Cure for writers block

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Originally Posted by Theglasshouse

I have a guide on journaling. I reckon I will give it a try. It's by tristine rainer. How do you personally approach it? For example you can list what gives you joy and happiness when experienced, things that irritate you, table of contents autobiography (she has a section on writing memories such as a diary), list of beliefs I once had, beliefs I no longer have, to do list, upset list, things I am afraid off, things desired that make you genuinely happy, lists of virtues and flaws (based on ben franklin's puritan values) and how you cope with each (I assume she wants a writer to write how others cope with it, example Benjamin Franklin did it in one of his important books and autobiography sort of like a spiritual guide, example practice honesty), transgressions, failings. There is more and I haven't been close to finishing the book. Lists is the easiest of them to apply. She gives examples.

BTW I dont own the kindle version but it got released and revised due to co-vid 19 according to the author and right now it costs 1 dollar. I'll try to order the digital version tonight. But I own the physical copy already. I haven't gotten serious into studying it. Dsylexia can make it more difficult to concentrate as does my sickness and on top of that attention deficit disorder.

This was has been a favorite of many so-called honest reviewers on goodread.

One kind of journaling is also description. There's more obviously and I need to keep reading but that is a very short summary of some contents. Admittedly, the journaling of description was when you could travel safely to anywhere doing things without coronavirus being a problem.

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I just write stream of consciousness, as if I'm writing a letter to myself. It's not hard, so there's no need to study up on how to do it.
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My wife heated up a can of beef stew for dinner last night - it was pretty good, except for the cooked carrots in it. Damn they're gross, slimy and crunchy all in one nasty bite. Of course I ate it without comment, but she saw that I picked the carrots out; she knows my dislikes and stayed mostly quiet.

I rode my Indian Springfield out on US24 today - over Wilkerson Pass. Damn, it was cold. Temp meter on the bike said it was 33 degrees out - I've ridden through colder weather, 50 miles through 24 degree weather last December - that HA toy run, it was a blast, but damn it was cold. Anyway, why do they put thermometers on motorcycles anyway? We're outside so we already know whether it's hot or cold.
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For me, just getting the words to flow out of me is enough to break out of a slump.

Try it, maybe it will work for you. Or not. Could be meat, could be cake... or some kind of meat-cake.

@idianaroads: Yes I will use a diary/journal. I finally found a book that explains plot, character, and dairy/journal all in one. I will use a dairy/journal approach when I write my work next time. The book and author explains it well. Goal for instance which I misconceived can be taken from a real life account of someone. That determines the status quo as well. That is the real life account. The guide I mentioned before this post is for memoirists. This is one is for storytellers. For example a cousin lost some money when my grandfather died that needed to buy a car which he told him to keep for him inside a vault. Some ways to do this in my case or getting the car could be: pretending to be sick, marrying a rich woman, becoming a hitman (just an example). I like your approach to fight writer's block. The book even mentions writer's block. That's a plot right there in what I wrote. I will try to get it as soon as possible since I am very eager to use it.

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Originally Posted by Theglasshouse

@idianaroads: Yes I will use a diary/journal. I finally found a book that explains plot, character, and dairy/journal all in one. I will use a dairy/journal approach when I write my work next time. The book and author explains it well. Goal for instance which I misconceived can be taken from a real life account of someone. That determines the status quo as well. That is the real life account. The guide I mentioned before this post is for memoirists. This is one is for storytellers. For example a cousin lost some money when my grandfather died that needed to buy a car which he told him to keep for him inside a vault. Some ways to do this in my case or getting the car could be: pretending to be sick, marrying a rich woman, becoming a hitman (just an example). I like your approach to fight writer's block. The book even mentions writer's block. That's a plot right there in what I wrote. I will try to get it as soon as possible since I am very eager to use it.

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That's the beauty of art, we each find our own path - usually by walking it.

Here's a follow-up post. (the book on journaling costs 1 dollar on kindle and I bought it today)

I am trying to read more(the new diary: how to use a journal for self guidance and creativity). I bought the book on journaling I owned as a physical edition for kindle. I am reading it slowly with text to speech. I only got through one chapter. I bought a second book that I read a chapter in this same way. These books are quite long. I don't think I will be wasting my time. However, it seems I will be posting a bit less since I have been taking the time to read these both. Both were bought after 6:00 p.m. in the afternoon. (turns out the diary is just one of the many devices people use as a technique and which ones become your favorite is the one you should use.)

Also, it turns out the book I found that I thought explained storytelling and plot in the same book doesn't exist. It doesn't have a lot of information on journaling. The first book mentioned above is a journaling course for novelists (and other sorts of users, such as a mother or anyone who wants to write but for different purposes)according to the introduction. It turns out there is no standard way of journaling since there are four people that popularized journaling in the 20th century. Among these we have Nin Anias, Progoff, Marion Milner, and Carl jung (psychology purposes). Since she adopts Nin Anais's approach is the one I will be using the most. But she takes a bit explaining all this in the first chapter. She says in her own way identifying emotions is why people journal. Such as these emotions which is a small list compared to the original list in the book: hopes, fears, and dreams. Which is what you want your character to have. You want the character to convey the fictional experience you yourself personified in that story character.

I will force myself through some books I own I don't like tomorrow. So I guess I am studying to make sure I can mine experience from real life and turn these memories into stories hopefully. In addition to reading novels I lost my attention for I will want to read these so see what people liked from these. If I hate it then I could always create a log of what I liked and didn't like. Here are some questions: What I liked the most and why? What one element of the book gave you the most pleasure? What question did the book ask and answer?

The second book I am reading is on how to write young adult books. I won't make a summary here other than it's rated favorably on good reads, and so I am giving it a chance. I got those above 4 questions from that book.

It touches upon not writing for publication. But writing for anything but that since not everyone gets published. I might make these posts on journaling a series since I am trying to learn the material (maybe for this thread labeled cure for writer's block).

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Originally Posted by indianroads

For me, just getting the words to flow out of me is enough to break out of a slump.

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I'm doing a bit of that right now. I know in general what my MCs next macro action is, but the details aren't popping into my head yet. So I've just been writing anything that advances his preparation, without really getting to the action.

One of my tricks is to throw in a monkey wrench. The MC and a support character have arrived in a city to confront some bad guys. He's on the elevator up to their room. There's nothing exciting about that, and I'm still not ready to bring in the bad guys. They're in a real city where there is always a real danger of being mugged. So on the way to the room he's ambushed. Now I get to write 1500-2000 words about the ambush, finding out if the ambushers are garden variety muggers or if the bad guys already know the MC is there, discovering the guide they hired organized the ambush, finding a new guide. I get a good chunk of a chapter for free, complete with action and mystery.

I don't have a chapter by chapter outline for this book. I only did that once, to complete my first book when I was 12 chapters in and got absolutely stuck. For my WIP, I wrote a three page synopsis after I was three chapters in. My major action in the last chapter was also ad hoc, but it was in the vein of the way the story is supposed to progress. This ambush was purely an invention to preserve momentum.

Then I stubbed my toe last night. Literally. I stepped too wide on my way to the kitchen and caught two toes on the leg of the coffee table. They're still sore today. I looked down at my wife and said, "That's going in the book" ... which got me a "you're strange" look in response. So my MC stubs his toe on a chair and says (I'm in first person), "Is this the hero's journey? You start out the day with stubbed toes, limping, and hopping?" I hope it's amusing. I got a chuckle out of it. ;-) At the very least, it stopped me cussing at my sore toes.

So, if I'm stuck, I invent some random problem and solve it. You don't have to think too deeply to find a random problem. Write about their breakfast (I did that too). If, on the first revision, I find it distracting or boring, I can always nuke it. In the meantime, I kept writing, and some or all of that will be good enough to keep.

UPDATE:

Well, I crept on the scene in question. Crept ... up. I finally got to the point where the good guys and the bad guys were both in the same place. Something really had to happen in the next paragraph. I even introduced my mental state into the story:

"The time for action loomed. I equivocate by saying 'loomed'. It was now. Sam and I had never really agreed on the 'now'. The need for action gripped me. I slammed down on the latch to my locker with a clank. It stuck."

(The 'good guys' were hiding in full length lockers in a place the 'bad guys' were going to show up.).

However, I wrote that paragraph, decamped for a new finger of brandy and to 'powder my nose'. No, I don't really powder my nose, or anything else. I returned to the keyboard. On my brief walkabout, the next action popped into my head and I got on a roll. Thank goodness. I've been fretting that scene for days now!

For me, I just had to write. I just had to push myself. Even if I thought it sucked.

Even if it was just a paragraph, it was a start. I could then start spinning off that paragraph in to more ideas, and before I knew it, the block was gone. I actually find the middle part to be toughest, I got stuck sometimes in my story thinking about how best to take this.

Really great idea. I got stuck at 40K and decided to use Billie Eilish, Ocean Eyes. It worked! I start every writing day listening to it for a couple minutes. Thanks!!

Music is always a great cure

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Originally Posted by Taylor

Really great idea. I got stuck at 40K and decided to use Billie Eilish, Ocean Eyes. It worked! I start every writing day listening to it for a couple minutes. Thanks!!

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Those Ambient music playlists help me. Especially the Horror ones. It can get you in to a vibe and then you'll be writing before you know it. Setting the scene is so important sometimes whilst writing.

Watching a movie also really helps. I'm one of those people that loves to think a lot about movies after watching them. Just a piece of dialogue or a scene can really give me an idea or two.