've been dealing with that too a bit. Confessions is not the same story it started out being. And, I don't mind that. I wouldn't care at all if the story changed completely, as long as I just start writing it!

Hope some of this helped. (Besides, I have confidence in you!)

Of course it helps. Just knowing that I can come here and folks will know what I'm talking about helps.

_______________________

Walking away from the story for a while, or particularly that page you've been staring at for so long the blinking cursor has burned itself into your retinas, can do wonders. Although, I agree with you about liking the literary vacation a bit too much. If I stay away too long I find other plots swirling in my head and then I can stare at their half-written pages for a while.

I may give that a try. I do admit, I'll probably like my vacation a little too much, but in hall honesty, I do love the story, I really do. My characters have become so real to me and I just do not want to leave it unfinished. But, I think part of me feels that I'm spending all day "Notwriting" (Not to be confused with "Not writing" where you allow yourself not to be writing, "Notwriting" is that state where you give all outward signs of writing, while doing very little actual writing!

One I've used recently is to read a story by an author you admire, one you've already finished so you don't get sucked back into the plot, so that their way with words motivates you to write your own. Sometimes I find it helpful to write from a perspective of jealousy. "Ha! I could have put that better!" Then, I redirect that energy into my current work of smut, I mean, art...

A good idea. I've been reading some stories today from various folks who were kind enough to update.

Did the smores help at all? (see the "I am..." thread in the games forum)

To close this ramble of a post, I'll say that I've read many of your wonderfully crafted posts and I know you will overcome this hiccup in authorial bliss. You have a way with words, but words are sometimes like cats. They come when they feel like it, and then they hack up fur balls on your pillow. Wait...that's not right...

Smores? *Needs to go check that thread ASAP*

Wow, thank you so much for your faith in me. Believe it or not, it does help to know that people think I can do this. Sometimes I can't trust my own judgement. I'm still in shock that my silly little story seems to be so popular. I really did expect people to sneer at it.

*Sniffles and grouphugs everyone*

[Guest lightgoddess]

I do the exact same thing you are talking about quite often. I'll get to a particular part and it's like a freakin' brick wall *SLAM* I know what I want next, but I can't find the words.

I'll do one of two things:

I either struggle through and make a really short transitional kind of crappy chapter that I'm not happy with, or I'll think constantly for days on end about how I want to word what I'm writing. It's nothing for me to practically memorize a page or two from going over it and over it in my head.

My muse needs to be spanked rght now, as a matter of fact. We should fashion ourselves a couple of paddles and get to it!!

[Guest Melody Fate]

My muse needs to be spanked rght now, as a matter of fact. We should fashion ourselves a couple of paddles and get to it!!

I have a bad feeling my muse would enjoy being spanked!

[Guest lightgoddess]

I have a bad feeling my muse would enjoy being spanked!

LOL! Mine probably would too now that she's shacked up with the Bondage Fairy...

[StoryJunkie]

I thought of a nother thing, but then someone mentioned the spank word, and I lost my train of thought. God, its' amazing that I can put two sentences together coherently! Life is just too much fun. So long as the bad stuff happens on paper, I am well content.

sometimes a differen perspective...! oh yeah, I remember now...nope, gone. Anyway, a different perspective on the same scene.. oh yeah. Start the chapter over again, skipping to a different character's pov, like Edgar Rice Burroughs did in Tarzan. If you read his stuff, you notice right away that every other chapter skips from one character to another. Not sure if you want to adapt this sort of device, but I found it useful for cliff hanging stuff. It is totally evil.

Don't throw out anything you've written but doesn't quite fit. Stick it into a document called 'tails". You can always go back to it later and use it in a sequel or something.

[NightScribe]

Yes, I have experienced this, too, a few times. It's frustrating as all hell; I refer to it as a funk. One time, I was working on a very angsty story and was bringing myself down, I ended up in a funk for 3 weeks where I couldn't work on it anymore. Instead, I wrote a short, humorous story I'd been thinking about tackling later. It was a good change of pace and kept the creative juices flowing. I also think if I take a hiatus, I won't be able to get back to it, too lazy, but I eventually get back in the swing.

Although I prefer typing the story out, I might slow the pace down and just keep a pen and notepad nearby and jot things down as they come to me, even at work. Maybe I'll look over my outline (if I have one) or write a synopsis for the chapter I'm stuck on. What I hate, and I'm experiencing it now, is going along great on a chapter, taking a break to eat, answer the phone or whatever, and then losing all motivation. Sometimes I've just slogged through, writing what I think is a totally crappy chapter and posting it, then go back two weeks later and print it out and read it and find it turned out okay.

One day, I cranked out over 5,000 words in 2-1/2 hours and it only needed a little polishing. I was on such a high, I couldn't wait to tackle the next chapter the next day. Next day, I sat in front of the computer for probably close to ten hours and only came up with about 500 words. I was ready to kill myself; another funk had set in. My muse can be quite devious sometimes.

[Guest Melody Fate]

Yes, I have experienced this, too, a few times. It's frustrating as all hell; I refer to it as a funk. One time, I was working on a very angsty story and was bringing myself down, I ended up in a funk for 3 weeks where I couldn't work on it anymore. Instead, I wrote a short, humorous story I'd been thinking about tackling later. It was a good change of pace and kept the creative juices flowing. I also think if I take a hiatus, I won't be able to get back to it, too lazy, but I eventually get back in the swing.

Yeah, I actually wrote something else a couple months ago. If I could get inspired to write something else, I'd take a break and write that. Problem is that I don't feel like writing anything.

I'm trying the week break. But... so far I am enjoying it way too much.

[EveKnight75]

I feel for you. Truly I do. I've experienced the same problem.

Just now, I've managed to get it back on track, but I'm on vacation on the other side of the ocean AND my sister has appendicitis. That means I don't get much time at my laptop even though I know what to write (finally!). I'm letting my sister watch DVDs on it while she's hospitalized. She's 12, staying in the hospital by herself, hooked up to an IV, and trying to communicate with the doctors in a language she's uncomfortable speaking. I'm trying to give her some small measure of comfort.

Now to help you. First of all, write out the general progressive storyline and save it. This will clear your mind for a bit. Now, re-read what you've posted so far. Something should come.

If not, start re-typing the last chapter from the middle. It establishes a flow. If that doesn't work, leave it alone for a while, and don't force yourself to come back to it.

For me, the main problem was that I had everyrhing planned out in my head, but the specifics were still unclear. No matter what, the specific details and words wouldn't come even though I had a general idea of what was going to happen next.

Once I wrote out the general progressive storyline, it wasn't stuck there anymore. When I re-read the chapters on the site, I detached myself from the writer. Then when I started re-typing the latest posted part, the flow came.

The last time, it didn't. I decided to come back months later and try it again. This time, it worked. The trick was, I didn't read the general progreesive storyline that I had typed up before. I was playing round-robin with myself.

Sometimes, planning everything out in advance can be a hindrance. You know what's going to happen next, and you force yourself to make that specific thing happen, because it's at the forefront of your mind.

Don't do that. Organization is good, but not to the point that it's rigid. Creativity is about flexibility. Don't abandon what you've planned out, but you have to forget it while you're writing. Let the words come as they will. Maybe the end result will be what you had planned. Maybe not. Maybe it'll be better.

[englishwitch]

that is the worst kind of writers block. you have the ideas but no way to express them.

You're getting too wound up, your expectations are too high, you've been thinking about this for so long that nothing you write seems to do it justice, the words have to be perfect and nothing else. am i sounding right so far?

There are a few ways of getting it out of your head, i've not tried them all but the ones i have tried work.

1) if your old enough to drink, have some alcohol. not enough to get you wasted, but enough to make you open up, lower your inhibitions slightly. the slightly drunk but still coherent stage. for me thats one beer drunk within fifteen minutes, but you'd know your own tolerence.

The only draw back is that it can become a viscious cycle. you can start heading into the mindset that you need a beer to work properly. its an easy habit to get into and harder to get out of. I got out, mostly because i ran out of beer, there was a week where nothing seemed to happen in my writing then suddenly, bamm, a flow of ideas. I've had similar things happen when i run out of coffee.

I never said these methods were perfect.

2) write in the nude: like the beer it loweres the inhibitions and allows the flow of ideas. obviously this is soemthing best done in private, unless you have a very open family. its not one thats i've tried, but its a hot summer and theres a lot of time left in the season. it will aparently feel weird at first but after you've done it a couple of times you'll find yourself opening up not only with your flow of ideas but other things as well. an open mind is a rare and wonderful thing. like a rainbow or some other cliche.

3) just write anything, no matter how crappy. leave it over night come back in the morning, read through what you've done, delete it and then rewrite it. you'll find it gets better the second time around. keep on repeating this until you think you have the story just right.

4) tell yourself a little poem i like to call 'the writers mantra.'

I can't Stop.

I'm possessed by a deadly muse.

It steals me of my sleep.

Robs me of my health.

Turns every moment of life into a possitbility for prose.

It affects the mind that guides your deeds, sacrafices friends and

burns away enemies.

Every person encountered is looked upon as a plague of mediocrity

and each face of beauty haunts your sleep until you die.

Pain is the fuel that drives your art.

Hatred is the spark that ignites your mind.

You spend all your life working on a piece that will be

misunderstood by most and in the end,

ultimatly fogotten

And I do believe it will be the death of me.

Germain and Foamy the squirrel. ::iLL WiLL PreSS::

Thats about all i got, hope something helps.

[Guest Vamp468]

This has happened to me. I've got the plot all planned out, then I sit down to write it and nothing.

2) write in the nude: like the beer it loweres the inhibitions and allows the flow of ideas.

I've tried writing in the nude. It was moderately helpful, believe it or not.

I also play alot of darts. There's something very calming to me about sending miniature arrows sailing through the air, only to be embedded in a cheap piece of colored corking.

And cooking. While I'm cooking or baking or making some sort of intricate dish, it takes my mind of my writing dilemas and allows me to focus on something else entirely. It's just taking a breather, a change of scenery more or less.

I have a bad feeling my muse would enjoy being spanked! 

I'm glad to know mine's not the only one.