• Hi all. We have had reports of member's signatures being edited to include malicious content. You can rest assured this wasn't done by staff and we can find no indication that the forums themselves have been compromised.

    However, remember to keep your passwords secure. If you use similar logins on multiple sites, people and even bots may be able to access your account.

    We always recommend using unique passwords and enable two-factor authentication if possible. Make sure you are secure.
  • Be sure to join the discussion on our discord at: Discord.gg/serebii
  • If you're still waiting for the e-mail, be sure to check your junk/spam e-mail folders

How often and how long do you suffer from writer's block?

D. Scott

Well-Known Member
Thread title says it all.

Just recently, I'd been struck with one of the worst bouts of the thing I'd ever gone through, almost a full two weeks without any real motivation. Sure, I wrote during this time but I feel it was lazy, not at all what I could have been doing.

Then all of a sudden I sit down and write a thousand word document in half an hour almost nonstop and enjoy the hell out of it.

So, question is: How often and how long are your typical bouts of writer's block?
 

Lugion

Well-Known Member
I don't have typical bouts. I can write for several months straight and then have writer's block for a month or two, or just a week. Sometimes I'll write for one month and get writer's block for a few weeks... It's not so much trying to get over it as it is trying to think of more ideas during that time I can't put words to paper.
 

AzukanAsimbu

Petal Paladin
I have Drawing Block when i cant think of anything to draw
 

Kutie Pie

"It is my destiny."
Oh, gosh, I'm trying to break mine right now through a one-shot >>;. I blame college.

Same with my Artist's Block, I'm trying to fight that as well.

You want length of time? Depends, really. It goes on and off every couple of weeks or so, or it depends on what it is I'm writing, and I just hate it.
 

GalladeRocks

Son of a Beach
I'm no stranger to writer's block. It sets in quite a lot, and it usually stays for a week or so. My Dimensions of Darkness series is really the only project I've ever worked on that hasn't struck me with writer's block at some point or another.
 

Lorde

Let's go to the beach, each.
I get writer's block every few weeks, so I'm no stranger to it. I was recently writing a fan-fic based on an anime I've been watching, but I haven't been able to come up with too many original characters. I wanted to balance things out and not take too much material from the source, but things have gotten difficult. I've been tossing ideas back and forth but nothing really sticks. I usually take a long break from writing when I can't get any new ideas. I just stop and do something else for a few days and then I'll suddenly find inspiration and continue writing. There's not much else I can do in these scenarios :s
 

Duke Smugleaf

Eldritch Abomination
Oh, I've been suffering from writers block for about two months now, and it's not going to end any time soon. Luckily, I've been able to spend the time working on other projects, but my fan-fiction hasn't been worked on in a long time.
 

disclaimer065

Well-Known Member
It's pretty random for me. Sometimes I get it right in the middle of writing something!

Although, usually when I get it, it's just for one specific thing. For example, I had this oneshot about Blue that I wanted to write, but I can't seem to get the ideas out of my head. I'm also suffering a slight amount of writer's block with my journey fic, and quite a bit with my other fic.
 

Beechlgz

Well-Known Member
I don't really notice much when I get it, I'll just stop writing for several weeks or even a month and I just really don't care, I just find something else to do. I just go back to writing if and when I feel like it. Happens without any pattern.
 

Air Dragon

Ha, ha... not.
Sometimes it just goes on and on in my case. Like right now: I haven't written a thing in months, but I'm kept busy while I'd rather be kept writing. At least other projects get some undivided attention.

Mood and moment matter in my writing. If they don't coincide and I force the missing factor in, be prepared to read a whole lot of nonsense.

L@er!
 

RoflLuxRay

Pokemon Physiologist
I usually get mine when something around me happens. Moving out of the state, School or even if I have a lot of stress can give me a WB.

This has made me believe I have to write when I find little peace around me
 

Crystl3

Active Member
How often? All the time. How long? Riiight now, that'll be about three months. The big problem for me is that I've realized that my main problem with writing a story is my brainstorming. So, after that realization, I found myself writing less and focusing more on drawing and what not. I plan to get into a fanfiction after I've felt satisfied and not forced.

I hope that's soon. :/
 

Super_Nerd

Writer of Stuff
Usually? Frequently, but for short periods of time, and playing around with wording or deleting a few paragraphs can get me going again.

Currently? Several months, apparently. I blame other fandoms that have been sapping my attention of late.
 

Chickorita

Active Member
I don't really get Writer's Block, I just get the lazy but that happens quite often. It lasts about as long as I let it last, since - if I sort of force myself - I find the words start coming easier after a couple of days.
 

Mrs. Lovett

Rolling writer
What the first post described is something I like to call 'shift in focus'. It happens to me a lot, especially after I have a particularly rough day/week and don't feel like doing anything in my free time. Spending too much time away from a fic is bad for me, because I lose not only my train of thought for each chapter, but also my motivation. That's why even when I don't have time to get anything done, I still read over the last few chapters I wrote to keep touch with my story and make sure I don't forget anything.

The actual block happens when I'm completely stuck on an aspect of my story and can't think (or write) my way out of it. The more I work on a story, the less frequently I get stuck on it. But occasionally I encounter a problem in the plot that can have many outcomes, and I have to think for a while on how to best end it.

So to answer the topic, I'd say the duration of writer's block varies for me depending on the complexity of the problem. As for the frequency, honestly, I get little bouts of it all the time. (I'm in one right now, as a matter of fact, because I have a billion things going on at once :/) Some cases are not as severe as others, but I have to overcome them all in order to finish a story.
 

Crystal

The Pokemon Observer
If you say the "Block" of writing ideas, which you are running out of ideas for a time, and your story is stuck because you can't think of a good continuation for your story, fortunately I've never experience that before.
But if you say the "Block" causes by other work/business/job you have to do, which makes you don't have extra personal time to write your fanfic, then I experience this kind of Writing Block very often.

I'm currently in the age where you can say it is the busiest time of your life. Therefore I always suffer from the second Writing Block I just described previously, and often for very long time.

The longest WB I experienced was one full year, without writing a single word into my fanfic. It was not that I don't have ideas, in fact I was full of ideas back at that time of WB, which even stress me for days in my brain for not writing it down. But I was too busy for the "full-time" work I was doing, making me don't have time to sit back in front of my computer and write it down.

Currently, I'm also experiencing WB occasionally, but not a year long anymore (yet, the most recent WB of mine was another half-year... |T_T|).

Just another half more year from now, I will be free from the work I'm doing, then I can at least enjoy on the fanfic writing for let say half year's time without working stress.
(But then afterwards I think I'll be block again by another kind of working stress)
 
Last edited:

Mei

Well-Known Member
It depends. Occasionally I'll just get stuck on one part of a scene and have no idea what to do with it, so I'll end up not writing anything for about a week while I try to figure it out. Other times I'll just lose interest and go work on something else. That's a major problem for me: I'm usually working on more than one project at once, so occasionally I'll completely lose interest in one and go work on another for a couple months, even though the first one should be my priority. Although that's not writer's block, just getting distracted.
 

SerenadeSP

My Loyal Feraligatr
If you say the "Block" of writing ideas, which you are running out of ideas for a time, and your story is stuck because you can't think of a good continuation for your story, fortunately I've never experience that before.
But if you say the "Block" causes by other work/business/job you have to do, which makes you don't have extra personal time to write your fanfic, then I experience this kind of Writing Block very often.

This. I always have ideas, but I rarely have enough time to get them down fast enough. Sometimes I'll end up doing half a page, then I have to go do something else whether I want to or not. Hopefully I'll get more writing done during winter break.
 

swampertlover5712

True Love Never Dies
How often? Whenever my brain refuses to conjure ideas? How long? When my brain starts working again!
Right now, I've been pretty good, actually. I'm writing on Fanfiction.net, and I have six stories there, all with different scenarios and blah, blah, blah. So my brain gets a good workout that way.
But, my luck will probably run out and I'll be stuck again :p
 
Top