So I'm sitting here, having written the first line to a story 18 times, and not getting any further. and it made me wonder about writers block.

A few years ago, I'd be in my room, put pen to paper, and have 3 pages of stuff written down (good or not, at least it was there) and i could write about almost anything. Then all my creativity seemed to dry up, seemingly overnight. I've not written anything, more than maybe 3-4 lines in nearly 2 years. nothing worthy of being called a story, or poem, or song.

For a while, I didn't even try to put pen to paper, and I didn't miss it for a while. Now though, I'm trying harder and harder to get anything to make sense no matter how hard I try.

Back to the wondering... Have you ever had a bad case of writers block, or something that's made you stop/start writing/typing/drawing/whatever? How do you deal with it? Do you just wait for something to spark in your mind that'll hopefully cause an inferno of creative thoughts to fill your mind?

I'm curious... because right now, it's annoying the hell out of me

It's a matter of motivation. When motivation comes back, you'll know it. Once it's there, do everything you can to feed it and keep it alive. Motivation brings results, and results motivate to pursue.
That's how it works for me. Got my motivation (and thus production) up a year past, and have kept it intact since then by actually using it everyday to write.
Never have been so productive before.

I am permanently stuck in a constant state of writers block.

Nice timing for this thread. I'm using the Escapist right now to procrastinate, as I'm supposed to be working on this English paper that's sitting on my desk. An hour ago I wrote the heading and gave up after chatting with my friends for 40 minutes. I suck at working.

So, to stay on topic, yes I have writers block all the time (more of a permanent condition really), which makes my procrastination worse as well. Though there are some times when I can just start writing...Those are great moments. But they're mostly uncommon.

I do a lot of drawing and some composing and have times where although I feel motivated to draw/write, I can't seem to get started. I usually listen to some classical/techno music i.e. something without words and that helps me visualise ideas.
When I'm really stuck I focus on something else for a while, like gaming. Then eventually something will strike a chord with me and I'll have to go and create again.

I seem to think of the ideas at the wrong times, like when i'm busy at work and can't write anything down, or walking home, with nothing to write on, but the ideas themselves, are shallow, and feel forced, and in some cases when I think about recent books I've read, plagerism. Its bloody infuriating!

I like the Techno idea though, less words might help me make my own.

Writer's block, no. Artist's block, frequently. Generally for a few hours, sometimes days and even weeks

I've found two reliable ways of clearing artist's block.

One is to get a like minded friend/s, go to somewhere you all feel relaxed and just chuck ideas around. They can be any random crap that pops into your head, just so long as you all write down (or in my case draw) what's discussed. Of cours this is dependant on having friends you feel comfortable discussing the darkest reaches of your mind with.
It also helps if you have a similar degree of ability to your friends, although this isn't essential. The best ideas often come from people who are completely new to a group.

The other is just to sit down and force it. This is a less than comfortable solution, most of what I produce when I force myself to draw is shit, it goes straight in the bin. The quality of what I produce is largely irrelevant, so long as I produce something, however hard it may be to shit out my head.
The upshot is that I often 'suddenly' start producing something that's sellable, which is extremely heartening.

Thinking about why you want to do it can help too. For me it's pretty simple, I want to get paid.
The only time you actually start getting worse is when you stop, so don't do it.

I've gone through quite a few periods of writer's block, mainly because of that albatross around my neck that I call my attempt at a novel. It's absolutely terrible, and I remain reluctant to pick it up again. I think something's accelerated my writing recently, and it all started in the User Reviews forum.

Don't limit yourself to fiction - try writing topical essays on subjects which you feel are important, because this can get the creative juices flowing as well.

I've had some serious writer's block in the past, and I've gone through very long spells of it before. Like right now, I wrote something a few weeks ago but it was forced, I haven't written anything good in quite a while. Not poetry at least, which is my forte. I've banged out a few decent essays though.

When I get writer's block I try to force something out. Just make it rhyme and make sense, it doesn't have to be good. Because once it's done I tend to throw it out or try to forget about it. It sometimes help to clear out the creative tubes, so to speak. Give it a try, I can't guarantee it will work (Hell, it doesn't even work for me all the time) but it's worth a go.

Is this creative writing writer's block?

Here's a few ideas that I find helpful:
Go to the library, or even your bookcase, look some covers and try and think up a story for those covers (helps if you haven't read the book, because then you won't be ripping people off). Or you could just look at some cool pictures on google.
Listen to songs by people like Springsteen and the Weakerthans, people who write songs with characters and stories in. Try writing some stories for characters in songs, to get you writing again.
Read someone who clearly loves writing, and writes like a cool muthafucka. Like Raymond Chandler. If you like that sort of thing. Reading something like that makes me wanna write alot.

Hope any of that helps.

i dunno... get absolutely smashed?

Go have a shower. Seriously, it can just reinvigorate you like nothing else. I find it quite effective when I get bad writer's block.

1. Take a shit.
2. Take a shower.
3. Take a walk.

If none of those work just write through it. Ignore what you're writing and once you've gone a thousand words or so go back and edit, edit and edit again.

I get writers block frequently, mainly cause the only thing I write (apart from English assignments) is reviews. Sometimes I feel like I'm just saying the same thing I said in my last review but with the game title changed around. My writing style's too, I dunno, vanilla.

But I've found a few things help. I usually have music on while I write. If I'm having trouble writing I find only playing instrumental/classical music can help. Also, when I'm having trouble writing about one part of the game I just leave it, write about another part that's a bit easier and come back to the original point later.

Not sure if this helps. Hope you can use some of it. Good luck.

I have writers block something awful. When I was a kid, I could just pick up a pen and paper and it would flow out of me. Now, I can't seem to put anything into words. This is especialy annoying because it began around the time I decided I'd write a novel.
And trust me, there's no way to get rid of my writers block, because it's more like writers brain damage. I was really good at it, and then I wasn't. Just for no reason. I am getting better again, but only because I practice by barfing words onto a page. It's like learning how to write all over again.

Maybe I'm overly critical of myself, but I can't bring myself to write anything that's derivative of other work. This tends to stop me from writing fiction.

I have a huge amount of trouble getting to work on essays and stuff for school, but once I start writing I rarely have a problem. Sometimes, getting my sources together and incorporating them into what I write is the biggest problem simply because my fairly wide body of knowledge allows me to write truly while ignoring citation and referencing.

I tend to suffer artist's block more; although I wouldn't call myself an artist per se, I do draw from time to time, usually doodles. Although I was doing it quite a bit a year ago, now I find myself unable to come up with anything good. Part of it is inspiration, part of it is knowing my limitations (I generally can't do much aside from cartoons and monsters and stuff), and part of it is just being unsatisfied.

I keep a note book where I jot down all the lines that are said in life (and dreams) which I think would be good in stories. However, you look back at some of them thinking 'how is "cat fell on a pie" good?'

Has anything happened to put you off or distract you?
I went off drawing for the best part of 10 years after art college and it's only recently that I've gotten my passion back for it.
I wouldn't stress just yet...give another decade...;)

My two tips for getting round writer's block:

1. Start somewhere else. You don't necessarily have to start writing a story at the beginning. If there is a scene or a dialogue that is in the forefront of your mind, write that first.

2. Do something totally different. Write something else, or come at an old idea from a totally different angle. When I was in a band and tasked with writing lyrics, sometimes I would hit a roadblock and the only way round it was to scrap what I had and do something new.

This last one isn't really a tip, so it doesn't get a number, but getting rid of anything that distracts you before you start is always a good idea.

the best way i've found to get around writers block is to plan what you're writing in chapters, stanzas or paragraphs. If you get the basics down, all you need are the details

find a muse, or better yet make one up. Come up with an imaginary alter-ego or whatever, prefferably one that thinks just the opposite of you. When that doesn't work I just consult with the voices in my head, they have some pretty cool ideas.

I find the Red Hot Chilli Peppers to be the best cure for writer's block. A couple of drinks is also a good one (kills inhibition, result being that your writing is often a lot more confident and fluid. 9/10ths of flawed expression comes from subconscious insecurity)

Stalington also has a good point, and I hope he will forgive me for expanding on it- Make characters extreme. Make them the vector for all the insane, debauched and sociopathic acts you usually save for Grand Theft Auto sprees. Angry at a girl/boy. Write her (since I am male, I reserve the right to indulge in chauvinism) into the story- one of my scenes involved a fairly bloody fight between two lovers. (with zweihanders, if you can beleive. Great Scott, but I am warped). It often helps if you actually find yourself hating your characters.

Or maybe that's just me.

RAKtheUndead:
I've gone through quite a few periods of writer's block, mainly because of that albatross around my neck that I call my attempt at a novel. It's absolutely terrible, and I remain reluctant to pick it up again. I think something's accelerated my writing recently, and it all started in the User Reviews forum.

Don't limit yourself to fiction - try writing topical essays on subjects which you feel are important, because this can get the creative juices flowing as well.

Actually, what popular authors suggest is just to write it down. Often they will write something, finish it, then realize that although it sucked, there were some parts of the story that were pure genius, or just worth keeping. They will revamp the sections they don't like and make them fit the sections they do.

My advice, pound keys or put pen to paper. (I type WAY faster than I write, so I use my laptop to take out my frustration. It actually works though.)

corporate_gamer:
i dunno... get absolutely smashed?

Works for me as well, though some writers condemn it.

Watch an incredibly bad movie or tv program, and it'll inspire such contempt that the words will flow like water down a mountain. Or diarrhoea.

I'm at the stage now where to cease writing would see me crippled by guilt. I've worked my writing into my daily routine, and now it's so thoroughly entrenched I can't not write for at least an hour every day. It's kind of forced, but it works for me.

Also, if an idea for a poem, song or story pops into your head, wherever you are, write it down. When you get home, type the idea up and save it in a folder called - yes - 'Ideas'. You'll soon have all the inspiration you'll ever need!

Cutting booze and drugs from your diet works well, too. (If you're already that way inclined, of course!) Nothing I've tried works as well as a clear head.

I get chronic writers block sometimes. More often than not I can go for months without writing a single paragraph that makes any sense.

So I just stop writing. So when I get an idea after christ knows how long I just write it down and keep it for later. I write down all kinds of crap in no particular order. I' writing a story right now and I haven't even wrote the begining, I've written 3 pages of stuff that suomewhere near the end.

Well, I do have some Writer's block. It just takes me a couple of minutes to get started on something original, then I either start Doodling or start writing.

I'm a competitive person, so when my friend wrote the most pulse-poundingly brilliant thing I've ever read, I immediately set out to one-up him.
And that was the moral high road; I would have easily settled for clubbing his brain with a chair until he lost finger control and could never type again.

I go through the list of things that piss me off and that usually gets me irked enough to write anything and everything. The main problem is the vitriol that bleeds through, but the profs just kind of wash over that as my writing style.

there's a ton of good ideas here, now I've just got to convince myself to try them.

One thing I really lack right now, is motivation. I want to write.... but when nothing happens, I get frustrated, and start looking for other things to do instead. (how long can I stay alive on GTA with 6 stars and never getting out of a car or loosing the wanted level) distractions are a big thing for me, I can get distracted from anything, by anything, even in a room with nothing. hell, even as i write this, i'm going back to watch today's ZP again....

and I would write stuff down at work, if only it wasn't a busy pub that'd cause me to get yelled at (also messes up the no-drinking idea, with my craptastic willpower) though I do try when I've got chance.

Mister Ash:

and I would write stuff down at work, if only it wasn't a busy pub that'd cause me to get yelled at (also messes up the no-drinking idea, with my craptastic willpower) though I do try when I've got chance.

Dictaphone. Or an MP3 player with a mic. It come in handy for me when I had monologues to learn for drama college. I'd record myself saying it then play it back on repeat.

Plus you can say some pretty insane stuff into and and laugh at it later. XD

Shirahime:

Mister Ash:

and I would write stuff down at work, if only it wasn't a busy pub that'd cause me to get yelled at (also messes up the no-drinking idea, with my craptastic willpower) though I do try when I've got chance.

Dictaphone. Or an MP3 player with a mic. It come in handy for me when I had monologues to learn for drama college. I'd record myself saying it then play it back on repeat.

Plus you can say some pretty insane stuff into and and laugh at it later. XD

That's actually a pretty sweet idea... My iPod touch has a notes feature... which so far only gets used for e-mailing returns info to the work computer, and writing down stupid stuff customers (and staff) say (but that only gets written down at the end of the night, when re-telling the story to someone who wasn't there)

Yeah my mp3 player has a mic and record function. I's a shame a lot of people don't put it to use because it is ahndy to have it, or a note fuction because more people carry an mp3 player or mobile around with them all the time practically; instead of a pen and paper.

Just write. If it sucks, you can delete it later. But staring at the screen waiting for a sudden epiphany accomplishes nothing.