J asks,
Why don’t you do writing posts anymore?
I think most of us go through stages in our professional life. It’s a little cycle that goes likes this: I learn things -> I know things -> I need to explain things I learned, because they’re awesome ->Wait a minute, I don’t actually know anything ->I learn things.
I’m at the point where I’m back to the learning stage and I don’t feel pressure to share what I know, because my knowledge is subjective and my tricks of the trade work for me, but they may not necessarily work for anyone else. If you ask me a specific question, I will answer to the best of my ability, but again my answer may not work for you.
M writes,
What do you do when you’re feeling creatively empty? Not necessarily writer’s block, but just lacking inspiration completely?
And here comes a specific question. 
Warning: read at your own risk. You may not like the answer.
The question to ask yourself is why do you feel the pressure to write?
For some people, it’s something they must do. Writing, like most creative pursuits, is addictive. When a writer is telling a story, he or she are almost like a locomotive on the rails. Sometimes it’s fast and furious, sometimes it’s slow and plodding, and sometimes the locomotive stops for a while. But the goal is always there, just beyond the horizon. It draws you in; it beckons. That’s why stopping is so annoying. When the train stops due to a writing block, the inability to produce eats at you. You become listless and irritable. You sit and stare at the page, and you’re annoyed because nothing is happening.
Occasionally the creative train derails. The locomotive flies off the tracks into the bushes. Sometimes it explodes and sometimes it just lays there in a crumpled heap. That’s when inability to write turns into hate for writing and books in general. It’s a painful thing to experience and to watch. Creative crashes aren’t fun for anyone, whether they happen to you, your spouse, or your friend.
But for some people, writing is just a hobby. They don’t feel the compulsion. They think it’s cool and the like the idea of being a writer. Or they simply have less of a pull and are able to walk away from it easily. I like to knit. I don’t feel the need to knit all the time. It strikes me once in a while and I can leave it alone for weeks.
Not that long after we started trying to get published, I was hanging out on one of writer boards and this woman posted a question. It went something like this, “What do you think a good genre would be for me to write in? Also what kind of story should I write? Like what kind of characters and what they should do? I want to be a writer.”
I, being a smartass, replied, “Why do you want to write, if you don’t have anything to say?”
Mean, but true.
So the problem here is, are you a locomotive or are you a casual knitter? Does the inability to write interfere with your quality of life? If it doesn’t, then no need to stress. It will return on its own. If it does, and you need a fix right now, I have one, but apply it at your own risk because it may make you miserable in the immediate future. It doesn’t work one hundred percent of the time either, so your mileage might vary.
I assume you’ve already tried the writing block fixes.
We, the human beings, are emotion junkies. We read for that emotion: we wants to experience a wide range of it, from suffering to triumph. Writing is a response to life and the writing locomotive runs on emotion of the writer. That’s our fuel. In a sense, we vent our emotion on the page, and the readers live it through our writing. When a writer becomes emotionally flat, the inspiration vanishes and the locomotive derails.
Yes, I’ve beaten the metaphor into the ground, leave me alone.
The key to getting unstuck is finding something you feel strongly about. You need two things: brain food and a trigger. Do not do this if you are severely depressed or have suicidal tendencies. This is a last resort fix and by clicking the Unstuck button below, you agree to absolve me of any responsibility for the consequences of your emotional distress.
[spoiler title="I need to be unstuck" open="0" style="1"]
A writer must nourish his mind, because if nothing goes in, nothing will come out. That nourishment can come in form of books, but it doesn’t have to. One can also draw nourishment from movies and especially art. Here is a link to Wallpaper Abyss, one of the largest collection of SF/F wallpapers on the web.
So here is the trick. Go to this website, and think about the time in your life when you were wronged. Not just unhappy – unhappy doesn’t work for us, because humans love to wallow in our misery. No, I mean a time when someone did something to you that was nasty and unfair. Something that made you want to respond. It might have been a year ago, when your boss screamed at you over something that wasn’t you fault. It might have been in the seventh grade when Megan told the guy you like that you said he was stupid and then dated him when you broke up. Find that moment of righteous anger. Remember it in detail. Let yourself re-experience those emotions. Acute embarrassment. That terrible helpless feeling. Anger.
Now hold on to that feeling and start flipping through the papers on Abyss. If one of them pulls at you, look at it for as long as you need to. Keep holding on to that pissed off feeling. You want to get revenge, don’t you? You want justice, because what was done to you is wrong.
Keep looking at the wallpaper. Even if you’re not actually thinking of anything specific that is in that image, as long as it evokes some sort of response, you’re on the right track. Keep looking and keep seething in your emotion.
We don’t like to be under stress. If you trap your mind in the state of emotional distress, it will do its best to get out of it. It will either present you with a scenario for revenge or it will try to escape into the fantasy la-la land by presenting a fun storyline to distract you from your misery. Either way, you will become unstuck.
When you recognize that first inkling of the story, it is very important that you do not write it. Keep thinking about it for a week or two. Roll it around in your mind. Do not write. Writing too soon will relieve the pressure. You need enough emotional involvement to finish the story. Start writing when the story has eaten your brain. If you start defaulting to thinking about it every moment you don’t have to think of something else, you’re at the right spot. Good luck.
[/spoiler]
You just popped up in my reader and I can’t miss the chance to post a response first. Especially after that tweet!
Shannonannon recently posted..Thirteen Days
I had somewhat scary visions of a bunch of people trying to relive their worst moments while staring at the wallpapers.
I like the new background actually. I may be biased though as purple is my favorite color! I like that you have all the books on there too.
I agree. The new look is pretty and well-arranged. And I love the avatars. ^.^
Emotional fuel actually works for many other things, too. Like getting the motivation to study or giving your best in a tedious job even though nobody cares… bad thing is, sometimes it backfires. But thanks to the developers, we have games for that.
“Why do you want to write, if you don’t have anything to say?” – Lol! Too funny. And frankly, if she doesn’t have anything to say, I would prefer that she NOT write.
RebeLovesBooks recently posted..Catching Up On Series
Well, that makes perfect sense. Thank you.
I had to leave a comment since I saw your tweet. I love the wallpaper so no worries there. It’s an interesting question why I write. I started a book back in November, wrote about 35,000 words and then nothing. It was one I told myself I should write rather than one that told me to write. I set it aside and worked on edits on a previous book, thinking that it was just my brain needing a break. Instead a new book is in my head demanding to be written. I’m dreaming it. I need to work on it every day. I may end up going back to the November book but for now I have a need to write the one in my head. I’m afraid of what will happen if one day I don’t have a book that demands to be written but for now I’m just thankful for being unstuck.
I really like this – it helps to explain why I can’t write in certain situations.
For instance, Work is stressful and insane and I’m thinking about *work* every minute of the day. That doesn’t leave room for story.
Now, if I can convert some of the anger/stress/emotion of the situations at work into something for my story, I might have something there.
suelder recently posted..Software Review: Scrivener
I agree with the angst portion of this – I tend to write more when I’m upset or have extreme feelings built up. Of course, mine tends to gear towards poetry and prose, and I’m not saying that the quality is good, but it gets the creative juices flowing.
Lately, been suffering from that a bit myself. Thanks for the idea. I think I’ll give it a try.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE wallpaper abyss, for the exact purpose of feeding ideas (I refer to it as breeding plotbunnies). And I will sometimes just skim through the pictures when I am trying to think through a scene.
Another thing I use to get unstuck is long drives, showers and video games.
Good post, thank you. And the site looks gorgeous.
Necia Phoenix recently posted..Links and thoughts
Couldn’t agree more with what you’ve said. So many times when people find out I write they say they’ve always wanted to write a book. When I ask them why they haven’t, they give me umpteen excuses about not having the time, not knowing what or how to write. They get very upset when I tell them they don’t really want to write they are just in love with the idea of writing a book. I then tell them that there is nothing stopping them from writing if they really want to.
Most excellent advice. Which I shall ignore at present as I’m finishing up on a book on horrendously unreal deadline and I dare not feed the brain with any other ideas. However, once that tale is done, I shall wander among the wallpapers and have one pick itself for the next book. Because often that’s exactly how it goes: image, story, characters nattering in my head. I write that story or I go crazy. I claim it’s a benign obsession. But given the power of words, I wonder just how benign.
Jana recently posted..Of the Fourth Book
My locomotive is languishing in the shrubbery. It seems like all I’m doing these days is working and working out. My own fault, my own choices, but my creativity is paying the price. I open my WIP, read part of it, think this isn’t (entirely) crap, and then have no words to add. Bleh.
I ran ten miles on Saturday and it wiped me out. My brain is still a pile of goo. But overall I’m happy with where I am, because I never, ever thought I’d be able (or have the desire) to run 13.1 miles. Hell, I didn’t even think I’d ever *walk* that far. I might be crazy.
Love the new look, pretty. : ) I don’t write stories , I don’t have anything to say, yet. LOL
Thanks for the words, you always brighten my day.
I am a reader but I do enjoy these blog posts. Am off to stare, angrily at SF Wallpaper! Who knows? Lol!
I’m not stuck, just curious, but I fear looking at the wallpaper. It will suck me in, I know it. So I’ve bookmarked this. O.o Now I have to get on my locomotive. I have people to kill.
Shiloh Walker recently posted..Coming soon…
I’m glad I’m a reader not a writer.
Very happy to be a reader…esp. after I read all the writers blogs!
“The question to ask yourself is why do you feel the pressure to write?
For some people, it’s something they must do. Writing, like most creative pursuits, is addictive. When a writer is telling a story, he or she are almost like a locomotive on the rails. Sometimes it’s fast and furious, sometimes it’s slow and plodding, and sometimes the locomotive stops for a while. But the goal is always there, just beyond the horizon. It draws you in; it beckons. That’s why stopping is so annoying. When the train stops due to a writing block, the inability to produce eats at you. You become listless and irritable. You sit and stare at the page, and you’re annoyed because nothing is happening.”
OMG YES THANK YOU. I am about 12-15K from the end of my first novel. I’m also a stay-at-home mom with a 3-year old, and 5-6 weeks away from birthing my second. Stuff comes up, like a sick kid, a sick me, or 15 doctors’ appointments per week to make sure the fetus – and, occasionally, myself – are doing OK.
Personally, I like to think that when a day goes by that I didn’t put in at least 500 words or so, I get dainty and cute and loveable. But my husband MAY tell you I get cranky and whiny and self-loathing. He says tomAYto, etc.
Meredith L. recently posted..A Brief History of Pregnancy
Wow…kinda makes me glad that I’m not a writer! I think I will stick to being an obsessive reader instead! I hope this doesn’t happen too often!
Just wanted to say I love you guys and your work. I love that you come and write on your blog and have the forums available for question-asking and actually answer questions there. It has not been a good week at all, and even though this isn’t the type of post that usually makes me brighten up because of the humor found within it, this made me feel better. Thank you
I’ve put Wallpaper Abyss on my favorites – thanks! No worries, I completely absolve you of any despondancy or rage I might feel when I think on the images too much.
I love your final bit of advice, to let the ideas fester until you have to get them out of your head or nothing else will fit in there.
kindle-aholic recently posted..Recent Reviews
Superb. I love nothing more than a good story and would love to be able to come up with my own and successfully put it down on paper (or a Word doc. as the case maybe) but any ideas I get are just snippets, I have yet to have any join up and create something noteworthy. I think part of my problem is my emotional stability (who knew that would be a bad thing?!), I’m not good at hanging on to bad feelings these days (teenage years are a whole other story) and my day to day life is pretty calm and, well, happy. For a long time now I have been thinking I need to really start caring about something, anything, again, in order to try and create a spark but I don’t know how to MAKE myself feel more. I will see what memories I can dredge up and try your exercise, thank you!
I’m not and never will be a writer but I found your post very interesting – Thank you.
Also thank you for the link to the wallpapers, some of those are absolutely gorgeous.
Hm… why would people be seething on this one?? I saw your tweet and had to come look… of course, now I equate Seething with my Sith Assassin… ::chuckle:: Turn red and get your health and Force back up! =)
Writing can be like that, but I don’t do it like you do… I get stories sometimes, sometimes it’s just scenes I have to get ‘right’ in my mind, and writing it out helps immensely. I think I have a scene with my Sage percolating in my head right now…
But first, some caffeine and sugar…
Marauders rule!
Ung! More delicious wallpapers! Browsing DeviantArt was bad enough…. darn you!
I see where Kate gets her psycological philosophy on how to deal with tragedy!
Any creative outlet, if you have truly committed yourself (or had yourself committed ha!), goes through slumps and rises. Art is a roller coaster. CREATION is a roller coaster. I can ask the better half about his day and he’ll explain the frustrations, the highs, the lows, the triumphs, the failures all in the same way an author describes writing a book. So does that make the human condition one big roller coaster? I hope not. I don’t have enough Dramamine.
“Start writing when the story has eaten your brain.” Best line ever and mighty fine advice. Thanks for all of that.
Miss Bliss recently posted..The Trade – Holiday Story 2011
Thou art wise and quite well-balanced. Either that or you’re doing an awesome job at pretending.
Wow – what a great post!
p.s my daughter is now oohing over some of the wallpapers, very cool!
Chantal Halpin recently posted..Poetry and Zombies….
You know, this is actually a really good idea for those who aren’t stuck with writers derailment. Sometimes I feel like I gloss over how I’m actually feeling until I have time to deal and then forget to go back and deal. Looking at these scenes and finding something to associate it with that is personal, but not something you personally know could be a really healthy outlet…
Is it wrong that your post made me smile? All of it. *snort* It was amazing advice, and I nodded my head the entire time. I’m guilty of putting down the words on paper too soon. I need to learn to mull things over longer… I had that realization not too long ago.
Off to stare at some wallpaper:)
I’m a reader. But I’ll go look at wallpaper because I like pretty pictures…
Take your time, but keep writing.
Wow… that is intense.
I’m off to have fun flipping through wallpapers. Thank you for the link. I don’t need it for inspiration though. I’m just a SF/F art junkie.
I really enjoyed reading this post, so much so I had to read the entire post out loud to my hubby. You crack me up!
I have the opposite problem of the one you solved in this post. Focus. Confidence. I have too many ideas hopping around in my brain like squirrels on caffeine. Just when I think I’ve corralled enough of them, I have a night of vivid dreams that breed more squirrels. Then my darn imagination feeds them Monsters. Combine that with my lack of education, poor self-esteem, and zero sense of confidence and you’ve got one big failure to accomplish anything. Every time I start writing, I get about 3-5 chapters in, decide it junk, toss it and start chasing more squirrels.
Got a fix for that?
I enjoy your blog and a couple of other authors. I love that you are real people with real day to day issues. I had never thought about the writing process so it is very intriguing to see how it is done. It certainly has changed my frustration with having to wait for the next book in the series. I will never be a writer it is just not my thing. But I have loved finding out how an author puts together the books that I love.
I hadn’t heard of the wallpaper trick but I have to say it makes a lot of sense! Thinking about how to get unstuck, and the thought process behind writing, I’ve been inspired to write a blog post of my own. So maybe even thinking about looking at wallpapers does the trick
Natalie Westgate recently posted..Wallpapers and Writing
Thank you for the great wallpaper resource. For those of us not in need of seething, there are some fantastic graphics to be found!
I guess my creative outlet was always music, not writing. I had plenty to say, but found ways to say it through finding the right song for the situation. You described why I like to read, though. The authors I like find ways to pull at the emotions inside of me and say something to me besides the typical happy ending (I don’t like books with sad endings). It’s interesting to look back at authors I have liked and see where I was and why I liked them at that time, and now look at who I like to read and what emotions they tend to set off in me.
Diverging here for a minute….
SQUEE!!!!!!!! (and I am not a squee type of person)
I was on Amazon and was able to pre-order GunMetal Magic!!!
SQUEEEE!!!!!
My creative outlet is cooking. I’ve been able to parlay it into a small catering side business that keeps me happy. BUT I’d love to be able to go to the Cordon Bleu or CIA, (Culinary Institute not spy central) or Toscana Saporita…
My roommate has been at a creative roadblock at the moment and it drives her crazy. She didn’t know what to do to get out of the slump she was in. So I got her started on some flash fiction places that I’ve been doing myself for a few weeks. It isn’t jumping into the deep end right away but it is getting her back into the pool.
Nellie recently posted..ROW80 Check in
Now I know why I could never write. My family and friends think because I read a bunch of books, I should try writing. IT DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY, I keep telling them. I could probably do short stories but a book, no way.
To me, authors are a gifted with something, not sure what, but they just are. My personality could never feel that strongly about anything for a long period of time. Having said that, my favorite authors’ works bring out that emotion in me and I’m very thankful to laugh, cry, yell or get pissed off at the characters they write.
That’s my way of saying thanks for writing the books I love to read!!
Dolly recently posted..Afterthought
Omigosh, this post totally made my day.
I have a lot of problems with creativity blocks, and every time it makes me really, really depressed and feeling like this is proof I’ll never be a REAL writer. So, it’s nice to see, not only that REAL writers (and my favoritest writers ever, to boot!) can sometimes get into slumps, too, and also that said REAL writers write awesomely awesome metaphors about how if creative slumps get a person depressed about not writing, this equates compulsion to write, which in my mind is the first step to becoming a REAL writer. (I don’t actually know how I define a person as being a REAL writer, but I figure that’s somewhat irrelevant…)
And holy cow, thanks for the intro to that site! I foresee many hours of drooling over beautiful artwork in my future… and hopefully getting inspirations for my current project (which, for once, actually IS going well. yay!)
You guys rock. And write awesomely awesome wonderfulness. (I have totally read each of the Kate books at least three times each, and Magic Strikes at least a dozen times. Surefire mood-cheerer, reading your prose! Thanks for being awesome. And writing. And publishing. And being awesome. Wait, I said that already…)
LilliCray recently posted..Unintended SRS BIZNESS? Head For the Hills!
I’m more the casual knitter type when it comes to writing. Usually the urge to write grabs me when I’m very frustrated, but not yet frustrated enough to wallis in self-pity. When I want to hit something rather than hide in my bed.
I write when I feel like it, so when I’m stuck, I just wait it out. Or if I need to write, I just sit my butt down and hit my mind against the blank page until words happen, which is a lot more painful.
I have the opposite problem, I must admit. Too many ideas. Not enough time to develop them all. Must write through contracted novel, but wanna go play… Thanks for the wallpaper website, but I think my word count might suffer today. So. Pretty…
Wish I had known this when I took that fiction class in college! I like writing, but coming up with things to write about… That was a problem. And now I realize why I came up with better ideas during my angsty teenager days :p
I start writing, think it’s awesome. Come back way later and relixe it’s crap. You guys are amazing and give great advice even to those of us who are creatively challenged.
Great advice as usual, thanks for sharing!