The Writing Gutter (or Writer's Block)

[Goolix]

That feeling... you want to write, but you don't want to write. What do you even write? Do you have energy to write? This sensation is commonly called "Writer's Block" when it's about not knowing what to write next. But sometimes you don't even want to write anything at all. That is the "Writing Gutter."

It can be distressing to go through these, but there are ways out. What are the ways you've found to deal with these? How do you make peace with going through them? And have you noticed any cycles in your life?

 

[Flyg0n]

Heck yeah we love to see this

My number one tip is that even on my lowest days, I would aspire to "the stupidest sentence". Basically set out on purpose, intentionally, to write one bad sentence/paragraph etc. If I felt like garbage I'd write:

"He went 2 tha store."

Thats my sentence or my work for the day. I struggled a lot feeling guilty because there were days I could write 1k words easily and then I couldn't even write 100. I then discovered it was easier to feel better and ride out the lows of creativity if I was still doing something every day, even if it wasn't something "good". I would even verbally declare my intent to write a "bad sentence"! I think this can apply to art or other creative endeavors. A line of code, a scribble, a few loops of crochet.

My second favorite tip is to change location in some way. Try to write somewhere new. A coffeeshop, or if you can't go out, just sit outside or sit somewhere else in your house, or change medium. Write in a notebook if you write digital, vice versa. Changing things up can help get me unstuck a lot!

And third!! Try to make wherever you write as comfy and easy to access as possible, clean and tidy or organized in a way you like. Make sure your keyboard isn't annoying or too small. You'd be surprised how much little annoyances can suck the energy from writing.

Also remember that as adults especially, life can be incredibly tough! There's always something happening, and stress at job/school/home can drain energy. So many times I go through a gutter I look back and realize something major was happening irl and I needed to ease up. Try to be mindful of if your irl is chaotic and don't stress if your output is lower.

Try not to berate yourself, guilt/shame only stops bad behaviours but won't motivate you. Sometimes your output will be low, try to show yourself kindness you'd hopefully show others. "You wrote a sentence this week! Proud of you!" not "Wow you suck, thats all you did?". Which hopefully you would never say to a friend. Encourage yourself. Out loud if you have to.

 

[Tango]

My strategy so far for dealing with the gutter is to never ever fall into it. It's worked since March and I'll be riding this wave as far as it will take me!!

If/when I fall into it, it will be new territory and therefore scary. 😅

 

[K_S]

Saddly i have both a cot and nameplate in the writers block gutter...

I've found doing something else, usually labor intensive, can jar me out of it sometimes.

 

[Flyg0n]

My strategy so far for dealing with the gutter is to never ever fall into it. It's worked since March and I'll be riding this wave as far as it will take me!!

This made me go check how long I've been writing for and if we count since I started properly posting writing, then I've been at this since.... 2013.

Thats not counting that I did write before then, 2013 is simply when I started doing so more prolifically and storing it on my G Drive. I feel old

Well at least you'll be able to prepare for it when it happens now..

 

[SparklingBlue]

Be easy on yourself. Sometimes you're just plain not feeling it.

Some ways to unstick:

--Random prompt generators-sometimes this will jumpstart a scene, or answer a question I had.
--Read/watch/play something in the genre you're writing in. Don't just stick to the classics and iconic media--partake in the lesser known/just okay/bad stuff too. Sometimes good ideas are hidden in bad media. Or it can be just an entertaining look at what NOT to do.
--Read/watch/play something in a different genre than what you're writing. Sometimes you can find an idea to adapt into your genre.