Yuffie's Writing How-To's

How to GET OUT OF A WRITING SLUMP

It's incontestable that writers will fall into a writing slump (i.e. writer's block) at some point in their writing careers. They blame lack of inspiration, and as most can attest, inspiration tends to hit when least expected, without warning. But don't worry! There's a way out of every writing slump. Even if inspiration comes randomly, you can put yourself into situations that increase your chances of getting that epic brainblast. If you're in a writing slump, try these:

1. Browse photography sites. Places like http://weheartit.com and http://flickr.com are great sources of interesting photographs that might just spark a bout of inspiration. Here's an example: http://www.flickr.com/photos/visbeek/3029343175/in/photostream (if you don't want to type that all out, it's in the EXTERNAL LINK as well)  From this picture and the description below it, here's a basic premise I came up with: An adventurous young monk explores a forbidden area of the Spirit City and accidentally forms a link with the spirit world. Now he can see ghosts. When his fellow monks do certain rituals to appease the spirits of their ancestors, he learns they're actually angering them. But how can this young monk go against a thousand years of tradition and ritual to appease the vengeful spirits before his people are cursed forever?

2. Listen to music. If you have a vague idea of a story but don't know how to develop the plot, search YouTube for songs or music that might relate to the idea. For example, when the only idea I had was a masked hero saving a girl, I went to YouTube and searched "hero lyrics". Lo and behold, I found many songs about heroes, one of which inspired a full-fledged novel. Listening to epic music like X-Ray Dog and Two Steps From Hell while writing a fight scene or just a really tense/dramatic scene can put you in the mindset of the setting and make the words come out more naturally. I.e. listen to music that fits the scene you're writing.

3. Exercise! Take a walk, dance around your room, or find a jungle gym to climb. Increased blood flow might be just what your brain needs to come up with something special. Exercising also reduces stress, which is probably your state of mind when you're in a writing slump.

4. Look for inspirational or memorable quotes online. (A good site is: http://quotationspage.com/) Many of them sprouted from some epic event, so try and figure out what that event was--make up the backstory and circumstances around the quote, what was happening at the time it was said, and who said it. Try this one: Emerson visited Thoreau at the jail and asked, "Why are you here?" The reply came, "Why are you not here?" Thoreau could have been jailed for attacking a dirty policeman. Maybe he'd tried to leave the city past curfew. Maybe he'd started a brawl at the local tavern.

5. Read a few pages of your favorite books. While reading The Book Thief, I latched onto Death's voice and started thinking like it did, giving me a new spin on my character's voice. This even works with reading terrible books. You can say, "I can write so much better than this," and get inspired to write like that.

6. Watch a movie or tv show, or play video games. Learn from the ideas of others. Pick and choose bits you particularly liked (or didn't like!) and mix them into your own idea. For my novel, I took the idea of a mask as a symbol from V For Vendetta, Gohan stopping a missile with his chi energy from Dragonball Z, the idea of a sidekick from Batman, and the idea of scientific experimentation and human augmentation from Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Beware: to avoid accusations of plagiarizing or "ripping-off" another source, use bits and pieces from a wide variety of sources. It's analogous to the alphabet--every story is composed of the same 26 letters, but it's how we arrange them that makes a unique idea.

7. Go outside. To a museum, the zoo, the airport, a lake. My biggest writing urges don't happen when I'm sitting on my bed with my laptop. They happen when I'm somewhere, anywhere, else. For instance, visiting a Hindu temple for a religions project inspired the setup for the temple in one of my stories. Roaming the city gave me insight into what my character experienced when she went to the city for the first time. Seeing the run-down parts covered in graffiti gave me a feel for the gang territories in one story.

8. Stop worrying what other people will think. This might actually be the biggest reason people get into writing slumps--they don't believe their writing is good enough; they assume people will hate it and it'll never live up to expectations. Being dissatisfied with your writing usually dissuades you from writing anything else, and thus a downward spiral. Your writing may seem terrible right now, but remind yourself why you started writing in the first place--because you had fun doing it! It made you laugh and cry. It made your heart leap into your throat. It made you wave your arms and yell at your characters. Remember those feelings and never let go of the fundamental idea of why you want to be a writer. Write what you personally want to read. Everyone else is irrelevant. Someone will always enjoy what you write, and there will be many more of those someones if you write the story you yourself enjoy.

9. Stop searching for the "right" thing to happen next and just make things happen. Maybe your character is about to infiltrate a military base, and . . . you're stuck. If you sit there trying to figure out the most epic and unique idea ever thought up, you'll probably be mulling over it for the rest of eternity. Instead, accept that things in life are rarely, if ever, the best thing to happen. Think sequentially. There would be guards, so he has to get past them. Then what about the locks? How will he find his way around the base? Will he find an ally? An enemy? Don't worry about what's right. Just make things happen even if they seem stupid at the time. It could open not just a new door, but a whole hallway of doors your story can explore.

10. Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO0pcWxcROI (or just YouTube "matrix spoon)
To think creatively, people often say, "Think outside the box."
Instead only try to realize the truth. There is no box.


So hopefully you found a useful weapon against writing slumps/writer's block in this post. But this is by no means an exhaustive list. How do you battle writing slumps? Share some of your methods in the comments below!