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Writer's block?


Rosendust

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Hey all! So, I'm a creative writer and this past year has been insane and worrisome, therefore zapping my creative energies.

 

Any ideas about how to get my creative mo-jo back?

 

💜

“Many boys will bring you flowers. But someday you'll meet a boy who will learn your favorite flower, your favorite song, your favorite sweet. And even if he is too poor to give you any of them, it won't matter because he will have taken the time to know you as no one else does. Only that boy earns your heart."

 

-Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

 

Follow me on IG: Lenses.and pens_

Please do not assume affiliation for any stores I may post about, just a happy customer.

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46 minutes ago, Rosendust said:

Any ideas about how to get my creative mo-jo back?

 

Randomization.

 

Draw the card and you're off to new creative adventures...🐉

 

Just saw this thread: 

 

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Since the past year has 'zapped' your creative energies, why not begin by writing about that?  I expect that new, tangental thoughts will pop into your head, and you can use them  to propel you along another path to write about.

 

Digressions can turn into beautiful inspirations.

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Also, believe it or not, routines can be powerful for creativity.

 

Set aside a time of the day to just write.  And then write what comes into your head.  After a while, you will be accustomed to write something at that hour and your brain will work with you and not against you.

 

Erick

Using right now:

Visconti Voyager 30 "M" nib running Birmingham Streetcar

Jinhao 9019 "EF" nib running Birmingham Railroad Spike

Stipula Adagio "F" nib running Birmingham Violet Sea Snail

Sailor Profit "B" nib running Van Dieman's Night - Shooting Star

 

 

 

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Some stuff that helps me:

  • Finding inspiration from other media - books, movies, etc. I am trying out keeping a commonplace book to supplement this. Similarly, visiting a place that you enjoy or are interested in. 
  • Set a rigid routine (time of day, location, number of words written) and stick to it. 
  • For concentration issues, I will get and move or go for a walk. 
  • Join a writing group. 

But if I am dealing with mental or physical health issues, I usually have to work on those before being able to really move forward. For me that is usually watching my diet, making sure I am sleeping enough, and working on managing anxiety and other negative emotions.

 

Best of luck!

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Lots of good ideas here!

For the past several years I have been taking part in NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month).  Every day for April, the woman who started it will post a prompt on her website/blog http://www.napowrimo.net (starting an "early bird" prompt on March 31, the day before, for the people for whom time zones make "morning" much earlier than where I live).  It could be a style of poem, a theme, a subject.  And you don't HAVE to use them at all (it's just a guidepost, not a class assignment).  The following day she will post a link to some other website or blog so you can see how someone else might have interpreted the prompt.  I keep thinking that if/when I get a new laptop I should start a blog -- if for no other reason than to (maybe, someday) have a piece I've written linked to her site the next day. B)

I had an exercise last year for a creative writing class I took, where you take the month and day (e.g., for today it would be 1/4) and look up a phrase or group of words, on say, the fourth line on page 1 of a random book).  This was done after we were supposed to come up with 3 ideas for a story and then everyone else in the class voted on their favorite; the idea voted on for me was what I thought the worst idea -- but that in combination with the random word exercise just was the spark I needed.  Story isn't perfect (there are technical issues I'd have to research to see if they would be valid in the situation in the story) but I'm moderately happy with the results.  And I NEVER wrote fiction in the past -- only poetry.

I also find that things just flow better for me with a pen on paper than on a computer or even a typewriter.  So another thing I'll suggest is to have a look at The Artist's Way (which is a creativity course).  Every week you read the next chapter and do the "thinking outside the box" exercises.  But you also keep what's called a "morning pages journal":  the first thing you do is get up and write three pages of stream of consciousness stuff -- whatever comes into your brain goes onto the page (I'll try to remember dreams, rant about things/people who annoy me, make to do lists, whatever).  Then you shut the journal and go about the rest of your day (I've often referred to it as my "daily core dump").  That also gets you acclimated to a routine of writing.  

The other weekly activity in the course is called "artist's day out" -- where you do something JUST for you.  I've taken long drives, gone museum hopping, hit local (and not so local antiques stores) -- even gone to a local spirituality center and walked their outdoor labyrinth (okay, not at this time of year for that last one because it *is* January in Pittsburgh :rolleyes:).  The author says that she will bake something just because it seems like a good idea (i.e, as opposed to it being a special occasion like someone's birthday, I think).  The idea is that so much of your time is spent doing stuff for other people that you just get worn out and get to the point that you have to recharge your batteries in order to not to be a detriment to *them*.

And no, I've never gone completely through the book (I got bogged down on the week where you go back through morning pages entries to spot "insights" you may have had -- because for me that was Thanksgiving week, up at my mother-in-law's with a bunch of other relatives and no place in the house to be alone for an hour or two...).  But I still think even then the course helped me.  I may try doing the course again at some point this spring or summer.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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4 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Lots of good ideas here!

For the past several years I have been taking part in NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month).  Every day for April, the woman who started it will post a prompt on her website/blog http://www.napowrimo.net (starting an "early bird" prompt on March 31, the day before, for the people for whom time zones make "morning" much earlier than where I live).  It could be a style of poem, a theme, a subject.  And you don't HAVE to use them at all (it's just a guidepost, not a class assignment).  The following day she will post a link to some other website or blog so you can see how someone else might have interpreted the prompt.  I keep thinking that if/when I get a new laptop I should start a blog -- if for no other reason than to (maybe, someday) have a piece I've written linked to her site the next day. B)

I had an exercise last year for a creative writing class I took, where you take the month and day (e.g., for today it would be 1/4) and look up a phrase or group of words, on say, the fourth line on page 1 of a random book).  This was done after we were supposed to come up with 3 ideas for a story and then everyone else in the class voted on their favorite; the idea voted on for me was what I thought the worst idea -- but that in combination with the random word exercise just was the spark I needed.  Story isn't perfect (there are technical issues I'd have to research to see if they would be valid in the situation in the story) but I'm moderately happy with the results.  And I NEVER wrote fiction in the past -- only poetry.

I also find that things just flow better for me with a pen on paper than on a computer or even a typewriter.  So another thing I'll suggest is to have a look at The Artist's Way (which is a creativity course).  Every week you read the next chapter and do the "thinking outside the box" exercises.  But you also keep what's called a "morning pages journal":  the first thing you do is get up and write three pages of stream of consciousness stuff -- whatever comes into your brain goes onto the page (I'll try to remember dreams, rant about things/people who annoy me, make to do lists, whatever).  Then you shut the journal and go about the rest of your day (I've often referred to it as my "daily core dump").  That also gets you acclimated to a routine of writing.  

The other weekly activity in the course is called "artist's day out" -- where you do something JUST for you.  I've taken long drives, gone museum hopping, hit local (and not so local antiques stores) -- even gone to a local spirituality center and walked their outdoor labyrinth (okay, not at this time of year for that last one because it *is* January in Pittsburgh :rolleyes:).  The author says that she will bake something just because it seems like a good idea (i.e, as opposed to it being a special occasion like someone's birthday, I think).  The idea is that so much of your time is spent doing stuff for other people that you just get worn out and get to the point that you have to recharge your batteries in order to not to be a detriment to *them*.

And no, I've never gone completely through the book (I got bogged down on the week where you go back through morning pages entries to spot "insights" you may have had -- because for me that was Thanksgiving week, up at my mother-in-law's with a bunch of other relatives and no place in the house to be alone for an hour or two...).  But I still think even then the course helped me.  I may try doing the course again at some point this spring or summer.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Thank you so much Ruth! I was able to at least get 100 words done, so that's a start, right!? 

“Many boys will bring you flowers. But someday you'll meet a boy who will learn your favorite flower, your favorite song, your favorite sweet. And even if he is too poor to give you any of them, it won't matter because he will have taken the time to know you as no one else does. Only that boy earns your heart."

 

-Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

 

Follow me on IG: Lenses.and pens_

Please do not assume affiliation for any stores I may post about, just a happy customer.

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My only recommendation is to write like it's an assignment which has been given you and do the best you can with it. I believe that if I went and randomly chose a word from a dictionary that would be sufficient to give me an assignment to complete and sufficient for me to write.

 

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