1: The Inkling are to be polite and respectful of one another.
2: We discourage violence, and insulting. Please settle disputes in a calm and rational manner.
3: Do not use any foul or dirty language, and please respect the values that we hold here at Inklings.
4: Do not ridicule, or tarnish anothers character, they are beloved by their creators.
5: No dark, or violent characters in the chat room.
7: Respect the moderators and obey them, regardless of age.
8: Anyone who abuses, stretches or defies these rules will be banned from the chat room and if great lengths are taken to rebel against these guidelines, then you will be cast out of Inklings.
The Chocolate Box
The Chocolate Box will be under Probation. So if anyone acts up badly and abuses the chatbox we will reserve the right to remove it without warning.
So, our very first, inaugural, Writers’ Talk session is now open! I’ll kick start it off with that ageless question, “How do you fix Writer’s Block?” Please, comment your solutions, and then comment about other people’s comments, and let the round table of talk begin!
I would say I fix my writer's block either by asking someone for help, like my friends, sisters, parents, and Inklings, or I just take a step back, give it a rest, and then come back to it with fresh ideas.
Blesings,
Snicket
PS (Thanks for doing this Homer, it's a really great idea!)
It all really depends on what I'm writing. If I'm working on TOI (Towers of Iron), and I get stuck, I usually listen to my LoTR soundtrack, or watch the battle of Helm's Deep on YouTube. Or, I just give the story a break and work on something else till I'm in the mood to go back again. That's purty much what I do.
I whine about it for about two weeks and then I still can't write, so I start writing physical descriptions of people, I write weird dialogue, I write about the weather, I write about my spiritual struggles... in the third person nonetheless, and I never use my name. Seeing "I" or "Hailey" is embarrassing to me. Writer's block is especially bad for me, because that's when Mirana takes over me.
Interesting topic! *wonders where that should have been the subject* Writers block can be a pest! But I eventually found a/some solution/s....
For four years I tried to write this paticular book, and the most annoying thing was that I never could Really get past the first two sentences at least or the first three chapters at most... Four Years! Well, I eventually decided to throw in some of my other story plots and make the plot more interesting! Then things began to work, unfortunately, so much would happen in this book that I could not find a title that fitted what the story was about in enough words... eventually I came up with the title Avrannian Grounds: The UoUs' War ( after many other titles - perhaps twenty to thirty, this was the only one that stuck ) anyway, I felt that, without a title, the book couldnot begin, I do not know if any other writers are like that - otherwise I must just be fussy. Anyway, now that I had an interesting plot and the fitting title, all of the characters, the loctations... I could begin... or could I? I tried perhaps four times over about two months to get a start, and there were just more files clogging up the computer that begin a few paragraphs, or even as short as a few sentences, and then vanish away into - nothing. A story that begins, and never ends, and it wasn't because it went on forever either.
Anyway, I eventually came up with a start, which even I was interested in, and soon the book began to fly! It flew through three chapters and smashed into a brick wall at chapter three. But, by now, the book was so long, that even in its short chapter lenght of three it was still almost as long as an entire book I wrote when I was thirteen last year - I could not just leave it there! It would be the longest story ( even beating that record Fernsbrook caused ) that I have ever stopped writing so far in - it was THEN that I discovered, perhaps THE solution, or perhaps one of many more solutions - to writers block. The simple thing was that I was bored with that bit of the book myself... I backspaced all of the five standing paragraphs of chapter three and began again - and wow! It sped along, I did not bump into writers' block again during the writing of that book, because the moment I saw a bit which looked like it had gone on a bit to monotonous or boring, I crossed it out and wrote something else, watching the tell-tale signs.... anyway, now that book, after four months, had reached the end, and I am editing it! I think that, If you are bored with your story yourself, then you are very likely to get writers' block, whereas, if you are interested in the story yourself, and you yourself want to see how the ending turns out ( ironically enough even though you are writing it ) then it will just whizz towards the end, which it did with me.
But I still must admit, that as I have been going over to edit it, I have noticed quite a number or mistakes, and also some parts that I thought used certain words too often, like "found" and "dust" when it was describing an old house... I changed the word "found" to "discover" when I noticed it had been used a bit too much and was beginning to look rather monotonous - also I noticed there were whole sentences that needed spicing up, and I added a few details in that had been left out... but I still keep the origianal file, so I can see how much it has changed... and it has changed a lot!
Anyway that may be one of the solutions to writers block... I know it was for me... don't get bored with your own book! Otherwise do something to make it interesting! *grins*
Bye for now
Chezdak
Well, I've been on a long hiatus from Inklings--or rather, I've just been lurking--but as for writer's block, the thing that helps me most is a long, honest critique from a friend. Send them what you've got so far. Let them get to know your characters, and question their motives, and ask what in the world is going on. Listen when they point out what should change, and be encouraged when they point out what's good.
During a Block I usually go around muttering, looking very much like a villain, pour out my frustration to my blog, drive HSB peoples nuts because they're tired of hearing me complain about how horrible this or that is going. It's really is a nasty affair and one I would rather not undergo, but sometimes something just isn't clicking and it takes some time away from it, maybe working on something else, a lot of walks in the woods and tons and tons of coffee to rummage inspiration back.
Aw, I know whotcha mean, Hailey; my kids often hassle me about their book and it takes a lot of cookies and root beer to shut them up. Either that or R.K. attacks me and demands to know why on earth I haven't written blah-blah lately.
Pip/Kip
Edited by Pip on Thursday 9 April 2009 at 02:50 PM
I haven't actually done a lot of creative writing lately, but that's something I need to get back into. So that's my confession.
I liked what you said Lydia (Chezdak) about being bored with your own story- it's probably the root of a lot of writer's block.
One method I use a lot when I have writers' block for non-creative writing and I've used it once for a story too, is outlining.
In the creative writing outline I would have one paragraph for each chapter and then each point is a major event of the story. Of course, if I wanted a really big overview of the story I could make each point of the outline the summary of a chapter.
Outlining helps me just to see where I am wanting to go, and it gives me an idea of what to write in order to reach that destination. Has any one else tried outlining?
Posted by 
Posted by 
Posted by 
Posted by 
Posted by 
Posted by 
Posted by 