Post by Sivoncé™ on Mar 28, 2009 16:13:36 GMT -5
Okay....so every writer suffers from lack of ideas, writer's block, loss of "muse" from time to time. We are no exception to this unfortunate rule. (I know, I'm like Captain Obvious). But anyway....there are a lot of ways around it. And I don't just mean breaking through a block;; I mean long-term solutions 
Anyway, what basically happens is this:
Avoidance behavior:
-Not logging in.
-Logging in & not posting.
-Avoiding certain threads.
-Posting in a half-hearted way.
I saw some people talking in the cbox, and they really got me thinking. What really encouraged me was that they were discussing issues they had that made them blocked or inhibited their writing. They didn't talk too much about how to fix them...so i decided to start this open-ended communal thread. Basically, I'm going to list some topics below and some solutions, and then when you guys post, your can post your thoughts, solutions, and any other issues you want to bring up here. I'll add them to the list so we can always reference this, and hopefully it will help our sites activity and betterment
....cause honestly, this has been a rough year for a lot of us xP
I don't have any muse.
Being blocked is hard, really hard. It happens to the best of us, where we just can't come up with any ideas we deem as good or our writing quality suddenly takes a dip. There's a lotta ways to fix this....the trick is to find some that work for your. Some of the more popular ones I've come across here are:
-Music = Brain Stimulant. Often influences emotions & can aid in some good idealisms. Really good paired with other methods.
-Vigorous Exercise = Creates endorphins, which make you REALLY happy and, again, stimulate your brain. =)
-Walking = Much like vigorous exercise; brain stimulant.
-Taking A Break = Get your mind off things, hang out with friends, come back when you're less stressed.
-You can re-read old threads or even a passage from a good book. (From Wolfie) Personally, if I read something good, I get an urge to write. Like when someone posts a fan story in their author's board, for example. Reading another person's fan story always gets me pumped to write XD Maybe other people might get this same reaction too? (then again, maybe not.. I'm weird x3)
I only have muse for certain chars.
A lot of people subconsciously (or not) pick out "protagonists" from their chars, or main characters that they focus their large ideas on. This is fine; dramatics, romance, love, hate --- it keeps us guessing. But if every char has a huge sob story or something perfectly great about them....well, then the big ideas just turn mushy. You can't have big without little; they define each other. So....thoughts on this:
-Keep your big ideas. Dazzle us!
BUT
-Keep the little ones too. Throw characters you're not so savvy with into random open threads. A big problem with boring characters is that they don't have any relations. Make them some friends, enemies, whatever in an open thread and things will get a bit more interesting; just be random, see where things take you
Nobody's on when I'm on.
Time differences and hectic schedules make it hard for people to be on at the same time, and for a few of us, this means strictly the weekends. The best things to do here:
-Post, reply to threads, check back later. People will be on when they can get on
I'm bored.
...really? Um....well, then you should probably:
-Do something. Respond to threads, post in open threads, make your own open threads, check out the author's corner, post in an OOC board. If you're still bored after....I'd say go do something else xD
Nobody replies to my threads.
This is typically because people are busy or blocked in some way. Recommendations include:
-Talk to the person. Ask them what's up, if they're blocked, bring them to therapy (here) xD
-Cbox. Remind or invite people to post.
Nobody wants to rp anymore.
*raises paw guiltily*
Anybody wanna help me out here?
Anyway, what basically happens is this:Avoidance behavior:
-Not logging in.
-Logging in & not posting.
-Avoiding certain threads.
-Posting in a half-hearted way.
I saw some people talking in the cbox, and they really got me thinking. What really encouraged me was that they were discussing issues they had that made them blocked or inhibited their writing. They didn't talk too much about how to fix them...so i decided to start this open-ended communal thread. Basically, I'm going to list some topics below and some solutions, and then when you guys post, your can post your thoughts, solutions, and any other issues you want to bring up here. I'll add them to the list so we can always reference this, and hopefully it will help our sites activity and betterment
....cause honestly, this has been a rough year for a lot of us xP
I don't have any muse.
Being blocked is hard, really hard. It happens to the best of us, where we just can't come up with any ideas we deem as good or our writing quality suddenly takes a dip. There's a lotta ways to fix this....the trick is to find some that work for your. Some of the more popular ones I've come across here are:
-Music = Brain Stimulant. Often influences emotions & can aid in some good idealisms. Really good paired with other methods.
-Vigorous Exercise = Creates endorphins, which make you REALLY happy and, again, stimulate your brain. =)
-Walking = Much like vigorous exercise; brain stimulant.
-Taking A Break = Get your mind off things, hang out with friends, come back when you're less stressed.
-You can re-read old threads or even a passage from a good book. (From Wolfie) Personally, if I read something good, I get an urge to write. Like when someone posts a fan story in their author's board, for example. Reading another person's fan story always gets me pumped to write XD Maybe other people might get this same reaction too? (then again, maybe not.. I'm weird x3)
I only have muse for certain chars.
A lot of people subconsciously (or not) pick out "protagonists" from their chars, or main characters that they focus their large ideas on. This is fine; dramatics, romance, love, hate --- it keeps us guessing. But if every char has a huge sob story or something perfectly great about them....well, then the big ideas just turn mushy. You can't have big without little; they define each other. So....thoughts on this:
-Keep your big ideas. Dazzle us!
BUT
-Keep the little ones too. Throw characters you're not so savvy with into random open threads. A big problem with boring characters is that they don't have any relations. Make them some friends, enemies, whatever in an open thread and things will get a bit more interesting; just be random, see where things take you
Nobody's on when I'm on.
Time differences and hectic schedules make it hard for people to be on at the same time, and for a few of us, this means strictly the weekends. The best things to do here:
-Post, reply to threads, check back later. People will be on when they can get on
I'm bored.
...really? Um....well, then you should probably:
-Do something. Respond to threads, post in open threads, make your own open threads, check out the author's corner, post in an OOC board. If you're still bored after....I'd say go do something else xD
Nobody replies to my threads.
This is typically because people are busy or blocked in some way. Recommendations include:
-Talk to the person. Ask them what's up, if they're blocked, bring them to therapy (here) xD
-Cbox. Remind or invite people to post.
Nobody wants to rp anymore.
*raises paw guiltily*
Anybody wanna help me out here?
I'm not very good at problem solving.
"My name is Percy Jackson, and I am INVINCIBLE!!"
.
Maybe just start out as friends, playfighting, talking, hunting, stuff like that. Share stuff with each other, mess around, break rules, 
I went a little far out with that, but oh well. 
