Longest Writers Block of My Life!

I have had writers block since NaNoWriMo ended, help!

Where do you normally get your inspiration? Go there. Reread your favourite books. Go walk in the park. Just sit somewhere quitly and think. Or whatever it is you're doing when you get your ideas.
You might wanna start writing some complete nonsense just to get things flowing again before you start writing a 'real' story. Or look through your ideas-document (if you have something like that - I tend to write every story-idea I have in this document, because usually I don't have the time/am not in the mood to write that particular story the moment I have the idea, while later when I feel like writing I don't have ideas).
Or you might go through the 'adopt a plot' or the other adopt threads, you might find something.
Or is it the 'pressure' or the racing of nanowrimo that you're missing? If so, I'd be willing to be some kind of racing partner to you - I'm just starting a new story now. Have some outlining to do still - well, 'some', about all actually. Just send me a pm if so.
I hope you get your inspiration back soon :)

All of the above :)

And when I'm really stuck, I write fanfiction until I gained some momentum again and can easily switch back to my original stories.
Fanfic makes it easier to just write; I don't have to think about background and stuff, I just put some people into a world that's already there, providing me with an easy way to play around with crazy ideas until I get back to my original stories.

Thanks for the help!

To help you with the writer's block, we need to know what caused it. Writer's block is a catch-all name that different people use differently. More often than not, all writer's block is is lack of confidence. It's the "I can't write anything good, so I won't write" thing.

Sometimes, it's a lack of ideas.

Sometimes, it's not knowing what to do next in an existing story.

So what kind of writer's block do you have? When you sit down in front of the computer, the notebook, or what-have-you, what is going through your mind?

GUH, this is my life. Not so much the nano part, but I feel like I always start off with such rockin' fire and then. .. third page. Fizzle. IT SUCKS.

I'm one of those weird, freaky people who like to work to music. If I don't have music, I don't feel like I can write. Because of that, I decided that this year I was going to work with a character I've been passionate about for YEARS. . . and make my story about music. It's a win all around.

So far I'm busting at the seams with ideas. which is more than I can really say some years. . . so here's hoping. I wish you luck. :)

Let it happen. If you've been through writer's blocks before (and I'm guessing you have, because you say that this is the longest one, so you have comparisons.

Read some, write some fluff if you can, and if not, just sit back and be confident that your vibe will come back. I've learnt that sometimes I just can't write. No inspiration, no desire even to write. And that's fine, too, I don't have a publisher clamoring for a sequel or something similar. I mean, even if I never write again, no biggie (though sad).

Relax, your inspiration will come back, and it will be doubly sweet then.

I had writer's block for about two and a half years a while back. It was thoroughly depressing and I can totally understand what you're going through.

What got me out of it was doing different things. I had always tried to write within one genre and was unable to come up with anything that I thought was any good any more. Then I eventually decided to write something in a totally different, totally unusual style for me. It came easily, just flowed straight out of me. I was so happy I actually could have cried.

Since then I have not suffered from any major blocks. I keep varying what I'm doing - working in lots of different genres and within different structures.

If you normally write novels, try writing a poem or short story. Vice versa. Try the polar opposite genre. Work outside your comfort zone. It doesn't even matter if what you come up with is total shite - all it needs to do is get the creative juices flowing and get you having fun again. Cos writing IS fun.

I had writers block for about 5 to 6 years (until this Novemember, actually) in relation to something I started writing about 6 years ago. Everytime I tried to write about a character I love being beaten to the brink of death...again...I stalled. I couldn't do it.

What changed? Um...I ended up in a pub with friends who were playing chess...I had one drink, and it loosened me up enough to be able to write through my block :D

(I don't condone drinking for stuff like this normally...this is just what helped me at a crucial point in my writing.)

Thankfully, the block was only for that one story...it didn't translate to other things I've written.

So yeah, like people here have said...let it happen. Let the ideas sit in the back of your mind. Poke them gently with a stick now and again...They *will* eventually come out into the light.

I don't know if this works (yet) but I suggest stepping back from whatever you've been working on and write random scenes and ideas that pop into your head.
I didn't realize how focused I was on trying to edit and write my trilogy that I had no other working ideas...at all. Zero. Nothing to turn to when I needed to write just to relax. Everything I need to work on in my trilogy is filled with complex problems I need to fix. Plot holes and world building galore! I didn't realize just how much I needed a break from the complex stuff until I spent three hours and wrote exactly two sentences for a chapter. What next? I finally, after another hour or so, opened a new document, picked three names, and wrote the scene I had thought of when I woke up that morning. A totally random scene about mermaids, and nothing in it related to my trilogy at all. I wrote almost an entire page of stuff in less than half an hour! Not only did it feel good, I wasn't worried about anything more complex than "ooh, what if this happened next?" It was a huge relief, I definitely suggest this. I may still have writer's block for my trilogy, but at least I don't feel so overwhelmed by it!

I have writer's block for my stories, because I don't know how to include the important in-betweeen parts that make the story adventurous, or justifying them. You can't make a sandwich with just bread, and you can't make a sandwich with a boot and frying pan either.

I have writer's block for my backup short story, because I have the goal but not the necessary details.

I have writer's block for everything else because I have difficulty coming up with new ideas, and I don't like to indulge in random story bloat without reason; it feels wasteful.

I stink, and I don't know how to get out of the rut.

Neil Gaiman says writer's block is a myth. If you are writing paragraphs and paragraphs about how you have writer's block--that isn't writer's block, that's whining and not working through your problem.

If you are complaining to other writers about how you have writer's block--that's not writer's block that's fraternizing for sympathy.

When you have so-called writer's block, you really need your butt kicked. 'cause really what it is is procrastinating and not getting through your issues with your writing. Thus you build up this perfect picture and then the fear of how you will fail instead of breaking down the problem and working through it.

O.o;; I think House would have been boring if he said suddenly, "I have Doctor's block--I'm not treating the patient, because I'm stuck" and then the rest of the episode he goes on and on about it trying to get sympathy from other doctors and then it ends there.

Seriously. That would be the worst episode ever. Hey, at least the patient can die before they do the CG graphics of the diagnosis.

I used to get writer's block until I realized I was whining and making excuses. Last time I stopped writing for a week was because I was whining about how I had to do rewrites and really, it was an excuse to procrastinate on doing the part of writing I don't like much. What snapped me out of it? I confessed it to a friend who'd been helping me on the novel--doing research and then she scolded me for quitting before there were readable pages. ^_^ (I knew I was whining too... and I knew it wasn't writer's block, because I treat that as a myth).

Just up and admit it--when you write you write to defeat yourself. And the best way to work through that it to actually work through it. It's a psychological battle to defeat yourself every single time.

That and you're allowed to suck. Anything you write is not a waste of time. The more you want to make a perfect picture of your novel, the less likely you are to write it. Because actually writing the novel--that will ruin it.

Mussulini wrote:
Writer's Block is a massive problem for everyone everywhere.
Not even for us writers only.
I tend to run into massive writer's blocks on my new story, considering it was an out-of-no-where sort of deal.
My other story was rather simple to write for, since I already had a location and knew what it looked like. I also already knew what all the main characters looked, acted, and felt like.
I think the main problem is that I have to imagine an entire world for my new book.
My last book already had a premade world, a premade destination, and a premade ending. Only thing I had to really do to it was give everyone a voice and write it out on paper. Come to think of it, my last book was a little too easy. Maybe that's why I moved onto my current book?

My problem isn't being unable to write in general. But even on here, I have a hard time getting the concepts in my head into words that are even a reasonable facsimile to what I'm imagining. If I were better at drawing, I'd draw this out an it would be much quicker. But since I'm good at the technical aspects of writing, I figure if I want this story OUT, I'll have to write it. But lately, even finding words to describe simple things is difficult.

I've had writer's block for three years. Basically since I finished my first novel. Which I started in Nano 2008, and didn't finish until mid 2009. I spent a year editing it, and my inner editor killed my creative spark.

I'm trying out the write something every day strategy, and it worked well last week, I actually got a couple scenes and some brainstorming down for a new idea. But it's overtime at work right now, and sitting in front of a computer after spending 13 hours in front of one all day just isn't working for me. I think I need it to stop raining, and I'll take a spiral notebook out to the park, and things will work a bit better...

It's nice seeing what other people suggest. Maybe I'll go through my old unfinished projects, and restart something if my writer jet lag continues. It's not really a block for me right now, but more of a mental tiredness I need to get over.