There must be another thousand like this....

[Melancor]

Any ideas on how to get over a "Writer block"?

I haven't had much inspiration to manage the only quest I have going at the moment. this feeling of being repetitive kills me so I've just backed off to think about new styles to use instead. But so far I haven't though about anything other than the usual, "poetical"-"one-sided" descriptions in my posts.

So, any inspiration ideas? Or different styles I can use?

[Saxon]

For Writer's Block? Work through it, but don't overextend yourself. Its okay to sit back and relax for a bit and take a breather, but essentially, any writer's block I've ever had had to be met with something that could break it; writing. Theres no formula you can use or special technique, just weather the storm. Usually writer's block can last from a couple days to a couple weeks to even a couple months. It all depends on how you look at it, how your mind works, and how you decide to treat it.

If you decide to procrastinate and not write at all, I can almost guarantee you that your not going to be making a full recovery any time soon. I'd hate to say it, but I still haven't figured out exactly what it takes to get over that proverbial hump but I know some things that help;

1) Reading
2) Going outside the house
3) Working on something else for awhile (games, work, school, etc)
4) Thinking
5) Writing

And more. But what I can tell you, again, is that there isn't a universal antidote to doing this besides getting back on that horse and expecting to see a lot of crappy writing until you manage to break through it. Kovalai gave me a website that really, really helps in situations like these;

http://languageisavirus.com/

Look at the photos especially. Urban Decay seemed to be what did it for me, but it could be anything really. As for inspiration, all those things I just said could be used for the same purpose.

EDIT: As for writing in general, I wouldn't try anything too elaborate if it doesn't call for it. Personally, I see nothing wrong with sticking with the basics, but like Call Me J said, I'm not positive on what you meant by one-sided either.

[Call me J]

Well what exactly is wrong with a one sided perpsective? Maybe I'm not sure what you mean, but I think under your definition, 90% of the posts on Althanas are one sided posts.

[Melancor]

*nods* I wasn't really expecting anyone to get it. I meant that when I make descriptions, I usually just stick to one single thing ,almost insignificant details. that make people shift away from the perspective of the setting I have in my head, but haven't come about to describe.

[Call me J]

Well why do you want to do that in posts? That seems like it can only hurt your narrative. Personally, I don't feel as though you have to list everything in the setting, but you should always give people at least some kind of impression of what is going on.

[Melancor]

Well of course I always try. But I find myself trying to interact with the setting more than with my own character. And I admit, that I really don't know how to fill up a quest with anything other than details. It's extremely hard for me to work around something that doesn't evolve. For each post I need new, large, details on the plot. Wich is again trouble-some because then the quest doesen't have a fine pasing. In my last quest(s) I have tried to slice up the plot-details so there is a nice transition instead of a huge jump. But then in my desperate seek for visual content ,to keep up with the pase, my posts end up pretty shallow, with little story and much, unesesary, details.
Now I realize that I need to tap into my character's personality to use on a post. But like I said before I really don't know how...

(BTW: thanks, Saxon. I'll try that, I just need to get back already! @.@)

[Molotov]

The best place to start is by asking yourself this question, "if there was another Aegean Demi-God who had the same skills as your character did, how would yours be different"

Those are the attributes about your character that make him unique or special. Sometimes, when characters are created, the writers forget to add these things. If you do, you can always add them later.

[BlackAndBlueEyes]

Whenever I have trouble writing, I throw in a good cd and warm up the NES or SNES and spend an hour or two away from the computer. Usually after that I'm in good shape to write again.


On a side note, No More Heroes rocks. Hundreds of lookalike baddies and two bosses later, I'm raring to post.

[Rayse Valentino]

Put on music that fits of the mood of the post you're gonna do. Just sit down and type something, anything, to start the post off. The rest should come pretty easy, the only real hard part is sitting down to do it. You could end up staring at the blank screen for hours if you don't type something. Listening to energetic music during a battle (rock, etc) or sentimental music during a drama, just imagine what you would be hearing if it was in a movie.

Anyway, that's my method for making multiple posts per day without thinking much of it.

[Melancor]

I've tried that before. Putting music with the mod of what I am trying to put on paper. It works just perfectly, but I always use this while I write, so it seems like my writes block got a way to evade this antidote. This writers block is much more severe than anything I've had before. Not that its the untimate WB but I hadn't experienced this before.

(I thought I had posted this before BlackAndBlueEyes's post. vvvvvv)

I have a hard time relating to my character, Molotov. I can never recreate the kind of personality I intented him to have. I am always paranoid about making his dialogue, I ask myself "Is this what he would say?" "Is this sarcastic, indifferent, rude, enough for him?" "Am i making him seem articulate enough?" and not many times the answer is "yes". So I am always reluctant to make any references to his thoughts, I mostly go about his actions and it bothers me, but I cant... Connect to this little mofo.

[Call me J]

Well to build on that point (I'm also Molotov) why make a character you have such a hard time relating to? I mean, you don't have to make a character that is exactly like you, but you need to make one that you can relate to. If you can't relate to a character, how are you going to expect your readers to?

[Karuka]

If you're having trouble relating to the character and really want to keep him, then you need to force yourself to really get into his head. With some characters this is easier than others, but if you can't get your mind around a character, then you need to get your mind inside a character.

And the only way you can do this is by writing as him. Try first person, for a change of pace. It might not be easy, and it might not even be your best writing, but it will make you get to know him so that when you get back to third person, it'll be fresh and full of character. (Note: Don't switch from third to first person in the middle of a thread.)

About focusing on insignificant details in setting...what you can do there is take that one detail and instead of focusing on it, expand upon it. Have your guy notice that little thing, and make it lead his eyes to the setting as a whole. And you don't need to put every little detail of a place down and thus sacrifice Pacing for Setting, just give us a good idea of what the environment is like.

[Melancor]

Well to build on that point (I'm also Molotov) why make a character you have such a hard time relating to? I mean, you don't have to make a character that is exactly like you, but you need to make one that you can relate to. If you can't relate to a character, how are you going to expect your readers to?

If you're having trouble relating to the character and really want to keep him, then you need to force yourself to really get into his head. With some characters this is easier than others, but if you can't get your mind around a character, then you need to get your mind inside a character.


Well at the beginning my character WAS supposed to be less volatile and with a feeling of superiority. More like me I guess. But I figured that such an old character who used to be a god-like figure, and had such powers as well, would be jolly or actually nice.

I could turn ito an ass-hole for a week to see if I can relate to him...Let me see if I can force myself into his character without contaminating it with mine, if it doesn't work then I'll just have to step back from it.

You people are giving me good ideas, Thanks.

[Karuka]

Perhaps another method would be to sit down and have a conversation with him. Once you've created a character, if you have to push and prod him along, he's not really alive. If your char is real enough to you that you can talk with him and things he'll say surprise you sometimes, then you've got a living, breathing character.

[Melancor]

Damn.....


I had never thought about that..... I'll give it a try It might as-well work!

[Dallas Texas]

I've got a lot of characters myself, and I sometimes get writer's block too. There really is no one set solution, but what I can tell you is every single one of them represents a part of me.

Whether It's the cunning side of me, the pissed off side of me, The split personality complex I like to pretend I have, the rebellious and mysterious side of me, the curious side of me, the bullied side of me, the moneymaking side of me, the helpful side of me, the dark side of me, the unlucky side of me, the confused and creative side of me, the althanas loving side of me, the mischieviius side of me, or one of the other two sides of me I've put on althanas so far, I can always find a way to relate to my characters, though it may not be obvious how that is at first.