I've been in the process of writing a short story for my creative writing class for the past 3 weeks and now I'm fuckin stuck. BESIDES SMOKING WEED what are some other way you guys get around this? I have a bunch of angles I can take but none that scream out this is great and let my mind take off.
Get something down on paper.. Don't make it perfect right off the bat. Once you are done, spend time making changes to it to make it perfect. It's easier once you have SOMETHING to go off of.
Oh another thing I might add. When I write I NEVER REVISE (well hardly ever). I like to get things that flow from the start, you know get it right the first time, but shit I'll give anything a try....
hmm the method that seems to work for me is to first isolate myself for about a half hour. taking a shower covers that. During that time I try to think about the points I want to cover in that piece of writing. But I don't try to think about it too hard, sort of like seeing movement out of the corner of your eye. If you look at it directly, you might not see it. I keep the fuzzy image in my head, but I don't give it any words until I start on the paper. That might be really hard for someone who is very verbal, but for someone like me who thinks and communicates in images normally, its second nature. If its non fiction, I'll write down the talking points to make an outline, if its fiction I get right into the stream of conscious writing. Usually somewhere in the middle of the stream, some good nuggets of brilliance fall out (its just like pissing in a drugtest, take from midstream! ) After I stop with the free writing, I reread it and erase 90% of it and keep the few sentences I like and build from there into a complete piece. I too don't revise when I write, its all done in one session, and so far this has worked very well in every level of class I've taken. Though after 30 pages I've found, you're almost guaranteed to have to revise due to something you've written later on that is directly at odds with what you wrote earlier short isolation mental image free write fill in the blanks project done [short edit for explanation] I use the images instead of words because it seems to keep those thoughts in my subconscious. Once I put those ideas into words they move into my short term memory. And as all stoners know, our short term memory can't always be relied upon. If I don't want to forget something, I don't think about it in the first place
im telling u the easiest way for me to get out of writers block is think humor with humor u can write anything throw in a midget coming out of a room.. and ur done lol
I think it's most important just to get the process started. Sometimes I'll write a paragraph or a page of total rubbish before I get to something actually worth while and then once you get to the point you can cut out the rubbish it took to get you to the good bit and fill in the holes. But then again I'm an obsessive self editor so my style might not work for you.
When Im writing lyrics, sometimes Ill find an awesome start and then hit the 'block too. Just set it down and come back to it later. Usually once you read it again, you can generally keep flowing with a new pace and new mindset.