Writing Frustrations

[kiranwearsscienceblues]

Bah, writing has been such a mess for me this past year and it's driving me insane. When I was in grad school, I managed to write more than 120K of fic in a year, even while working on my dissertation -- but now that I'm out of academia (hell, currently unemployed), with much more reasonable hours and more free time? No siree, can't write at all. I think I probably wrote maximum 500 words all of 2021, and I'm getting pretty close to two years of just no writing. I've never had a block this bad; before, even if I wasn't in a writing swing, I would still write a oneshot every few months.

Not sure what to do at this point. I gave it time, to see if the inspiration would come back on its own. I've tried to push through the block and just write, but to no avail. Even when I do get my daily 500 down, I lose the thread the next day and can't seem to finish even a one-shot. I definitely need to find the inspiration again, but I'm not sure how. I'm sure the insomnia isn't helping much, but my insomnia is getting marginally better (although I say this on three hours of sleep), and the writing isn't coming back.

Anybody have any tips about breaking out of a bad writers block? 

Comments

[vegetablearian]

I'm sorry to hear about your struggles. I had really bad writers block a few years ago, and I didn't really remember until I read your post, but it coincided with terrible insomnia for me, too. I'm not sure how or why they'd go hand in hand. Maybe it's the exhaustion? In any case, I just wanted to say that it got better by itself for me, though it was very frustrating whilst it lasted.

The only thing that helped me (that wasn't something generic that helped the insomnia too) was to plan a story. It wasn't easy often and it didn't always work but it got my brain into a writing mode, and made it just that little bit more paint-by-numbers, which really helped when I was struggling. (And, of course things are difficult on three hours sleep, you know?)

On the one hand I really hate to say that maybe the years you've given it to resolve by itself isn't enough, but on the other I just wanted to reassure you that it can and will come back even after a terrible block like this. I hope your insomnia keeps getting better, too, and soon!

[kiranwearsscienceblues]

I'm glad your block and insomnia got better! And yeah, insomnia is just not a friend of creativity, even on the days I feel like I got at least enough sleep to not be a zombie.

You're probably right about just giving it time. And, if I'm being honest, the fact that it's frustrating me again is a good sign -- there's that itch to be creative at last, but not enough creative energy coming to do much. (And my insomnia HAS been getting better, so that is, again, probably correlated.) But letting myself try new directions might help see what does come!

Thanks again for your support!

[vegetablearian]

I think you're right, it's a good sign! I'm crossing my fingers for you, too.