How do you guys get yourself out of a writing funk?

[barrowyarrow]

As the title says. I seem to have this issue with my writing where I'll get to a point in the story that I just cannot figure out how to continue. I'll revisit it several times but nothing ever comes so the project just stays unfinished.

So I was just curious if you guys ever have this issue and I'd love to see you're strategies for fighting writers block.

 

[Mothyards]

If you figure it out let me know lol I've been having a similar issue where my next chapter is kinda transitional. I need it but its kinda boring and I keep putting it down and picking it back up and changing it and adding and removing and it makes me not want to work on it much @~@

Though sometimes I find music can help! I've always been the, "perfect song for my in brain amv about my book" kinda person lol, though there's also mood music to get you in the right headspace.
Maybe you can find ways to think about the story in other ideas and mediums. I like to draw and sometimes working on artwork or redesigns of characters and races gets my blood pumping to write about it.

 

[Orc Knight]

As one of the local hobby writers, a funk probably means less for me then some.

My general answer is to step away, do something that entertains you and refreshes you. Be it gaming, youtube videos, movies, art or something else entirely (say, carpentry or boat building). Or do short stories, put your characters in situations they'd never find themselves in. After all, how does the valiant knight handle a cooking competition while Gordon Ramsey continues the horrible tradition of losing his temper in the kitchen?

Or, go for a walk in the local park, should you be near one. Or just outside in general. It'll come back to you. And yeah, definitely with Moth on the music too.

 

[JBCrowson]

Two suggestions that have worked for me:
1) Write the chapter after the one you're stuck on, the problem child may then fall into line if flanked on both sides.
2) Go read a book or two. They don't have to be fantasy, or even fiction. Just reading a lot of someone else's sentences may allow your brain to figure out the right way to write what needs to be said.

Good luck!

 

[dollyt8]

Try skipping a chapter or two ahead and come back to the problem chapter later.

I would also say I usually find myself getting stuck on a chapter for two reasons:

1. It is boring
2. It has a plot hole, logical issue, or other problem I'm having trouble solving.

If you're having the first problem, my suggestion would be to see just how short you can make the scene. There may be unnecessary content that isn't contributing much to the overall story. If you're having the second problem, try outlining ahead of time to make sure you work out any major plot issues. You can also do a scene outline for the chapter. That can help if you're having trouble figuring out how to order your events or transition scenes well within the chapter.

 

[Penpilot]

First, a little nitpick of mine. I prefer not to use the term writer's block. I prefer to say I'm stuck. To me, writer's block makes it sound like it's not under my control, which it totally is. I just have to figure it out.

Second, if you can't find the right path, start trying all the wrong paths. What I mean is just make a decision and write it out. It doesn't even have to be prose. Point form or scratch notes is fine. Just go what if this happened and then follow that line of thought. You'll eventually figure out, yes this is good, or no this isn't what I want.

If that one path isn't right, try another one. If you keep eliminating the wrong paths, eventually, you'll find the right one.

This gets you thinking about what you want and what you don't want from your story. Sooner or later, something will spark.

 

[pmmg]

Yes...may strategy is called 'write it ugly'.

Write to just get words on page and after you have them, then you can decide if you are keeping them or not.

 

[Mad Swede]

Just write. But write something else. Then go back to where you were stuck a bit later. The key for me is to always write when I sit down to write, not what I write. And yes, I always finish the story where I stopped temporarily.

 

[Kalipso]

Write literally anything. Even if it's stupid. Even if it doesn't make sense. Anything to help you generate ideas. You can always come back to this scene. If that doesn't sound like something you'd like to try, then try writing any other scene in the story. It can be one you're excited for or one you just have planned out. Something might come to you.

Alternatively, something that always helps me is taking a break to read. I become frustrated with myself for not being able to think of anything, but when I read, it replaces my frustration with passion. It makes me want to write my own book/story. And, of course, it helps me generate ideas.

 

[skip.knox]

This doesn't sound like a writing funk, but a finishing funk. Merely starting another project isn't likely to help, as starting isn't the problem.

Have you taken a look at those unfinished projects? Do they tend to be the same length? Or stop at similar points? I can think of several possibilities but you're the one who must do the analysis. Then I bet some folks here could offer additional advice.

 

[barrowyarrow]

This doesn't sound like a writing funk, but a finishing funk. Merely starting another project isn't likely to help, as starting isn't the problem.

Have you taken a look at those unfinished projects? Do they tend to be the same length? Or stop at similar points? I can think of several possibilities but you're the one who must do the analysis. Then I bet some folks here could offer additional advice.

I guess it's kind of a "finishing funk"? I find I'll usually make it to a lul in things actually happening and it's difficult to bridge the action into the next section of actual story in a way that's satisfying. Kind of like I'll write out all the major story beats and string them together but those transitional areas where character's would be just traveling to the next spot or talking about stuff not integral to the story just hit me with a wall of inability to write. I just cannot think of anything to do in these parts and trying to do a sort of smash cut to the next spot feels clunky and kinda lazy.

 

[Prince of Spires]

Butt in chair, hands on keyboard.

It's the only way to get it written.

As for trying to figure out what to write; You could either try outlining. Just write out, in whatever level of detail you want, what actually happens in the story. It separates thinking of what comes next, with figuring out how to write that and finding the right words. They are 2 different skills, and are hard for a lot of people to do at the same time. By splitting them, you can give your whole attention to just one thing
(small note here, outlining could just as much be in your head as on paper, and can be a summary, or just keywords, or simply stuff you want to have happen, or anything else).

Another alternative is to simply not write the transition bits. Will Wight (who is a very succesful fantasy indie author) has described his books as "Epic Fantasy with all the boring bits taken out." And that is a good description. They basically take you p1 and drag you at breakneck speed through the story. It works with his style.

So if you don't want to have a bit of filler where characters go from point A to B so you can have some character interaction and team building and give exposition about that one battle 200 years ago that happened along the road they're taking and which shaped the world as we know it, then don't write that bit. There is no rule that you can't simply go "They rode for 2 weeks until they got to the capital." Just write the bits you want to write and don't force yourself to write the bits that you find boring.

Once you finish, you can always go back and see if you need something in between. Or if maybe you just write a great 60.000 word novel instead of an average 120.000 word one.

 

[barrowyarrow]

Butt in chair, hands on keyboard.

It's the only way to get it written.

As for trying to figure out what to write; You could either try outlining. Just write out, in whatever level of detail you want, what actually happens in the story. It separates thinking of what comes next, with figuring out how to write that and finding the right words. They are 2 different skills, and are hard for a lot of people to do at the same time. By splitting them, you can give your whole attention to just one thing
(small note here, outlining could just as much be in your head as on paper, and can be a summary, or just keywords, or simply stuff you want to have happen, or anything else).

Another alternative is to simply not write the transition bits. Will Wight (who is a very succesful fantasy indie author) has described his books as "Epic Fantasy with all the boring bits taken out." And that is a good description. They basically take you p1 and drag you at breakneck speed through the story. It works with his style.

So if you don't want to have a bit of filler where characters go from point A to B so you can have some character interaction and team building and give exposition about that one battle 200 years ago that happened along the road they're taking and which shaped the world as we know it, then don't write that bit. There is no rule that you can't simply go "They rode for 2 weeks until they got to the capital." Just write the bits you want to write and don't force yourself to write the bits that you find boring.

Once you finish, you can always go back and see if you need something in between. Or if maybe you just write a great 60.000 word novel instead of an average 120.000 word one.

Thanks, I'll probably try cutting out the slower bits just to see how it reads. I'd like to have slower, more conversational bits but I just can't find a graceful way to go from, "They talked into the night" to, "And then they were at the castle!".

 

[skip.knox]

>I find I'll usually make it to a lul in things actually happening
Sure. Notice the emphasis there on things happening, rather than on people acting and reacting. If things were happening, then you had your characters in a fight or discovering something, or whatever. First thing is, were you there with them? Did you feel, even if only just partially, what each of them were feeling? Do you know what they were after, what blocked them, how they overcame that or were thwarted?

If you were there with them, each individually, then when you hit that lull, consider their reactions and plans. If they succeeded, do they celebrate? Congratulate? Each in the same way, or are there variations? Maybe they succeeded but a price was paid. In any case, they should react to the thing that actually happened (along with their reaction to how they compatriots behaved). Consequent upon reactions, they would naturally ask "what's next?" They make plans. If they succeeded, then it's on to the next objective. If they were stopped, then it's Plan B. But whatever it is, the scene ends with them looking forward (as well as back).

Then it's off to the next scene.

The above is *way* easier said than done, but I find I do much better when I focus my attention on the characters themselves, how they are thinking and feeling through the scene, then how they react to what just happened. And then what they think is next.

 

[Gurkhal]

I try to force myself to sit down at the computer and write. Something. Almost anything to get going and once I have some momentum up I can head over to the main project and start writing on it.

At least that's what works for me.

 

[K.S. Crooks]

If I know where the characters/story will be in the future I will skip over the current spot and write the section further along. I will then go back when how they git there comes to me. Another option is to write something, anything for that part of the story. It being bad or unwanted doesn't matter. It gets words out and you can see why something else would work better or the ridiculous might be the right way to go.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

I've been in a terrible place for writing for a couple of years, now, but that finally seems to be easing up. I don't believe in Writer's Block. Giving something a name gives it power, and we've given that one power enough. I do believe in getting stuck. When this happens to me, I go hunting for my conflict. Usually, the issue is I've left it somewhere and need to go get the fluffy little murder machine.

The truth is that no matter how you get there, what techniques tickle your brain, at the core it's us putting words down where we can see them. It's us just telling the story. And it happens one word at a time. Slow, fast, doesn't matter. One word at a time. Some days that's all you have in you, but that's okay. One word is better than no word. Tiny progress is still progress.

 

[skip.knox]

I love that statement--giving something a name gives it power. We humans by nature love to name things, and we moderns are downright obsessed by it. I object to the term also because it creates the illusion that it's the same thing for all of us. I prefer individuals.

We each of us get stuck. The ways in which we get stuck vary from one person to the next; in fact, they vary from one day to the next for each person. Fitting that variety of human experience into the same phrase hides the variety. So, when I read how to defeat Writer's Block, I'm misled into thinking that solution ought to work for me. From there it's all too easy to conclude that, when it doesn't work, the fault must be mine, and so I wind up feeling even worse.

No such thing as Writer's Block is a statement of liberation. When I say merely "I'm stuck right now", then I very quickly ask "well, why?" So I start looking for answers as they apply to *me* in this particular moment in this particular story. The stuck-ness is the same, either way. But the path forward is quite different.

 

[Mad Swede]

No, I don't believe in writer's block either - I don't even capitalise it. I don't even admit to getting stuck. For me, writing is writing. What I'm writing is less important than getting it down on paper.

 

[Incanus]

No two writing funk's are the same, so the way out of it is always different as well.

Experiment. Re-think. Try something, then try something else. Skip over the problem area, and return to it later. Discuss with other writers or friends. Sleep on it. If the usual tricks aren't working, try an unusual trick. Turn the idea on its head, then turn yourself on your head--maybe if you are both upside-down, things will look different----