C.Q. Cook
This is not an easy problem, I will tell you that! The first thing to acknowledge when you feel blocked is that it's not going to last forever, so don't beat yourself up. It happens to the best of us, but if you love writing, it'll never go away.
Now, if we're talking about short stories, the best thing for you to do is get up, take a walk or a shower, maybe jam out to a song, but the point is to take a breather. Then, sit down, preferably with some water or a snack, and think back to what made you want to write this piece in the first place. For me, I write towards an image, so if I haven't gotten there yet, keep aiming for that place, and if you have, look for the little niglets of plot you haven't solved and try to answer those questions now. When you write, make sure you don't leave too many loose threads for readers to gnaw on.
If you're writing a novel, again, reread. Specifically, reread the first chapter. Try to recapture the vibe you had in the first chapter and get pumped again. Also, I like to keep about a thousand notes on my phone and on pieces of paper of ideas for my books and the bits of world building. There will be something in there to inspire. Finally, reread the chapter before, you were going somewhere. Novels are threads of plot and writers know just how to pull them together. Trust your instincts. Finally, you're allowed to write a shitty first draft. Actually, that's encouraged. Write the shitty first draft. Write up to ten shitty first drafts (I know I did.)
And, if you want to know how to start writing, you just gotta do it. It can be only two hundred words about your living room's setting, it could be a single sentence about the planets, it could be an entire manifesto on the uses of a paper clip, it doesn't matter as long as you're writing. Writing breeds writing which breeds writing which breeds even more writing. Eventually, you're going to stumble across something you love and will want to write more about. Take your time. It'll all be okay.
Now, if we're talking about short stories, the best thing for you to do is get up, take a walk or a shower, maybe jam out to a song, but the point is to take a breather. Then, sit down, preferably with some water or a snack, and think back to what made you want to write this piece in the first place. For me, I write towards an image, so if I haven't gotten there yet, keep aiming for that place, and if you have, look for the little niglets of plot you haven't solved and try to answer those questions now. When you write, make sure you don't leave too many loose threads for readers to gnaw on.
If you're writing a novel, again, reread. Specifically, reread the first chapter. Try to recapture the vibe you had in the first chapter and get pumped again. Also, I like to keep about a thousand notes on my phone and on pieces of paper of ideas for my books and the bits of world building. There will be something in there to inspire. Finally, reread the chapter before, you were going somewhere. Novels are threads of plot and writers know just how to pull them together. Trust your instincts. Finally, you're allowed to write a shitty first draft. Actually, that's encouraged. Write the shitty first draft. Write up to ten shitty first drafts (I know I did.)
And, if you want to know how to start writing, you just gotta do it. It can be only two hundred words about your living room's setting, it could be a single sentence about the planets, it could be an entire manifesto on the uses of a paper clip, it doesn't matter as long as you're writing. Writing breeds writing which breeds writing which breeds even more writing. Eventually, you're going to stumble across something you love and will want to write more about. Take your time. It'll all be okay.
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