How do you fight writer's block?

[floppylobster]

(1) Research. Too late for that I guess.
(2) Go for a walk. No time for that I guess.
(3) Sit outside a supermarket and watch people coming out. No time for that I guess.
(4) Just start writing whatever you can. Take a five minute break, come back and try to shape it a little more. Write more, take a break, come back a rework what you've done. You need to get what you are writing in to your head so you're thinking about it when you're doing other things. Then the inspiration will come.

 

[katana-409]

Write about something you understand best. Start off with two maybe three sentences. Then move onto the subject. turn it into an essay if you can. do that two times and your writer's block is gone. works for me; never had to fight it.

 

[SckizoBoy]

I have ten quotes printed on large pieces of paper tacked around my computer for occasions such as this:

Oh, I'm so saving those!

But anyway... I don't get writer's block because:

1) I'm not a writer.
2) Even when no ideas come to mind, I've always got old ideas I can build on to my heart's content.
3) Since I get most of my ideas from vaguer episodes in history, I don't think I'll run out. (Yes, I'm a cop-out, but look at point 1... I'm not going to apologise!)
& 4) As other's have mentioned 'writer's block' doesn't exist, 'writers failing' happens.

 

[Slash Joel]

I punch myself

I am dead serious. If i don't punch myself i procrastinate.

 

[Cowabungaa]

I'm not a writer but a writer friend told me this one:

Close your eyes, put some stimulating music or something on, start up a text editor and just start typing whatever comes to mind. It's probably gibberish but that's perfectly fine. Do this until you feel absolutely empty.

I do this whenever I feel emotionally blocked but it's meant for writers blocks. Or so I've heard.

 

[The Funslinger]

I use cognitive lubricant.

By which I mean Jack Daniels.

 

[Darks63]

Try writing with music going in the background or a audio blog i find that helps me alot, it focuses the distraction prone part of my mind allowing the more disciplined part to work.

 

[Fappy]

A long walk can do it. I usually try to stay away from mid-morning to midday, though. Something about a walk in the afternoon can really free up the mind.

It's definitely something you have to experiment with though. Too long of a walk and you become tired and it is taxing--Too short of a walk and you haven't given yourself enough time.

This is a good suggestion. I've done this before, but I find driving works really well too. I drive a lot, so I get a lot of time to brainstorm ideas.

 

[Woodsey]

Go have a shower or take a lengthy dump.

All my best inspiration happens to me on the toilet or in the shower.

Lucky bastard. Mine all happen at 3 in the morning just before I fall to sleep. I presume they're my best ideas, at any rate. I don't really remember.

 

[DarkenedWolfEye]

If I'm trying to write and nothing's coming, or if what I'm writing is bad, I like to shut my eyes and then type. You can sort out what's good and what's bad later; just getting words out is what's important for getting past the block. If that doesn't help, try some other way to remove the self-consciousness, like handwriting instead of typing, or a change of scenery. The key to getting past a block - for me, anyway - is getting over fear of inadequacy.

 

[rasputin0009]

Taking a break is a terrible idea. Just write. Put ideas down on paper, even if they are shit because you'll finally happen across a good one.

 

[hermes]

I walk it out. Go outside, choose a direction and have a walk for 30 minutes... That usually clears my mind for long enough to return to it fresh.

But since you have to deliver it tomorrow, I guess its not an option.

 

[Scarecrow]

I would recommend doing something else. Go eat, go drink, talk to some friends, get some fresh air...just in general refresh your system.

 

[2xDouble]

Take a break, get some fresh air, get an outside opinion, take a nap, freewrite (jot down thoughts and ideas randomly, even incomplete/"stupid" ones, on a separate page... let the words flow freely and see if anything good comes out.), etc., etc., etc..

There's one trick I use that I didn't find in a book about writing: read the dictionary. Pick a page or pages essentially at random and look around until a word or definition catches your interest. Then, figure out correct usage of the word and build around it for a little while; see where that takes you. ...similar to freewriting, but a little more directed and, in my experience, more useful when you're already deeply pondering a particular topic/event. It works equally well with a Thesaurus (particularly the thesaurus feature in MS Word).

 

[Summerstorm]

I don't... I have lost the fight to it... well so far.

I wrote short stories and designed small pen&paper rollplaying games as a hobby years ago. Then the writers block struck me. Since i didn't break it and just did "different stuff" it only got worse.

A few days ago i just wanted to write a background for a roleplaying char of mine: I got under 10 sentences in 4 hours, deleted most of them for not "sounding" right, not conveying the right feeling (And i have got it ALL in my head). Terrible, i nearly broke down (Seeing that i was no longer capable of doing such a simple thing as writing down my thoughts)

So yeah i agree with the others: WRITE, keep writing, don't stop until you are done (AND THEN REWRITE IT after you read it the first time in completion)

I will be at it tonight again. Good luck to you (Oh and also: don't surf the net while you are SUPPOSED TO BE WRITING) -also: no "research" on TV-Tropes and Wikipedia too)

 

[Mister K]

1. Get out of house;
2. Have a half-an-hour stroll (or just stand and breathe air, if it's dark and you are afraid);
3. Return home and FINISH HIM!

 

[Lynx]

Take five minutes (or one, or ten) to write about absolutely anything. Write about how much it sucks to have writer's block. Write a grocery list. Write an angry note to your loud neighbor and then don't send it (or do, it might be fun.)

Bottom line, just get words flowing out of that pen/keyboard and sort of get your brain motor to warm up a little. After a while you'll likely scribble something half crappy but not terrible and the next day you can edit into something worth reading. It's aaaaall about the editing - which comes AFTER the initial brainstorm, not at the same time.

 

[Dingoman013]

listen to music and imagine scenes to it, as well as emotions. It helps me write everything

 

[jdogtwodolla]

I've only ever had it for school assignments.

What I do is wait until the last night, all the while depressing myself with thoughts of homelessness and failure. Then realizing the situation I'm in at the last minute, I BS my way through the paper and done.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Just wondering. I have to right practically an entire screenplay for tomorrow when I had the whole Summer (yes it's Summer here) to do it. I'm not asking anyone to bail me out with a magic trick but hey, this is my go-to place when I'm blocked. How do you get over writer's block?

And old trick I use sometimes is to reread an old favorite book. Something you can read quickly (because you know it so well) and that puts you in the right mindset to write.

In your case, since you're working on a screenplay, perhaps a favorite screenplay would help?

Another tip - find an alternative space. I was having problems working on my writing (prose fiction) at home, so recently I've been going out to a local hole-in-the-wall coffee house with my laptop, buying a mocha, and spending four to five hours just writing. In that case, I found it easier to begin with something small (a new short story) before moving on to something larger (a novel).