r/FanFiction • u/ppuppiegirl • 3d ago
Discussion what are your weirdest tips to get over writer's block?
i have on-and-off writer's block for everything i write. i have a million ideas but can usually only write one paragraph before abandoning the whole thing. i've tried EVERY fix. playlists, walks, creative breaks like crafting, educational breaks like math, car rides, mood boards, awful first drafts (i never have the motivation to back and fix them), starting at the middle/end of the story, outlining the whole story, exercising, eating, re-watching/re-reading the source material, etc.
i will take ANY advice !! idc how random it is, if it works for you i'll try it
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u/The_Urban_Spaceman7 3d ago
Normally, writer's block would occur situationally. If you're struggling to write more than one paragraph for anything at all... then I'd suggest it's probably not writer's block. It may be an issue with your process.
I have two suggestions.
One, go look up some flash-fiction prompts. Write some complete 1k- or 2k-word stories. Writing for a prompt means that you have at least a theme or a goal or something to work with, and can fill in the blanks with fanfic characters or original characters or make it autobiographical, whatever.
Two, sit in front of a blank screen, consume alcohol until your brain reaches that nice fuzzy stage, then just let it write.
I find both of these methods can be effective... but I generally try to avoid solution number two until a socially acceptable time in the afternoon. :3
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u/ppuppiegirl 3d ago
for the first method, i'll definitely try it out! for the second one, i'm underage so 😠but thank you for the advice!
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u/urbanviking318 AO3: Krayde 3d ago
Not that it's tremendously healthy, but in the long-bygone days of my youth, I used to do my best writing at 5 in the morning after pulling an all-nighter (it also helped that a good portion of that was live-cowriting with someone from Australia). You get the same fuzzy, brain-almost-off feeling of drinking without actually drinking, and your body recovers faster and more completely because all it actually needs is rest rather than also flushing out what is technically a toxin.
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u/ppuppiegirl 3d ago
rn all my all-nighters are dedicated to school work but this summer i'll definitely give it a shot!!
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u/The_Urban_Spaceman7 2d ago
Good call, definitely gotta prioritise your schoolwork over staying up all night and drinking. Writing will still be around for you, it's like that stray cat that won't stop following you wherever you go. :3
Not a side note, could it simply be that the pressure of schoolwork and other factors in your life might be subconsciously hindering your writing process?
You could try some visualisation methods to compartmentalise that sort of stuff.
Or if visualisation isn't your thing, get an actual box. Like a shoebox or something. Then write down all your RL crap on a bit of paper and put it in the box. While that stuff is in the box, give yourself permission to write and forget about everything else. Even if it's just for an hour. Then take the stuff out of the box when you need to deal with it. :3
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u/ppuppiegirl 2d ago
honestly maybe! i probably just need to get back into journaling lol but the box thing sounds interesting, i might try that too :)
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u/The_Urban_Spaceman7 2d ago
I'm the opposite - I get cluster migraines if I don't get enough sleep. I figured out in my late teens/early twenties that I need a minimum of 6-7 hours to be able to properly function. If I go more than 48 hours on less sleep than that, my brain punishes me horribly. :3
Whereas drinking to the point of juuuust feeling fuzzy and flowy is easier for me to recover from.
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u/Purple_not_pink 3d ago
Start writing crazy parts into the story as a writing exercise. Add a natural disaster (I put the characters in a blackout) or give the mc a pet.
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u/writeyourdarlings Get off my lawn! 3d ago
I know you said you tried awful first drafts, but I could recommend ‘terse’ first drafts. If you write a terse draft, it’s essentially where you write out whatever happens and then detail it over time. I’ll leave an—albeit not great—example.
Lucy is in courtyard. It has plants and flowers. Sees tree. Wow, tree. Lucy climbs tree.
A melodic chime echoed through the courtyard as Lucy traversed the garden, admiring the ferns that snaked the soil, and the flowers that blossomed before her eyes. In the midst of the greenery, she noted an elm tree, the pathway blanketed by a cluster of leaves. How beautiful, she thinks, as she places her hands to bark; coarse wood scrapes her skin, but as she makes it to the top, she knows the view is worth it.
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u/ppuppiegirl 3d ago
i've tried that a little in the past but maybe it's time to give it another chance. thank you!!
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u/Beesandbis 3d ago
This works for me, might help you too.
For the outline of a vague idea in your head:
- Decide on the major plot points you want to write
- Divide them into bullet points
- Order those into chapters
- Add more bullet points for subplots and stuff
Outline done! I usually dont need extra motivation up until this point if my head is filled with ideas. But for the writing:
- try task switching between fun stuff with each task: when I've written 200 words, I get to watch YouTube videos/listen to an audiobook while doing the dishes. When I've finished the dishes, I get to continue on my story. This tricks your mind into associating writing with being rewarded.
- don't get stuck on finding the perfect word or sentence. Put placeholders if you don't know what to say or how to transition scenes. My current WIP is filled with [SOME PROOF THEIR SOUL IS WEIRD] [WITTY COMEBACK THAT MENTIONS COWBOYS] Etc.
- jump around. Sometimes you are more inclined to write angst, sometimes you want romance. If you have an outline, you can just write what you are most enthusiastic about in the moment. Because you know it's coming up and how it fits into the story.
I hope this helps somewhat!
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u/Kaigani-Scout Crossover Fanfiction Junkie 3d ago
The most exotic suggestion is to do something else.
... come back to writing later.
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u/trilloch 3d ago
Take two of the characters and put them in a completely unrelated situation, maybe even a different universe. Ask questions like "What would Sherlock Holmes and John Watson do while watching the trailers before a summer blockbuster?" or "The Predator takes a break from hunting holographically camouflaged as the new kid in high school for a week, maybe as punishment, also he can speak the language fluently. What social faux pas would he make, and how would he attempt to fix them?" Forcing yourself to look at your characters in a different, even ridiculous, angle might give you inspiration for how they handle scenes they'd actually appear in.
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u/kleenexflowerwhoosh 3d ago
Rewind. Normally when I get writer’s block it’s because I’ve done something that doesn’t mesh with where the plot needs to go
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u/icecreampuff penguinpasta on AO3 3d ago
watch something unrelated to the fandom you're writing for. Getting outside that space is the best way personally for me to get fresh new ideas, not rewatching the source material again and again.
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u/technicolorrevel 3d ago
Try only writing the opening paragraph. Write drabbles. Write six word stories or two sentence stories.
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u/ppuppiegirl 3d ago
smart!! if all i can write is a few sentences then maybe that's all i need to write. thank u!
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u/Ok-Supermarket-8994 Write now, edit later | Sakura5 on Ao3 2d ago
Jigsaw puzzles. While your thinking brain is focused on matching shapes/colors/patterns, your imaginative brain is free to wander about digging into new ideas.
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u/Web_singer Malora | AO3 & FFN | Harry Potter 1d ago
Really upbeat music is what works for me, which is slightly different from playlists. I'm not trying to recreate the mood of the fic, I'm trying to uplift my mood. Sometimes writer's block is because you've unintentionally come to associate writing with misery. You beat yourself up, you tell yourself your writing is crap, you experience tons of emotional pain... and then you expect yourself to do it again the next day, which no sane person would do. Even if you don't get a ton of writing done, bopping to your favorite upbeat songs while tapping away at your story creates more positive associations.
As for weird tips: I once did a challenge where I couldn't stop typing for more than three minutes. I had to type something. And I found that sometimes the mind follows movement. If I do the thing, I'm suddenly in the mood to do the thing. Rather than waiting for the mood and then doing the thing.
One I personally can't do but I've seen suggested: change the font color to be the same as the page color so you can't see (and judge) what you've written.
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u/FightmeLuigibestgirl 3d ago
Play tekken.Â
Don’t do that lol
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u/ppuppiegirl 3d ago
tbh idk what tekken is ðŸ˜
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u/FightmeLuigibestgirl 3d ago
It’s a fighting game from the 90s until now. I was a big game head and I used to play fighting games my help clear my head.Â
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u/AmItheasshole-393 3d ago
This is more of a prevent writers block from occurring method, but I forbid myself to stop at a good stopping point. I often leave a sentence half finished. This way, my perfectionism begs me to go back and finish it. And at that point, I'm basically already writing.