How do you deal with writer's block? Asking for a friend lol
YOU DON'T DEAL LMFAOOOO
ok jk jk there IS a way, but first you gotta figure out what causes you writer's block in the first place and once you figure that out, then you know how to stop it.
What causes Writer's Block and How to deal with it
If you got writer's block it generally means you're out of ideas, but there are three possible causes:
Indifference: If you're writing fanfiction, you are no longer interested in the fandom/character you're writing for. If you are writing an original book, you are no longer interested in it.
Personal Reasons: You are hitting depression. Life gets in the way. You are too busy thinking about your irl problems AND THAT'S OKAY.
Low confidence: Nobody is giving you attention. You write a 400k word slow burn you've DEDICATED YOUR LIFE into, and you're spending your nights writing it and you've literally poured your soul into it, but NO ONE READS IT. You get no comments, no kudos, nothing, no one is excited about this as much as you are (this one hurts like a mf)
(1) is what 50% of writers are going through when they're having a block.
Your friend IS NO LONGER INTERESTED IN THE FIC/BOOK THEY'RE WRITING.
Hear me out, remember that excitement you have when you're watching/reading a series/movie/book/manga and you're like OMG THAT CHARACTER'S SO HOT IM GONNA WRITE A 300K WORD SLOW BURN FOR THEM?
Yeah, when you get writer's block, you know that excitement is gone. Your brain is just no longer interested in that character/story and no matter what you tell yourself "I gotta write this, I gotta finish it, I love this character, I love this story, I gotta-" stop. If you keep this up, you're gonna force yourself to write, and anything you write that is forced will come out terrible.
Then you'll figure out your book/fic is written terribly, and then you'll tell yourself I SUCK AT THIS, I SHOULD STOP WRITING (Which is not true because when you're not forcing yourself, you're probably writing like some god of literature).
And this is when you're absolutely finished and I promise you, you will not write ANYTHING for like a year because your confidence as a writer crumbles.
So DON'T do that.
The first thing you do when you realise you got writer's block, YOU DON'T FORCE YOURSELF TO KEEP WRITING. Subconsciously, you DON'T want to write but you don't know that. Consciously, you tell yourself to write and write and write cuz YOUR LIFE DEPENDS on finishing that fic (or that's what you think) and you just GOT to finish it.
No. This is wrong. Your life will not stop if you don't finish that fic and even if you're going to disappoint hundreds of readers IT'S.OKAY! PUT. YOURSELF. FIRST.
ALWAYS put yourself first. If you're writing fic, your readers AREN'T paying you to write it, so any demands they make of you to finish it, are NOT VALID.
You can't force yourself to do stuff because other people want you to do them, cuz that will drag you down depression and then you'll realise your writing is bad, you're not happy with it neither with yourself, and what was merely a hobby that you used to make you feel better SUDDENLY BECOMES A CHORE.
Writing is not a 9-5 job. Writing is a hobby. You do it IF you want to. If you let other people force you to do things, then I'm sorry, but you must be miserable.
(2) well I can't tell you how to deal with that. Personal Reasons can involve maaaany things.
You're dealing with a toxic bf/gf/x and they're draining your energy and suddenly you can't write?
You got a really hard job and your boss is pressuring you? Or you just got fired?
You got one of your parents in the hospital or both of them, or relatives and friends and siblings are suddenly dying out of nowhere? Heck maybe you're dealing with some terrible physical or mental health problems.
In this case, abandon writing.
I know writing helps you escape your maddening reality, but you got shit to do, and shit to fix.
Life happened. Life is shit. Shit happens.
BUT REMEMBER writing is your escape. It DOESN'T solve any of your problems, but it is an ESCAPE.
When you open that damn word document and you stare at a blank page - it's not just a blank page. It's a fucking portal that you walk through it and you leave this god-forsaken world we live in. Even if it is just for a little while. A few hours? A few minutes?
Don't overdo it, though, because eventually you'll have to come back to reality and deal with your problems.
(3) the rest of 150% of writers suffer from low confidence (yes i know the math doesn't add up, bear with me)
check out this post of mine where i talk about writers with low confidence
are you writing this huge fic that no one cares about?
is it 102394857 million words and no one has read it?
Yeah, welcome to the world of depression LMFAO- ok ahem
You know, back in the old times when ffnet was the only fanfiction site around, we didn't really give a fuck whether people read our fics or not AND THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL! FIC WAS ALL ABOUT MAKING OURSELVES HAPPY
BUT NOW???? NOW ATTENTION MAKES YOU HAPPY, NOT FIC WRITING DSMKFNJH
im a fucking hypocrite cuz attention and long detailed comments make me happy too BUT these days, we've lost the true meaning of fanfiction.
What is fanfiction? Fanfiction is a hobby that helps us escape our terrible reality. Fanfiction is a hobby that makes you happy. Fanfiction helps you put into words all those fantasies you've daydreamed about with your favourite characters.
Fanfiction is NOT a means to attract attention. If you want attention, go post a pic of your juicy booty on instagram or some other social media.
I see fanfictionwriters here on tumblr complaining about not getting enough comments, but when they DO get comments, they don't respond to them.
I had this reader on ao3 who had been commenting for 150 chapters straight. At the epilogue, they told me that the reason they'd been commenting wasn't just cuz of the fic, but also because I was responding to all of them.
You're not the only one with low confidence. You probably got readers who would have commented more if you responded to their comments.
Now this applies to ao3 and ffnet. When we're talking about wattpad, i used to get 4k comments per chapter OF COURSE I CAN'T RESPOND TO THEM ALL LMAO
I'M JUST SAYING show that you are grateful that they read your fic. Thank them in every reply, in every notes you leave in each chapter. Be friendly and interactive.
Now, in the case you're writing a masterpiece that no one cares about and you suddenly got writer's block?
That's why you got writer's block. You're so excited about that fic but no one else is just as excited so you lose that excitement too. I've noticed that we, as writers, LOVE talking with other people about the shit we write.
If you don't have that, you get writer's block. No comments, no kudos, no hits, no one cares. Are you doing something wrong? probably yes, probably not. Get a stranger to read your work. Only a stranger will give you honest feedback. Your mom is gonna tell you your writing is amazing and great and all cuz she wants you to be happy. But a stranger WILL point out what you do wrong.
Look, all fanfictionwriters are attention whores. We are antisocial mfs and the only attention we can handle, it's the minimal interaction of comments through our fics. I GET IT.
My not-so-good advice is - write what you know that most people will read.
Anything that has to do with smut will get you 5k kudos and 100 comments per chapter in just three days LMFAO
YOU DON'T NEED to write an amazing plot. You don't need to write amazing characters with amazing development and your writing doesn't have to sound like Tolkien.
write TRASH.
No don't laugh im serious the world WANTS TRASH
write
the trashiest
MOST trashy TRASH
of all time
it will become a fucking movie i promise you SO LONG AS THERE'S A NASTY AF SMUT IN EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER WITH THE KINKIEST BS AND THE NASTIEST, MOST PERVERTED SCENARIOS YOU CAN POSSIBLY THINK ABOUT oh and don't make it bigger than 2 words (lmfao no im serious, ppl don't just want trash, they're even lazy when it comes to reading them)
But if you are a stupid dumbass like me, keep writing that 400k word fic that no one cares about AND IGNORE the lack of attention, because WHAT IS THE POINT of having attention when you're writing something that you don't want to write?
What's the point of attention if you're not happy with your writing?
You'll either get to write the story that you WANT to write, or you'll write some trashy abomination of literature (that many people will def read) just because you want attention.
Your choice.
How to deal with it?
Sit back, watch NEW series. Consume NEW CONTENT. NEW books, new stories, manga, movies, series, ANYTHING.
You are out of ideas and you need NEW ideas and what better than to watch some series? That series might pull out tropes and plot twists you've never even thought about before.
Am I telling you to steal someone else's work?
Remember when you were at school, and you hadn't done an exercise so you did it during the break when your bestie lent you their own response to the problem and you had to copy it BUT NOT ENTIRELY just to show that your own response is original?
That's exactly what I'm telling you to do LMAOOOO SERIOUSLY THO why do we call them tropes? The very famous hurt/comfort trope where the oc has a nightmare and wakes up screaming and the hot character comes in and soothes them and holds them and they get so uwu and the readers get the butterflies
EVERYBODY WRITES THAT
or the fluffy trope where the main ship is literally forced to share one bed? EVERYBODY WRITES THAT
OR the enemies to lovers, where the main ship wanna rip each others' eyes out but they only end up having a hot mindblowing hate fuck against some wall?
EVERYBODY WRITESSSS THAAAATTT
so yeah, whatever you write, there's no way it hasn't already been written. I've been watching that "it's okay not to be okay" series AND I'VE POINTED OUT SO MANY ANGSTY TROPES, IT'S UNREAL I'VE WRITTEN ALL OF THEM MYSELF LMAO
Consume new content, find the tropes you haven't used before, AND USE THEM. I'm not telling you to steal other people's work, I'm telling you to make something original out of them.
And in those new fandoms you're discovering, you'll find the next fandom you're gonna be so obsessed with and you're gonna write madly about.
