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!

[rocky41_7]

Ugh, that is so frustrating. I'm impressed you found the time and energy to write in grad school--that's the struggle I'm having now!

I know my writer's block is worst when I'm not really inspired by anything. This may be because real life events are just taking up too much of my attention, or because I've gotten into a rut. Maybe try doing something outside the norm, like watching a movie or reading a book that's not your usual genres, or trying a new activity? That's helped me in the past.

I hope it clears up for you soon!

[singedsun]

Well for one, the last two years are enough to make it hard for anyone to have an easy time to be creative. Even if you don't feel it daily, the mental stress of the last two years is weighty and can make it hard to feel like really sitting down and writing (or other creative pursuits of choice).

That said if you really want to make it a practice, then don't think about having to sit down every day and write on the same story every single day. You don't even have to finish something. It's okay to just sit down and write, to write, regardless if it's on a project, something you throw in a drawer, or whatever. Personally I find the habit tracking aspect really frustrating for myself - the idea I need to write a certain number of days or a certain number of words every time. So my goal is just to write. Sometimes it's 10 words, sometimes it's 100 or 1000 but sometimes it's 0 and that's okay too. I find those days when I sat down and wrote like 10k in a weekend were more hyperfixations than actual practice. Those words weren't good and I lacked the ability to edit them... but it did feel good to have so much written. Which is why at least to me it feels hard when 10 words is hard to come by. But these days I also have a healthier view of my mental and emotional wellbeing, so why beat myself up over 100 words that feel like pulling teeth?

For me, a mix of types of writing feels easiest (some blogging or personal writing, some fiction/fan-fiction, some poetry... or a mix of stories/genres, so I always have something to switch out to if I know that I want to write but won't be able to focus on a specific thing). And sometimes it's just chasing the dopamine muse - writing 500 words of something new that I'll never finish or never pick up again (probably). It's writing, it's creative and it help keeps up the habit.

And if you struggle for things to write about on those off-days, I recommend keeping up various prompt lists (titles/words/themes) so you can always look over a variety of prompts to see if something sticks out in particular.