conversationswithjohnlock:

divine529:

Oh man…I’m not the best person to ask, but I guess something you could do is just keep going? I mean if you at least try to put your thoughts down on paper you’re likely to get somewhere right? I think if you figure out what’s really keeping you from writing; fear of your work not being good enough or fear of people not reading your work, know that is completely normal. 

I’m actually going through something similar. I’m one of those weird people that has an entire detailed story in my head, but when I go to write it disappears. It’s incredibly frustrating and I can rarely get anything down and out because of it. 

Don’t give up anon, we’re all here for you to support you and talk further if you need. 

One of my friends @prettysherlocksoldier just go a similar ask and I think her response was great and you can find that here

@holmesianpose @conversationswithjohnlock and @sincewhendoyoucallme-john do you guys have anything to add? I’m sure you’ve all been here at some point too. 

I’ve definitely been there. Here’s my advice (pick and choose what fits for you):

• Keep a notebook with you and jot down ideas as they come to you. I’ve heard of authors that keep “first line” journals, “title” journals, “what if” journals, etc. I have a google doc in which I keep screen caps and notes of prompts and ideas. I may not get to some of them but I like having them all in one place.
• Write something else. Write a letter to a friend, capture a dream you had, revisit a favorite childhood memory.
• Doodle. Listen to music. Dance. Bake banana bread. Do something, anything creative, to get things flowing again.
• Accept that a first draft of anything isn’t going to be a finished piece of work, and it isn’t supposed to be good. It’s supposed to be a start. Writing happens in layers, just like a painting.
• Start with an outline or some basic plot points instead of jumping right into the story. Make a timeline, do a character study, imagine the physical setting in which your story takes place. Flush it out bit by bit by bit.
• Set a goal to write for a reasonable period of time, and then write without rereading or editing as you go. When you’re done, walk away. Look at it again in a couple of days and you’ll see where you can make improvements.
• Be aware of “productive procrastination.” For example, you’re going to sit down and write and then you decide to do the laundry, clean out a closet, and take the dog for a walk. Resist the urge to do those things. If it’s too hard to not get distracted by that stuff, take your laptop to your local library and write there.
• Create some writing routines. Maybe you need a cup of tea by your side, or certain lighting, or you write best first thing in the morning or right after lunch. Maybe you like to have some music playing, maybe you need silence. Create your own writing environment.
• Write in a coffee shop. Research shows that the level of noise in a coffee shop is just right to foster productivity without being too distracting. Of course, this depends on the coffee shop.
• You don’t have to write in chronological order. If you can’t stop thinking about something that happens 2/3 of the way into the story, go ahead and write it. If you’re writing one story and get an idea for a second, go ahead and start the second.
• Don’t wait for everything to align. If we wait for motivation we’ll be waiting a long time. Sometimes we have to just go ahead and start.

I get writer’s block badly sometimes. When nothing else works, I write when I am supposed to be doing something else. This is what I mean: when I am really, really having trouble, I sit down for like 5 minutes before I leave the house. because I don’t have long, it turns off the self-critical part of my brain and words just flow. It can be hard to stop when I am supposed to leave, but I find that if I get excited about it, then my brain wants to keep adding pieces and I will think about that story more during the day and when I come home, I can usually add more. I have also had success with writing ANYTHING because even if what you are typing is something like “I am not sure what to write. this is stupid but here are some words on a page,” pretty soon that is boring and my brain longs for more and I will start something. even if it is just basic things like, “I am not sure what John and Sherlock are doing right now but I know they are at a crime scene,” or whoever your characters are. The titles, situations, or inspirations documents can really help. I often have 2 or 3 documents open when I’m between projects and I will add a sentence or two to each until I get inspired and things start flowing on one of them.