How do you deal with Writer's Block?

[doseyclwn]

Hey everyone,

     I know Jim has stated publicly on many occasions that he doesn't believe in "writer's block". For myself, while I know what people are talking about when they use that phrase, I always solve it by just muscling through it. Yes, sometimes I write crap, but I write. Hell, sometimes I write a page or two about how I don't feel like writing.  I was curious as to what y'all do about that?

[Quantus]

I fail at writing, mostly

I dont really get what is, I think, the traditional writer's block, in that I dont reach some point int he story where I dont know where to go.  For me it comes in one of two flavors:  a)simple procrastination, I cannot force myself to sit and type without distracting myself with the internet or something, and b)overthinking it, where I convince myself that before I can write the scene I need to circle back and put more time into developing every aspect of the setting that could be anything less than three degrees removed from the scene.  In both cases, what you describe is the probably the best solution.  But when the secret to not procrastinating is to stop procrastinating, you're basically either going to have the problem or not, but actually fixing the problem will be a more specific solution. 

[pcpoet]

I stop working on what I am working on and just write anything  for an hour then go back to what I  was working on

[trboturtle]

I usually have three or four stories half written, so if I get stuck on one, I jump on another.

Craig

[pcpoet]

I take my dog for a walk. I have only recently started to write and I have discovered if I am having a problem with how to present a idea all I have to do is grab my dog
Bennie and take him for a walk. while I walk Bennie I usually have my center of attention on my dog talking to him and enjoying his company by the time I get home and sit down to write the block is gone. the worse things I can do is engage in any other activitie or sit in front of the computer.

[Paynesgrey]

I do everything from a first-person PoV.  Not by choice... it just... happens...

When I get stuck, or when I hit a point where the situation, scenery, or other characters feel wobbly or two dimensional... or when I just don't know how to get to the next milestone, I sit back and do a short story.

Here are the rules I use: 

1)  The story must be from another character's PoV.  A supporting character, an antagonist, etc.  It can also be from a "historical event" that affects the current situation.

2)  If the short takes place in the same time-frame as the WiP, then the narratives can only brush up against each other briefly.  I don't want to just tell the same scene from another point of view.

3)  The story MUST work as a stand-alone.  Knowledge of the other works might enrich the experience, elements might dovetail together... but it has to be done in a way that a person who's read nothing else in the storyverse can enjoy it without having read any other damn thing I've written.

This approach has helped me figure out where to go, solidify wobbly scenery, and flesh out supporting cast members.  It's also generated full-blown characters and events that the WiP "needed" without me knowing that element was missing.

Oh, and of course More Stories is another happy result.