Severe writer's block

[skip.knox]

>write fantasy again but my audience reads westerns
Well heck, that's easy. Build a new audience. You're welcome! <g>

Glad you're writing again, Chessie, but I feel something akin to your pain. I have my story but it's proving difficult to make any headway. I've had plenty of distractions I can blame, but as the months roll on, I get this uneasy feeling that something else might be at play here.

Which brings me back to the OP. "Writer's block" covers an awful lot of territory. It rarely means "I sit down every day and every day not one single word goes on paper." We're most all of us writers here so I won't bother reciting the countless variations that all come to "making very little progress." Instead, I'm focused on the variables. There's what is in play that very day I sit down--could be anything from a bad night's sleep to general malaise (the ranking general in the Army Writing Corps) to actual illness. Or nothing identifiable at all.

But twelve days later it's something else. And in those twelve days, I've changed a bit. Make it four months and I'm not the same writer. I don't have the same enthusiasm for that story idea, but have and new enthusiasms. The sands shift continually.

I think this is why advice about writer's block is always right and never quite right. It's always right for someone at some point, and never quite right for me today. I don't have any answers. I'm sure of only this much: if I can walk away, if I can stop, then I'm not a writer. A writer is a poor soul who is chained to the word, who cannot stop writing no matter how bad it is. I do think it's possible to be a writer for a while. My "for a while" has run about fifty years so far and I'm still not taking any bets.

 

[ShadeZ]

Dear fellow writers out there:

My back-story: Around 16 years ago I developed the main characters. Then around 10 years began fleshing out the story, maps, how the world worked, etc. Two years ago I came to the conclusion of the novel and began to write.

I have been in this WRITER'S BLOCK since July 2019 (now February 2020). I have outlines on everything that needs to be written but I just can't seem to find myself in this world anymore. Parts of me think that it is just too crazy and will go nowhere so why should I invest this much effort. But I love the story, the characters, and they have become a part of me. Looking for advice on how to get out of this extreme dry spell.

Thanks!

Hello fellow scribe,

So what I do when I have writers block is I randomly think of one of my main characters and think of some completely unrelated adventure. If the story only covers part of their life it could be before or after the story time line or even just a 'bonus scene if you will, an extra scene with some fun adventure, conversation, encounter, fight whatever. I do this because I find it helps me get back into that characters mind and reignited my love for them. I generally do not plan this bonus scene out I just come up with a rough idea and "let the story tell me what happened next" I often find this not only helps me become interested again but it gives me an extra bit that I can add in or just keep for myself to read in the future if I am trying to remember that characters thoughts and behaviors.

Hope it helps,
ShadeZ