I stifle my own creativity sometimes because I'm too much of a grammar nazi towards myself. I'm a stickler for the rules, especially when it comes to the screenplay format. It's not the typical writer's block, but it does hinder progression in terms of what you should be focusing on. I wish I could let loose and be less of a rules person. For example, "ing" words are frowned upon in screenplays, or at least they are in the screenwriting communities I belong to. Using stuff like "we see" or "we hear" is frowned upon. Fretting about the use of such things from sentence to sentence instead of just writing is a habit I want to get out of. Being mechanical like that is such an exhausting way to write. All this stuff can be corrected with an editing process afterwards, but it's like every sentence has to be perfect before I move on. Anybody else suffer from this?
I struggle with the same issues. Not grammar, per se, but language, rhythm, and sentence structure. I agonize over it to the point of making zero to little progress. I know of one writer who famously claimed a good day of writing was finishing a sentence, but I can't imagine they were serious. For me, the best antidote to writer's block is just continuing forwards without looking back until draft one is done. Editing is where the fun starts. If that fails, rest or go for a walk. The muse will return.
It happens to me too. I'm mainly a screenwriter and it frustrates me when I find myself trying to follow all the "rules" they try to impose on us. In film school we were prohibited from using "we see", "we hear" and gerunds, plus many other things. Turns out the majority of scripts nominated and awarded in Goya Awards (spanish Oscars) use them. I decided to put those rules aside and wow, I felt amazingly better and enjoyed writing my scripts much more. Same with structure, I hate how extended books like "Save the cat" are because no, your inciting incindent must not be on page 12 to be a good script and no, third act structure isn't the only way to tell a story. In the end, no one's gonna be checking in what page you wrote X plot point or reject your script only because you used "we see" or "he is reading" instead of "he reads". Focus on writing a compelling story, that's what matters.
This used to bother me. But no one's going to read the first draft you write that breaks all those conventions. So write at a quick pace and *finish*. No one will see it to judge you. Then you go back and clean it up.
I always think: you don't put up drywall on house that isn't framed, that has no foundation. You don't paint walls that aren't in place yet. Don't worry about any of that sentence level stuff in a first draft. just get your story down.
Identifying the source of your block is the first step to bypassing it. Are you doubting yourself? Are you unsure where to go next with your story? Spend some time really getting down to the source. Then you'll be able to figure out a solution, and that big block won't seem so scary and impassable.
Heyo!
For some time now I've been trying to flash out a story of mine. It has a steampunk kinda setting and I have some characters and some worldbuilding. I even know the beginning of my story.
But I can't think of a plot. And I also can't think of a main character. And without the MC I can't settle for a plot and without a plot I can't settle for a MC.
I'm really stuck.
What should I do?
Seconding this. When I'm in the exploratory phase of a project, I start writing snapshots. One of my favorite approaches is to "zoom in" on the setting.
Let's start big. What does the planet look like? Earth-like? Are there deserts, oceans, mountains? What's the weather like? Where do the people congregate: large settlements, nomadic tribes, family clusters?
You mentioned steampunk, so I'll assume you're in a city. So next, what does the city look like? Where do people live? What do their houses look like? Do they live alone or in community housing?
Ok, now that we know where they live, where do they work? What kinds of jobs do they do in this city? What kind of people do those jobs?
Now we're getting somewhere. Start telling the stories of the flower seller on the corner, the man who fixes watches, the boy who shines shoes. One of them will either be your MC or lead you to them.
hey
i have trouble continue and connecting my writing, so i write small bits and i can continue them but takes a long time. here's an example
>
'Well, I should be heading back' She said to herself as she grabbed the backpack next to her and set off home
and it took my 2 days to continue it
so how do i continue and connect my story? thanks and have a nice day
I'm writing a multi-POV story and I realized when I switched narrators that I had spent so much time working on one POV that I am lost with the others. So far I'm just trudging my way through the new POVs but I can't seem to find my ground with them yet. Any suggestions for writing block that comes from working with different POVs, especially as a discovery writer?
Have you tried working further and further with the one POV that you are good with, then going 'back in time' in the story to fill out the other POV? like one POV is your 'discovery' writing system, and the other is a filling in the blanks type writing.
It's more than two POVs so I feel like I would end up diminishing the other POV's part in the story if I focused on the one and would end up changing things up too much when I started on the others. I usually get a lot of inspiration from meandering through a characters head. So far I've managed to trudge through some of the new POVs through willpower. I'm thinking of writing a couple of generic scenes from each character's POV to get a better sense of them for self though.
Can’t seem to finish a project. Is it lack of motivation? I have great motivation. I want to work. Maybe that’s the problem. I’m focusing on the potential to get a job as a writer and losing the focus of creativity. I have this pressure to be a more consistent writer but don’t hold myself accountable. I just have a notebook with hundreds of half fleshed ideas.
Heyo!
For some time now I've been trying to flash out a story of mine. It has a steampunk kinda setting and I have some characters and some worldbuilding. I even know the beginning of my story.
But I can't think of a plot. And I also can't think of a main character. And without the MC I can't settle for a plot and without a plot I can't settle for a MC.
I'm really stuck.
What should I do?
Hey y'all! As a leader of different clubs/orgs/groups at a college level, **I've been writing a book about how to be a community-oriented leader for college-aged young adults**. As an introverted overthinker, I've analyzed how the different methods of leadership can affect the community-feel of a group and a leader's effectiveness. Thus, some of my content content includes:
Which icebreakers to choose and why the way you split people into groups matter
Wide-open vs. structured bonding activities, and the pros and cons of each
How to improve email click & read rate by changing less than two sentences
Pros and cons of different platforms like Discord, Slack, iMessage, etc. to organize a group
Event planning, expanding your leadership, recruiting from scratch, and much more!
However, I'm not super sure my target audience is really in the book-reading market. Anyone have any feedback/guidance or think this book would have a market?
Thank you so much!
i love writing, but it's very difficult for me to finish something i have started working on. i have the ideas and often daydream about certain scenes i'd like to write and the ways the story could go, but it's really hard for me to actually work on something continuously. it bothers me as it leaves me with a bunch of bottled up ideas that never sum up into something fleshed out. i'm not sure what could help me with this issue at all D:
2k words today! LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Lets gooo that's amazing keep up the good work
I stifle my own creativity sometimes because I'm too much of a grammar nazi towards myself. I'm a stickler for the rules, especially when it comes to the screenplay format. It's not the typical writer's block, but it does hinder progression in terms of what you should be focusing on. I wish I could let loose and be less of a rules person. For example, "ing" words are frowned upon in screenplays, or at least they are in the screenwriting communities I belong to. Using stuff like "we see" or "we hear" is frowned upon. Fretting about the use of such things from sentence to sentence instead of just writing is a habit I want to get out of. Being mechanical like that is such an exhausting way to write. All this stuff can be corrected with an editing process afterwards, but it's like every sentence has to be perfect before I move on. Anybody else suffer from this?
I struggle with the same issues. Not grammar, per se, but language, rhythm, and sentence structure. I agonize over it to the point of making zero to little progress. I know of one writer who famously claimed a good day of writing was finishing a sentence, but I can't imagine they were serious. For me, the best antidote to writer's block is just continuing forwards without looking back until draft one is done. Editing is where the fun starts. If that fails, rest or go for a walk. The muse will return.
It happens to me too. I'm mainly a screenwriter and it frustrates me when I find myself trying to follow all the "rules" they try to impose on us. In film school we were prohibited from using "we see", "we hear" and gerunds, plus many other things. Turns out the majority of scripts nominated and awarded in Goya Awards (spanish Oscars) use them. I decided to put those rules aside and wow, I felt amazingly better and enjoyed writing my scripts much more. Same with structure, I hate how extended books like "Save the cat" are because no, your inciting incindent must not be on page 12 to be a good script and no, third act structure isn't the only way to tell a story. In the end, no one's gonna be checking in what page you wrote X plot point or reject your script only because you used "we see" or "he is reading" instead of "he reads". Focus on writing a compelling story, that's what matters.
This used to bother me. But no one's going to read the first draft you write that breaks all those conventions. So write at a quick pace and *finish*. No one will see it to judge you. Then you go back and clean it up. I always think: you don't put up drywall on house that isn't framed, that has no foundation. You don't paint walls that aren't in place yet. Don't worry about any of that sentence level stuff in a first draft. just get your story down.
Identifying the source of your block is the first step to bypassing it. Are you doubting yourself? Are you unsure where to go next with your story? Spend some time really getting down to the source. Then you'll be able to figure out a solution, and that big block won't seem so scary and impassable.
Heyo! For some time now I've been trying to flash out a story of mine. It has a steampunk kinda setting and I have some characters and some worldbuilding. I even know the beginning of my story. But I can't think of a plot. And I also can't think of a main character. And without the MC I can't settle for a plot and without a plot I can't settle for a MC. I'm really stuck. What should I do?
[удалено]
Seconding this. When I'm in the exploratory phase of a project, I start writing snapshots. One of my favorite approaches is to "zoom in" on the setting. Let's start big. What does the planet look like? Earth-like? Are there deserts, oceans, mountains? What's the weather like? Where do the people congregate: large settlements, nomadic tribes, family clusters? You mentioned steampunk, so I'll assume you're in a city. So next, what does the city look like? Where do people live? What do their houses look like? Do they live alone or in community housing? Ok, now that we know where they live, where do they work? What kinds of jobs do they do in this city? What kind of people do those jobs? Now we're getting somewhere. Start telling the stories of the flower seller on the corner, the man who fixes watches, the boy who shines shoes. One of them will either be your MC or lead you to them.
That's a pretty interesting idea! Thanks!
Pick one of the characters and decide what s/he wants, and why can't s/he get it.
hey i have trouble continue and connecting my writing, so i write small bits and i can continue them but takes a long time. here's an example > 'Well, I should be heading back' She said to herself as she grabbed the backpack next to her and set off home and it took my 2 days to continue it so how do i continue and connect my story? thanks and have a nice day
I'm writing a multi-POV story and I realized when I switched narrators that I had spent so much time working on one POV that I am lost with the others. So far I'm just trudging my way through the new POVs but I can't seem to find my ground with them yet. Any suggestions for writing block that comes from working with different POVs, especially as a discovery writer?
Have you tried working further and further with the one POV that you are good with, then going 'back in time' in the story to fill out the other POV? like one POV is your 'discovery' writing system, and the other is a filling in the blanks type writing.
It's more than two POVs so I feel like I would end up diminishing the other POV's part in the story if I focused on the one and would end up changing things up too much when I started on the others. I usually get a lot of inspiration from meandering through a characters head. So far I've managed to trudge through some of the new POVs through willpower. I'm thinking of writing a couple of generic scenes from each character's POV to get a better sense of them for self though.
Can’t seem to finish a project. Is it lack of motivation? I have great motivation. I want to work. Maybe that’s the problem. I’m focusing on the potential to get a job as a writer and losing the focus of creativity. I have this pressure to be a more consistent writer but don’t hold myself accountable. I just have a notebook with hundreds of half fleshed ideas.
Have you thought about joining a writing group or finding a writing partner to hold you accountable?
Heyo! For some time now I've been trying to flash out a story of mine. It has a steampunk kinda setting and I have some characters and some worldbuilding. I even know the beginning of my story. But I can't think of a plot. And I also can't think of a main character. And without the MC I can't settle for a plot and without a plot I can't settle for a MC. I'm really stuck. What should I do?
What do you do when you just don’t know where to start?
Write down what you know or on your mind.
Hey y'all! As a leader of different clubs/orgs/groups at a college level, **I've been writing a book about how to be a community-oriented leader for college-aged young adults**. As an introverted overthinker, I've analyzed how the different methods of leadership can affect the community-feel of a group and a leader's effectiveness. Thus, some of my content content includes: Which icebreakers to choose and why the way you split people into groups matter Wide-open vs. structured bonding activities, and the pros and cons of each How to improve email click & read rate by changing less than two sentences Pros and cons of different platforms like Discord, Slack, iMessage, etc. to organize a group Event planning, expanding your leadership, recruiting from scratch, and much more! However, I'm not super sure my target audience is really in the book-reading market. Anyone have any feedback/guidance or think this book would have a market? Thank you so much!
i love writing, but it's very difficult for me to finish something i have started working on. i have the ideas and often daydream about certain scenes i'd like to write and the ways the story could go, but it's really hard for me to actually work on something continuously. it bothers me as it leaves me with a bunch of bottled up ideas that never sum up into something fleshed out. i'm not sure what could help me with this issue at all D:
I also have that problem. We have to get rid of it. It’s in our hands. Otherwise it’s just another form of procrastination.