Dealing with writer’s block?

[Yousef]

Self explanatory, but do you have any way of dealing with writer’s block? I’d say something like dedicating more time to yourself however that’s literally the same as saying “if you wanna be hydrated just drink water” so I’m not sure how helpful that really is.

All I can say is to isolate yourself from as many negative influences as possible. That’s what I’d do. But also focus heavily on where your inspiration comes from. If you’re writing an article about a game, why not knock off another session? Immerse yourself so to speak.

Some people have a writing thinking music playlist. I’ll share some stuff on my end.

This is what I typically listen to when I need to get into the thinking mood.


Discussing your ideas may be good practice too. Feel free to dump anything ongoing on your mind here. I may not be the best person to consult but I can probably listen.

 

[JustLooking123]

For me, co-writing is a solution.
I usually have too many ideas, to the point that i feel crippled and can't choose my way... because it might not be the perfect choose, and i should bear with it.

But if someone else make the choose, it's pretty easy for me to continue based on it... and it's a nice challenge too!
And every time i used this method, the result was surprisingly good!

 

[Yousef]

For me, co-writing is a solution.
I usually have too many ideas, to the point that i feel crippled and can't choose my way... because it might not be the perfect choose, and i should bear with it.

But if someone else make the choose, it's pretty easy for me to continue based on it... and it's a nice challenge too!
And every time i used this method, the result was surprisingly good!

That’s the trick yeah! I also function much better in group projects or if I’m assisting someone.

 

[ciro64]

I did an experiment earlier this year, as I announced in RGT status at the time, which was to take a harsh break from screens.

In this digital era we are used to having information spoon-feed to us, in a way that feels like doing anything else needs a justification. But while I was on this break, I felt the urge to do things without any justification.

At some point I just pulled a notebook (an actual notebook, my dear brazilian reader, not a laptop) and started spontaneously writing a Moxie fanfic on it. Last time I used a pencil instead of a keyboard to write a story from my own will was in the 5th grade, and boy this sure felt like it, in a good way. There wasn't anything deep about it, I was making stuff as I went along, but it did felt good because I thought I had completely lost that ability to just be spontaneous a long time ago.

Of course, I can't manage to step away from screen for too long... my social life is there, my passion is there and so is any chance of earning money. But I look forward doing this again some other time.

 

[Yousef]

I did an experiment earlier this year, as I announced in RGT status at the time, which was to take a harsh break from screens.

In this digital era we are used to having information spoon-feed to us, in a way that feels like doing anything else needs a justification. But while I was on this break, I felt the urge to do things without any justification.

At some point I just pulled a notebook (an actual notebook, my dear brazilian reader, not a laptop) and started spontaneously writing a Moxie fanfic on it. Last time I used a pencil instead of a keyboard to write a story from my own will was in the 5th grade, and boy this sure felt like it, in a good way. There wasn't anything deep about it, I was making stuff as I went along, but it did felt good because I thought I had completely lost that ability to just be spontaneous a long time ago.

Of course, I can't manage to step away from screen for too long... my social life is there, my passion is there and so is any chance of earning money. But I look forward doing this again some other time.

I hear you there. To make matters worse, governments do actually enforce use of smartphones for day to day stuff like medical bills and whatnot, making you quite literally legally force to carry this tiny device of doom everywhere as if things weren’t bad enough. It’s definitely bad that we enabled this to corrupt us, but it’s even worse that we might not even be allowed the chance to quit it for good. Oh well, maybe there’s a silver lining, somewhere.

 

[ciro64]

I hear you there. To make matters worse, governments do actually enforce use of smartphones for day to day stuff like medical bills and whatnot, making you quite literally legally force to carry this tiny device of doom everywhere as if things weren’t bad enough. It’s definitely bad that we enabled this to corrupt us, but it’s even worse that we might not even be allowed the chance to quit it for good. Oh well, maybe there’s a silver lining, somewhere.

A friend of mine completely refused to use whatsapp for a while, then came back because he was denied of health benefits

 

[Prism Red]

I don't write but here is what I do back during college, I had to make a presentation about what sort of system is the best for inventory management or some stupid shit like that, I went to my friend's hardware store and offered to help for a day, after I'm done I made a note on what I feel about it. Nothing fancy, just some simple scribbles like "plywood are sold per meter, custom size costs extra.", or "why the fuck he kept 300 boxes of bolts and nuts'", or "holy shit, vomit green is a real, registered, actual color name."
Later on when I feel like finishing the presentation, I would come back to those notes and expand upon them, a single note then turned into 1 or 2 paragraphs, let your experience do the writing for you.

 

[Yousef]

I don't write but here is what I do back during college, I had to make a presentation about what sort of system is the best for inventory management or some stupid shit like that, I went to my friend's hardware store and offered to help for a day, after I'm done I made a note on what I feel about it. Nothing fancy, just some simple scribbles like "plywood are sold per meter, custom size costs extra.", or "why the fuck he kept 300 boxes of bolts and nuts'", or "holy shit, vomit green is a real, registered, actual color name."
Later on when I feel like finishing the presentation, I would come back to those notes and expand upon them, a single note then turned into 1 or 2 paragraphs, let your experience do the writing for you.

Back in college we had a whole fucking circle dedicated to ghostwriting your presentation due a point where profs gave up trying to counter act it and just did the bare minimum to scare or intimidate students who don’t write their own stuff.
And it kinda makes sense cuz profs themselves did a horrendous job of balancing out tasks, they’d ask you to study for five different examples (within the same subject, mind you) then randomly ask you to make a write-up about some guy who said some thing some time ago.

 

[Prism Red]

Back in college we had a whole fucking circle dedicated to ghostwriting your presentation due a point where profs gave up trying to counter act it and just did the bare minimum to scare or intimidate students who don’t write their own stuff.
And it kinda makes sense cuz profs themselves did a horrendous job of balancing out tasks, they’d ask you to study for five different examples (within the same subject, mind you) then randomly ask you to make a write-up about some guy who said some thing some time ago.

I know some guys who made a business outta this back then, they're willing to write an essay for $10 IIRC.