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Let's Talk About Writer's Block

TJ5

TJ5

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 27, 2005
Messages
305
Location
So. Cali
Hey guys I know many of you have had it. My problem is that after gettting clean and sober, while my ability to write stories, essays, and journals remains intact, poetry seems a lost art to me without meth. Has this or anything similar happened to you, and suggestions to overcome this problem?
 
to me, writer's block is due to overstimulation. too many ideas trying for my attention at one time. i take charge and simply write them down one at a time, regardless of order. with each one written and out of my congested mind, i am slightly free'er to sort the rest until it is manageable.

it doesn't matter what order you pick them when they're of equal importance.
 
I largely agree with L2R.

I'm not a big writer of poetry, and even the comedy I write is written more passively than actively.

What I've found to be helpful is to keep a stack of index cards rubber-banded together, along with a Sharpie, in my front right pocket at all times.

And ANOTHER stack of index cards, along with ANOTHER Sharpie in each and every room in my apartment.

So rather than being frustrated by "writers' block," I simply try to live my life without putting pressure on myself to write.

Inevitably, eventually, something will happen which will stimulate an idea, and then out come the index cards and the Sharpie.

One card per joke.

For writing, as with most things in life, I have found that, for me, organization is key.

Good thread.
 
Writing is something that i do as a way to unblock my life. And in saying such i tend to write very erratically. Sometimes nothing for weeks, sometimes everyday. I managed to get into a good habit where i would get high, walk to the cafe down the road and eat and write a good 4000 words or so. Very tight and fast short stories.

Writing isn't always about conveying meaning, it can be used as a technique for expunging pent up emotions, frustrations and desires. I am accustomed to writing garbled, unusual and quite broken/poor grammar. I then look back on these and type them up, adding and filling out the ideas. Sometimes the idea is so good that i list a stream of adjectives and add the more mundane, general words later.

L O V E L I F E, that's what WIlliam S. Burroughs would do with index cards. I'm sure a lot of writers have a quirk or technique that helps facilitate their writing.

If i have a block, i stumble through it. Just write for the hell of it. Write about the block itself. As long as you can write, you can make sense of it and give it a direction later...
 
It seems I'm not the only one who writes my way out of writer's block. The way I do it is to just do a stream of conciousness deal where I just write whatever the fuck comes to mind. Ususally, in the process of doing that, my mind tends to organize itself into something I'm able to work with. Maybe I might even get a nice piece out of it.:)
 
I've actually never tried this or even heard of it before. It sounds right though, usually i'll just wait until something hits me, or when i hear a really amazing instrumental i'll write something then. I'm going to have to try this just to try it. Another thing I can think of that i've done when im having trouble writing is, put a pad next to your bed then think about it while going to sleep, eventually something comes into my head and i just write it down. I can repeat this a couple times before I find a groove or sometimes it just hits me all at once.
 
I use my mobile phone's notebook for my spontaneous ideas. Far too many great ones have returned to the void after i've failed to capture them outside the ether.


and my phone is with me at all times.
 
i do some rhyming and it's similar to poetry. it can be beautiful to describe a stagnant scene but most of the time it needs to flow or it falls short of what it could be.

when i have problems i clear out my headspace by going first to the city just to walk around vibrant areas and then retreat out of the city to the park so the clean air and lack of noise can wash out the residual noises of the city and i can think clearly about some of the description-worthy things i observed/experienced there.

nothing seems to motivate my writing more than seeing new things or having the opportunity to see familiar things from a new perspective.

on the other hand, if your motivation used to be speed then maybe it would be better to start at the park to get nice n bored then hit the city for the necessary stimulus
 
indeed, it's hard to write when trying to force yourself to write, just stop thinking about it and do something else for a while, for me, writing just kind of flows out of my brain and onto paper...like a bleeding wound, all wounds heal in time, open that fucker back up with new experiences and ideas
 
I don't know that I'll be of much help here. I am most creative when I'm going through or working through some gut-wrenching tragedy. A Hallmark card writer, I am not. I do think there have been some great suggestions above. Jot down fleeting thoughts & ideas. Use a cell, index cards, a divided notebook, a damned NAPKIN if necessary - but don't let the seeds of a wonderful piece (or pieces) of writing slip away.
 
KeisaCheeba said:
indeed, it's hard to write when trying to force yourself to write, just stop thinking about it and do something else for a while, for me, writing just kind of flows out of my brain and onto paper...like a bleeding wound, all wounds heal in time, open that fucker back up with new experiences and ideas
Click to expand...

Totally.

There's nothing worse than staring at a blank page / screen, and waiting for 'inspiration' to just 'leap up' out of nowhere. Pretty much never happens in my experience. I have to start with something... a basic idea, an image, a phrase, a word... something which has me thinking about the possibilities entailed.

It often helps to mix colours and choose a canvas before you start painting. ;) I do a lot of 'colour-mixing', or generally fucking around with words and phrases (many of which I will have jotted down previously because they struck me as interesting). It's often hard to see any clear distinction between this mucking around and the 'actual writing' (whatever that means). In fact, I wonder if I ever do any 'actual writing'?! I just work in cycles of jotting, experimentation and editing...
 
o0psy daisy.

I like to write by candlelight, or in the near dark sometimes. Sure it makes it harder to read but you aren't really worried about that until afterwards.
 
I've written (by hand) in the dark quite a few times, more by accident than design though. Can't say I've ever tried typing with my eyes closed - I'll have to give that a try. :)
 
Who knows, if you couldn't touch-type you might get some interesting results? ;)
 
Simple writing exercises, like describe a friend, a place, or theme exercises are a good way to get the creative juices flowing, without investing in any topic that matters.
 
I'm not sure which is worse: having writer's block, or simply not having any time to write...?
 
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