I hate writing.

So, here's the situation. I'm staring at page 38 or so of a ~40 page monograph that I'm writing for a degree program. It's a topic I'm interested in, though at this point not so much, and it meshes well with the ~120 page thing I wrote last year. A couple more of these and maybe I'll have a book to publish.

But I am in the mother of all writer's block. This page has taken me three days. The idea of getting past it, and then having to finish the last two sections, and then cutting down the ~50 or so pages I've written to the ~40 page requirement is daunting. I certainly up my alcohol consumption by 3-400% percent while I'm writing.

I've been here before - last years work, and my doctoral dissertation a while ago, were both traumatic experiences trying to finish. It's not that I'm bad at writing - give me a staff paper or an information request, and I'll whip something out in an hour. But once it becomes MY work, instead of a corporate product, game's changed.

Anybody else write a lot professionally, and feel like once it becomes their own work it becomes super difficult to finish?

When I'm having trouble writing on the computer, I start writing by hand in a composition notebook, not stopping to make corrections, just going stream of consciousness. I find the smooth motion of pencil on paper helps the words come out, and then I can type up a better version later.

i ended up in the mental hospital after i got writer's block with my video game's dialogue. the other issue at the time was i had to take an online statistics quiz that i needed to do well on, and i was stressing heavily about that. it was my dad's birthday, and there was seafood pasta. i ate that and figured if i could get drunk while using caffeine pills, i might be able to "blitz" my way through the quiz that i hadn't studied for. instead, i got black out drunk, ignored the quiz, and called my sister (who had majored in literature and philosophy) and asked her to help me finish my dialogue. i mentioned some stuff about ghosts and apparently i threatened her because she wouldn't believe me about the ghosts. so, long story short, i ended up in the mental hospital diagnosed with schizophrenia.

the relevant part for you is that, after 5 months in the hospital with a very restricted caffeine intake and no alcohol, when i got home i just brewed some of the green tea i got for Christmas and finished the dialogue in no time at all (it was 30 pages, not 40 pages, but still a lot of writing).

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Originally Posted by Goodkill

i ended up in the mental hospital after i got writer's block with my video game's dialogue. the other issue at the time was i had to take an online statistics quiz that i needed to do well on, and i was stressing heavily about that. it was my dad's birthday, and there was seafood pasta. i ate that and figured if i could get drunk while using caffeine pills, i might be able to "blitz" my way through the quiz that i hadn't studied for. instead, i got black out drunk, ignored the quiz, and called my sister (who had majored in literature and philosophy) and asked her to help me finish my dialogue. i mentioned some stuff about ghosts and apparently i threatened her because she wouldn't believe me about the ghosts. so, long story short, i ended up in the mental hospital diagnosed with schizophrenia.

the relevant part for you is that, after 5 months in the hospital with a very restricted caffeine intake and no alcohol, when i got home i just brewed some of the green tea i got for Christmas and finished the dialogue in no time at all (it was 30 pages, not 40 pages, but still a lot of writing).

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Green Tea, the Cure All of Writers Block.

Just start writing. Summarize what you already have written. Write about new developments. Write about what pisses you off. Write about your pet theories. Just get content on paper. Then go back and delete, consolidate, and improve. At the moment, you need to expand what is possible. Later, you can remove the ridiculous.

When I get stuck, there are a few things that I find help me.

One, I turn off everything else. No other windows, no other browser tabs. Use a pen and paper if you have to. Chuck your phone in a drawer. You can put in references later if you need them. No distractions. No leaving. Belt your leg to the chair if you have to. Tell yourself you only have to work for (15, 20, 25) minutes. I don't set a timer, though. The first few minutes are the hardest part, and once I get going, I usually get an hour or two out of it. But if you spend 20 minutes or whatever and want to stop, fine.

Two, if I still can't write, I start re-typing the previous paragraph. Usually by the time I'm at the end, I'm ready to continue it.

Three, if I still can't write coherent sentences, I instead write crappy ones, or even bullet points, that get the point across, until I hit a section that I can write normally.

Four, when you're done give yourself some coffee or a piece of chocolate or something. Go for a short walk, ideally where you can see something green.

Rinse, repeat.

Thanks for the commentary.

Just got done with the project that was kicking my butt. Now, a few more weeks then on to the next one.

As I do more of these, I find it helps me more if I write while I research. Going back over notes from a book I read three months ago doesn't answer the mail.

Writers block, for me, appears to be a consequence of not knowing my subject. My brain says "Stop, let me think a minute."

What usually helps is a bout of physical activity which gives my mind free reign to wander. Sailing works, as does bicycling. Back when I still could, I found boxing to be a great way to jostle those ideas about. Nowadays a brisk walk to the corner store seems to do it.

The thing is, like any part of your body, overuse of the brain leads to accumulation of fatigue chemicals. Increased blood flow washes those out.

Also, your brain is a computer. Excess data tends to clog your buffers. Unlike a digital computer, your analogue data processor cannot simply delete data. It must process each bit, then file it. This only happens when you sleep. Lack of proper sleep can lead to cognitive impairment a lot faster than people think, and students are notorious for burning the candle in the middle and on both ends. Insure your sleep cycle is more or less regular to allow your processor to file away excess data.

If all else fails, write greeting card messages. It'll get your creative mind going and remind you that if you don't get your act together, this is where your career is headed. Plus, who knows, you might sell those ideas to Hallmark.

I love talking so i just record my vocie and then transcript it to the computer kalter.