Tips for writers block?

Have you ever caught the writers block bug?

  • Yes! Quite often.

    Votes: 13 43.3%
  • Yes, it comes and goes.

    Votes: 18 60.0%
  • Occasonaly, but it only lasts a day or so.

    Votes: 5 16.7%
  • What is this, "Writers block??"

    Votes: 1 3.3%

  • Total voters
    30

TarotNoAi

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So, it's not often that I get writers block. I'm normally able to send out replies to my partners within the hour if I'm free and if I'm not, I can still get back to them that same week.
... However, the past few days I've found myself in a bit of a funk that I can't get out of. Putting myself in the mood to write has been a challenge, possibly due to getting over a cold?

Any fellow writers and RPer's have any tips for getting back into that writing flow? c:
 
Music helps, but when that won't work, I write down the most interesting words I can think of and put them in basic sentences. Sometimes I'll look at art, or read a book to search for ideas. Honestly, writer's block is different for everyone, so try everything and see what works for you.
 
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Hey!

Alright, so I voted for both "Yes! Quite often." and "Occasionally, but it only lasts a day or so." The latter is more accurate to now while the former used to be the case for me (throughout most the time I've spent roleplaying, actually), the latter is much more accurate now. I won't dabble too much in the former aspect, however, I can give you some suggestions I use for to help get my creativity going when I am having trouble writing.

Listen To Music
This is a pretty common one-- and I'm a very atmospheric writer, so I find listening to music which aligns with the overall tone of the piece I'm writing for is immensely beneficial to me. However...

Turn off the Music
Sometimes music is more distracting than I realise, especially if it contains noticeable vocals. In those cases, it's usually time to switch to something more ambient/instrumental or let silence have a moment. I find the clicking of keys to be a very satisfying sound.

Talk With Your Partner
For me, this is the single most successful of my methods. Discussing the characters, plot, settings, or even light-hearted comments and jokes about the scenario do wonders for my inspiration.

Reread the Roleplay
Be it the whole thing, your favourite scenes, or a bit of writing you were especially proud of, I find I can gain a lot of inspiration (and fall back into that atmosphere) by rereading previous posts.

Take a Break
Not a long one, maybe a day or two at most-- or possibly just a couple hours. When I take these breaks, it's usually because I've been writing a lot and I'm getting a bit brain dead. So I do something creative (in a different form, like painting or art), take walks, play a game, or indulge in some mindless TV while playing solitaire. Whatever works for you.

Just Write!
Write it out! You can only go so long before you get to this step. Do you know what your character would do in response to one tiny fragment of the post? Start with that. Then build off of that-- no matter how awful or grammatically unsound-- you can always edit it later! You don't even have that to go off of? Start with a joke. Add an absurd reaction or comment, and try to write off that. Chances are, something you like will bleed into it. Remember: most roleplayers would prefer a good post in a week than a fantastic one a month from now.

Hopefully, any or all of the above is helpful. c:
 
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Sometimes writing backwards helps. I recently wrote out a reply to partner (that had been waiting for about 3 weeks :err: ) by writing the ending of the post then working my way back. You don't have to write in chronological order.
 
I voted Yes, it comes and goes.

I'm a naturally slow roleplayer, but most of the time it's not due to writer's block, rather my getting distracted. When I do find I'm having a hard time, I usually

  • Put on some music. Most of the time it's without any words, but once in a while a song with lyrics works when it's played over and over again. For eg last MISC I had this song on a loop and ended up writing the entire story in one day.
  • Clear my screen of anything save where I'm writing, ie I press f11 for gdocs, or I have all my browsers minimized and only my desktop browser along with the document I'm writing. I found sitting in a dimly lit room helped a whole lot as well.
  • Get rid of distractions. If I have a messenger program open like discord or Gchat, I turn it off or put it on mute. I ban myself from YouTube (unless I'm playing helpful music) and Netflix, or any sort of entertainment I might be seeking. Once I'm done, I 'reward' myself by chillaxing.
  • Try writing something else, like a writing prompt for example. This is something I do very often. Sometimes creativity sparks and carries on as you get pumped with what you've accomplished.
  • Take some time off. Roleplaying isn't a job, it's a hobby, something I do for fun. If it's stressing me out, it's time to take a little hiatus. A few days break isn't going to hurt anybody.
 
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Music, as other have said, is usually my first go to, but no always my problem solver when it comes to writer's block.

What usually ends of working is a combination of just communicating with partners and writing through it (as @Rook said) and really communicating with my partner. Not every post will be brilliant. So, I ask myself, "Where do I want this post to go?". What can you do to advance the plot? Usually, my partner will help me out and by the next post, I've gotten my groove back.
 
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Thank you for the help and advice, guys! I've gotten out of my funk and my replies are steady once again. c:

If you have any more advice or want too add onto this thread to help other roleplayers, feel free to keep posting!
 
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I realized after coming back to it a break once in a while seems to help me if I feel in a funk. Just a complete break without writing anything at all. I'll listen to music, watch movies, and most of all read a book. All of these help me one way or another to come up with ideas, characters, or worlds. They also get my excitement to write kicked in high gear.

I think, well at least for me, if I write every day I get burned out with more of a chance of not being able to write so a nice break does help too.
 
I have writer's block occasionally but I tend to deal with it through a multitude of ways. One of my ways that I handle it is by listening to music and getting absorbed into it. Like for example, if I'm doing a fighting scene in a rp and I'm having problems writing something, then I'll find something that matches the atmosphere to enhance my eagerness to write something. Music makes a fight scene more engaging on tv and anime so the same thing can be applied to when you're writing because even though our characters and their actions are being described simply through letters, they are still doing the same things as those aforementioned.
 
I get writer's block quite a bit, but it mostly centers around my mood. Reading and listening to audiobooks usually help, depending on what type of mood it is I'm working against. Music helps sometimes, but I can't write while I'm listening to music....

Most of the time I just step away for a bit. If I keep sitting at my keyboard trying to force something out, it only makes matters worse. A day or two or ten without trying to write can clear it up most of the time, and sometimes I don't even need that.

The key for me has always been getting my mind off writing entirely. It can take something as simple as watching a movie, or days with my nose stuck in books.
 
I usually listen to music or go on a reading spree - anything I can get my hands on that I'm interested in, books, webnovels, webcomics, manga...

Occasionally I'll watch some anime but I find that I can take books at my own pace.
 
Hi all. After reading the above, I just wanted to drop by and mention:

INSPIRING MUSES

the section here that regularly offers all types of writing exercises (and fun ones). I'm a little sad that participation seemed to have dropped off, since we used to have a lot more players. I'm not quite sure why it's less frequented now since the exercises are as good as ever.

I believe it is useful for anyone that suffers from writer's block to practice creative writing in response to random prompts. (You're not graded or critiqued, unless you want to be, I suppose.) Sometimes it takes discipline to sit down and write in response to another's prompts, but doing it on a regular basis has a payoff. Just my humble opinion, of course.

Cheers!
 
Seconding Rave's suggestion to hit up the inspiring muses section!

But also, sometimes you just gotta stop caring.

It sounds like something that'd be counterproductive, huh?

I don't mean stop caring entirely,though. Just stop caring about how well you 'need' to do. It's freeing to realize that you don't have to be masterful. Also, it helps your mind to be more creative when you aren't caught up in the technical side of writing. Stop worrying so much and play, and then you can edit if you think it needs it!
 
I find that sometimes to create, you need to consume. I like to read books, listen to audiobooks, watch movies and shows. Plenty of inspiration to draw on.
 
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I find that sometimes to create, you need to consume. I like to read books, listen to audiobooks, watch movies and shows. Plenty of inspiration to draw on.
Yes! I like to call this 'breathing'. Breathe in what you need, breathe out creations! =D
 
I realize this is like "That advice" ... but when I get stuck, I just take a break. Sometimes, your brain just burns out and you need to find something else to do for a little while. Generally though, if you can't unblock yourself within a few days, there's a bigger issue - usually with your inspiration to the project at hand. You might need to reread it, to get more invested again... maybe run over some new plot ideas, get yourself excited to keep going. You can try to write THROUGH the block, too - though I've never found that very helpful. And as a last result, you can always watch or read something related to the source material and see if that sparks some sort of muse :)
 
Honestly, for me, writer's block tends to depend on what I'm writing in terms of 1. How fresh is this idea, 2. Is it a transition scene, 3. How good am I expecting this to be. Number one is just an issue of inspiration. It's easy to get a lot of inspiration to write things if the idea is totally new and fresh and kicking, but if I've been working with it a long time, it can be difficult to keep up that flow of ideas. Transition scenes, meanwhile, are just hard for me in general, because it means nothing is happening and I need to convey that "such and such happened during this time" while making it sound interesting. That is a bit of a slog and kills my motivation to write, often. And that last one is mostly because if I don't care about how high quality my post is, I can comfortably write whatever trash I need to to force myself through the writers block.

And it's kind of because these three things are the factors that I can sometimes leave someone hanging for a while while posting regularly in other places. Music, taking a break, etc, have never worked for me, and mostly the only thing that has worked is sitting down, staring at my screen and starting to write. Even if that means I end up going through a single sentence five times with some of them being absolute nonsense. Forcing myself to write words of some general sort that I want to convey eventually causes the piece to come into being. Quality, however, is always difficult to vouch for.
 
In additional to all of the above I often use a pen and paper to work out things out. Ill put down where I'm starting and If I know where I have to get to in the post. Then I just spitball ideas no matter how silly or small to help me build up points to fill the gap. My pages are normally filled with things like characters trips over or character throws up. I find that using a small idea as an anchor point for a post normally leads me down the path of a bigger idea for a post
 
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I often use a pen and paper to work out things out.
I've been doing this a lot lately, both for writing down ideas to actual posts and story writing. It's kind of amazing how a now mostly discarded tool can be so useful even when technology is so rampant.