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One thing I've learned is that when I start acting in an uncharacteristic manner, something's wrong. And right now, I'm having problem writing my Sherlock story. At first, my brain tried to distract me by sending me a couple of small pieces (Toddy Notrope and The Last Race), as well as a new pathfinder character (Bobby Biglips, a drag queen/wizard), but now that those are finished, I'm finding a strange reluctance to go back to working on the Sherlock story, and I dont really know why.
Maybe if you guys sent my muse some encouragement and/or huggles, she would respond?
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Don't worry
a the saying goes... "You are not alone".
At the moment I have plenty of ideas for several stories but little getupandgo when it comes to writing. I've been doing some editing but very little in the way of new stuff for at least a month now.
Lying there in bed the story is all nicely mapped out but getting it past that is MEH! and can't be bovvered.
May what little of my muse that is hanging around wend its way to your part of the world.
Samantha
Happens to us all
When that happens to me, and I find myself doing anything but write the d**n story, I acknowledge the Gods and start looking for a reason.
Often, my muse is trying to let me know I'm doing (or have done) something wrong and the story will suffer if I continue down that route. Usually I backtrack a bit and attempt to find out what the problem was.
It nearly always works for me - plus, I've put out another story while I figured it out! Win-win, as they say.
Penny
PS As for my muse, we could probably get somewhere if she'd only put down the whip and the chair...
Cattle Prod for Your Muse
Take a large piece of paper and place your main characters in small circles as far away from each other as is needed for the following.
Draw lines between those that have conflicts that move the story forward. On those lines, briefly describe the conflict.
Now think of new ways to show those conflicts in your story.
Last step, draw new lines and think of new conflicts.
Or, character development is always a place I go to when stuck. I open "The Plot Thickens" by Noah Lukeman and read his tips on character description. After twenty or so pages I have at least a dozen new ideas.
https://www.amazon.com/Noah-Lukeman-Plot-Thickens-Paperback/...
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
I wish writing blocks were my biggest issue...
I find that I get bogged down in research. I often become OCD nitpicking details. For 'Time on MY Hands' I conservatively estimate I spent 4 hours research for each hour writing. Then when I'm researching a later segment, If I find something I missed on the original research, my OCD won't let me ignore it so I need to go back and rewrite the old part to include the update which means I may have to update other areas. I didn't start posting until I had 30 chapters done for that reason.
Boys will be girls... if they're lucky!
Jennifer Sue
I've never had a muse
I just write.
In the good times, my characters tell me what to write, because that's what the characters would naturally do.
In the bad times, my characters don't speak to me, and I have to try to force out some words.
What I have often found is that when I come to these bad times, it's because I've written myself into a corner where the characters can't behave naturally. Deleting the last 300-500 words can enable a fresh start.
I know some famous author (don't ask me who) said that the more you delete, the better the quality of your writing.