Inspiration

[Atzar]

Right now, I just can't bring myself to post IC. Writer's Block has its hand around my throat, and I just can't shake it loose. I have no will to post right now.

Which brings me to my question: when you're having a hard time finishing (or starting, for that matter) a post, what do you do to find motivation?

[Ataraxis]

I read. Fantasy books, other roleplayers' writing, the back of a cereal box, what have you. It's all a matter of gaining a positive perspective on writing in general. Plus, if you read things you like, it's always a boost. At some point, you'll just miss the liberty of it all, and you'll be back at it.

Now, if I'd just listen to myself...

Ooh, and tape a stungun to your head. That always does the trick, or it'll at least spark your imagination!

AHAHAH PUN HELL FOR ME!

[Zook Murnig]

I force it. Then, after forcing it for a while, I'm in the mood again, and can go back and fix the bad writing from the forcing.

Use the force, Luke.

Also, some interesting music usually helps. I like using Evanescence and Lacuna Coil, among others. Tori Amos and Katie Todd Band, too, for a change of pace.

[Cyrus the virus]

I force it and it always works. I generally get bursts of energy that help out.

[Osato]

my writings is solely based on my attitude at the time. I took Cyrus' advice, and just forced it when I came back... and now I'm back to almost where I was when I left. Not quite. But I'll be back eventually.

Lol.

Music helps me too, whatever mood/character I'm in I listen to music the corresponds. tThe ones Zook put up are my favorites, but others, like screamo for me, work too.

Good luck man. If you need help just hit me up on AIM sometime and I'll do what I can... whether it be battle or quest... lol.

[Artifex Felicis]

I usually just let the writer's block run its course for a day or too. It's mostly brought on by other crap anyway. Then I try to force it with something that isn't entirely critical to my survival or anything. Generally forcing a post is the best way methinks. IT's not like you imagination will break.

[Lucien]

Music helps me too, whatever mood/character I'm in I listen to music the corresponds. tThe ones Zook put up are my favorites, but others, like screamo for me, work too. So that explains "The Cure Fanboy" look in the picture thread. And here I thought it was just a dark room and a dirty mirror.

The fact is, I'm almost always in the middle of writer's block. Not for lack of inspiration, I never run out of that. It's lack of energy and a need to procrastinate. Hell, It's just the same in real life too. I just sit down, and tell myself to get to fucking work. What comes out may suck, but I don't fucking care. At least I wrote something.

[Nwalmaer]

So that explains "The Cure Fanboy" look in the picture thread. And here I thought it was just a dark room and a dirty mirror.

Funny thing is, I don't even listen to The Cure... lol.

And I do think you cut yourself, but I'm too lazy to PM it to you... ;)

[LordLeopold]

I force it and it always works. I generally get bursts of energy that help out.

That's what she said.

[Empyrean]

Music and reading. That works magic.

You and me both, this writer's block thing is horrible.

[Reiko]

Sometimes it might be one thread that's not working for you and it's dragging you back. Try something new, work out a quest with someone you never wrote with but wanted to write with, that helps sometimes as well.

Forcing may work but you have to be careful as not to drive yourself further.

[Fenris]

I will agree with much of the above--sometimes you just have to wait it out, but a couple good books can help at times, and music is a wonderful antidote.

But for me, of course, the panacea of life is RUNNING!

I think I have yet to find a problem that eight or nine miles of good trail through forests or mountains (and SNOW! and MOONLIGHT!) cannot solve. :D So that's what I do when the syndrome hits--grab my Adrenalines (awesome running shoes) and take off an hour or two. It's amazing.

So you might try that ;) Nothing like a good endorphin high to get the creative muscles warmed up.

[Elrundir]

For me, it's not reading that gets me back in the mood for writing. Maybe it's because I read so much for school that forcing myself to read for one reason or another, as opposed to wanting to read something, will only make the problem worse. Instead, I watch TV. Well, anime to be specific. I'm usually watching one thing or another at the time, and that can pump me right back up again. Music also helps; I have a playlist specifically for RPing and writing to get me in the mood.

And as they say, "time heals all wounds." Even just taking a little bit of time can be all you need. Sometimes it doesn't quite work out so nicely, but you can't always control that anyway.

[Karuka]

Well...I do it a bit differently, and it doesn't take so long for me.

I don't write when I feel like it's being forced, more often than not. What I do is I take a little bit of a walk, sit down, close my eyes, and do a meditation. I have two favorite meditations, one from my mom and the other from my HS play director.

The first one (my mom's): You're holding a shell in your hand. Begin to fill in the details, shape and color. When you have the details, feel it in your hand. Is it rough, smooth? How heavy? What does it look and feel like on the other side?
And from there you construct a beach scene...sound of the surf, the sound of the gulls...the color of the sand, color of you beach towel, warmth of the sunlight, and then fill in visual details, and smells, until you have it. It's very soothing and forces you to think in details little by little.

The second (my director's): You're at your favorite place. Think about what makes it special to you...the sights, sounds, smells, people. But then it slowly fades, and you're sitting in a black void, focusing on your breathing. Breathe in, breathe out. Let all troubles of the day melt away...breathe them out into the darkness so they can't come back to you. And then you begin to see a little point of light in the distance. It seems to be calling to you, but you don't go immediately. You just look at it, there in the distance for a little while.

Then you move to it, slowly, over a slow count down from ten. At ten, you start moving. At nine, it's just a little bigger, and at eight, a little bigger still. At seven, you see something in the light, but you're not sure what it is. At six, the form becomes a little clearer, and at five, you can tell it's a person. At five, you're moving faster, and at four, the light becomes bigger. At three, you can see a face, at two, you can see the entire figure, and at one, the light encompasses your entire field of vision and you can see that the figure is you...only it isn't.

It's your character, and (s)he's looking back at you from the other side of the mirror, from where (s)he exists. And (s)he's beckoning you to join him/her. But you don't for a moment. For a moment you just look through into the light, getting to recognise this figure before you, getting to know this character. Then (s)he reaches through and grabs you by the hand, starting to pull you through, and you step into the light, becoming the character, merging with him/her. You spend some time in the light, as the character, spending time with the characters that (s)he must interact with, getting familiar with him/her once again.

Then the light starts pushing you out, back into the dark, but you're staying focused, in-character. You haven't lost anything, you've been energized by the light. And at one, you're outside the light. At two, you're backing away. At three you're farther, at four you're farther still. At five you're moving faster, away from the light, and as you count back up, you get farther and farther away. At eight, it's just a little flicker of light, like a candle. At nine, it's just a pinpoint of light in the distance, and at ten it goes out, but you're still energized, still connected to that character. Slowly you let the real world fade in, and you're still energized, still focused, still relaxed.

And those are my meditation techniques. ^_^

[Foresaken By War]

Music and Artwork...

[Christoph]

Music helps me too, whatever mood/character I'm in I listen to music the corresponds. tThe ones Zook put up are my favorites, but others, like screamo for me, work too.


I agree; music is great for keeping your inspirations afloat. The trick is to listen to all sorts of things. I tend to juggle between Cannon in D (only because that's what's playing right now 0.o), some Rachmaninov, a whole ton of other classical works, jazz, some Soul Calibur II music, and Rammstein. The trick is to keep the right music going for certain scenes. I can't tell you how many times I accidentally had some slow classical stuff playing during a brutal fight scene or had Rammstein on during a romance scene. (Trust me, the latter is NOT a good combination. :eek: )

[Karuka]

Beethoven is TOTALLY battle music. Dude has the angriest chords EVAH!

[Christoph]

I prefer Shostakovich and some of the other Russian composers for battle scenes, personally. Beethoven is great, though. But mainly they are good for large scale battles. Duels and the like need angrier music, with is why I go for the German death metal. ^.^ And Mars, from the Planets suites, has the angriest chords ever. 0.0

[Bleater]

Booze.
Failing that... more booze, then I listen to Clint Mansell's "Lux Aeterna". Or E.S. Posthumus' "Pompeii". Or any other instrumental, epic sounding music.

[Karuka]

BTW, Atzar...I swear by my meditations.

I'd be a much slower poster if I didn't have my focusing exercises.

[The Mime]

When it comes to music,instrumental and foreign vocals so its all left to the sound without any direct meaning pushing through from the lyrics. For Corvus its all music from Berserk and Nocturnal Rites(despite it being in english) along with some light TM Revolution. The Mime yes indeed does get Orchestra music...namely Moonlight Sonata.

Thats basically all I use for inspiration because it always hits at random times anyway,the music is just to keep it flowing.

[AdventWings]

Muzack.

Anime Muzack.

Or just general random Japaneses and orchestra tunes.

I have soo much of a variety to tie down on, so I just go with Shuffle and see what comes on the earphones. Still, I need to get myself some nifty BGM tunes from Melty Blood... (Is in a Tsukihime addiction trance)

[Of Free Will]

Ochestra music makes me want to go wear something frilly....but thats just me.

So, in light of the fact that frillyness doesnt help me write, when I get writer's block i turn to music aswell. Although, i just repeat the same song over and over till the post is finished. I play the ' theme song ' of whatever character im using at the time. For this one it is " Alive With the Glory of Love " by Say Anything.

For my other character, {Kid disasteR}, it's " Sanctuary " by Utada Hikaru. You kno, the chick that does all the Kingdom Hearts song? yeah.

But you guys dont care...only one or two fo you even know who i really am, and that ive been here longer than 80% of you!.......*sigh*........if only i wrote better. :P

[Lucien]

I can't understand how anyone can listen to music and write. Music just completely throws me off and makes me lazy; I usually end up lying down to listen to it. I already plan my scenes, I don't need the soundtrack for them while I'm typing.

Also...


Suck it Oh god yes.

[Ataraxis]

Because blaring silence is uninspiring to some, I guess. Plus, after you've written novellas with metal death grunts shattering your eardrums, anything softer is just a blessing when you write :D

But yeah, like most of everyone, I also listen to music when I want to write. When I focus too much on the need of writing, I never get anywhere, so a good song in the background always helps. Classicals like Rachmaninov, Beethoven, Chopin are good, though if you want a little bit of action in your classics, try Transiberian Orchestra ;) Wizards of Winter makes for great battle scenes.

[Darkness Impulse]

Me too, Atzar, me too. Been in a slump for a while now. I've had a hard time even coming to Althanas in a while(sorry to you questing with me).

I usually just wait it out, watch the sky sometimes or play videogames. All those help, but they haven't helped this time... Ugh, it's sad. I want to be here but I just can't seem to type up any roleplaying.

[Sok]

I listen to music when I write a lot of the time... but most of the time even when I'm singing along I don't even realize that it's playing (unless it gets repetative and drives me crazy.)

It doesn't really influence what I write either. (My most recent post was written entirely to Billy Idol's White Wedding.)


I'm one of those people who doesn't need inspiration though, just motivation. Getting me inspired isn't hard (just ask my buddy Cor there), getting me motivated to actually DO anything though... hoo boy...

[Atzar]

I think I've kinda shaken the problem, at least enough to get a couple of posts done. Those of you that suggested anime were closest... I was watching a trailer for the new Fire Emblem when an idea came to me >.>

Anyway, yeah. Thanks for all of the input. Keep the ideas coming, if you'd like... hopefully everybody can refer to this thread when they're in a funk and need something to give them momentum.

[Darkness Impulse]

I'm actually really pissed... I can't seem to find time or motivation to come on. I have all of next week off from school, so perhap that will help me cool the engines and refuel...

[Cyrus the virus]

Nearing death? =/