What do you do when you hit writer's block and can't come up with new ideas to w

1. 59

   Bel Marshallposted 14 years ago

   What do you do when you hit writer's block and can't come up with new ideas to write?

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2. 84

   The Suburban Poetposted 14 years ago

   Do something completely different for a while...  work out... listen to old records (ok ok CD's)... a just think about life and things around me... invariably something happens. But maybe it's easier for a poet because only a few lines are required. An entire book may be different.
   
   But to me the main thing is to not force the issue... you have to let it happen...
   
   This summer I thought my best stuff was in the past and then I found hubpages and I've written my best poems since then. Sometimes you just need a new experience or a new place to exist.

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3. 60

   davidemorganposted 14 years ago

   A couple of things I do:
   
   1. I use a keyword research tool to give me ideas of new hubs that I could write that might be profitable, or at least fun to write.
   
   2. I look at my analytics to see what kind of searches people use to land on my writing. Maybe I can write another hub or article to better answer what they're looking for.
   
   And one more - I read what other people are writing, and that can give me some ideas.
   
   Hope that helps!

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4. 77

   Nick Bposted 14 years ago

   Peter Mayle, author of a Year In Provence, said that you should write something - even if it doesn't go anywhere otherwise you won't write.
   
   Writing is one of those things that doesn't get easier with practice in as much as deteriorates if you don't keep it up - if you see what I mean.
   
   I have more stories started but unfinished due to my muse going AWOL, than I care to count, but then all of a sudden, inspiration strikes and away we go again.
   
   Just keep at it, know that inspiration can come from the most unlikely places and when it hits, you want to be on top form, ready to write it down before - like has happened with me, it dribbles out of your ear.

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5. 58

   JP993posted 14 years ago

   Listen to the radio, watch the news, read magazines reading or listening to the latest news helps me figure out new ideas. Anything can spark an idea. When I get an Idea I try and think of 5 hubs that can stem off of it.
   
   Lets say there was a new dog product that has just come out and you want to write about it, you then think of 4 or 5 more hubs that can stem off of it like, dog clothing, a particualr breed of dog, pet insurance, dog breed behaviour etc etc.
   
   Google trends is a great way to get high traffic subjects but if your not passionate or even interested in the top traffic subjects then this method is no good.

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   MickSposted 14 years ago

   Carry on writing, I've found that a page of drivel soon turns into something that works.

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   L a d y f a c eposted 14 years ago

   I read. Usually news sites and "news" sites. There are lots of things to read on there that can make you feel like writing about something.

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   Wesman Todd Shawposted 14 years ago

   One thing that someone had told me recently, and I thought that it was interesting - is that writer's block doesn't really exist.  We've always got things to say, what happens is that people say that they have "writer's block" when they are feeling as if what they do have to say isn't important.  Now, I'm not certain that that is completely true, but sometimes writer's block probably really is just a self esteem shortage.  I think that applies to me, anyway.

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   shynslyposted 14 years ago

   Get drunk. That's honestly about it, and all I meant to say, but it said I had to make my answer longer, lol.

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10. 61

    vietnamvet68posted 14 years ago

    Go through old family photo albums or pictures that I have taken over the years. They all give me ideas on things to write about. Good Luch with your writing.

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    justomposted 14 years ago

    Everybody that took time to give an answer has a negative. Does that mean nobody's right if everybody's wrong?

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    John B Baddposted 14 years ago

    Write through it.  Even if you think what you are writing down is complete garbage just keep writing it down, anything and everything that comes to your mind. 
    Come back to it and edit it the next day.  Then write more.  Eventually you will forget you had a block and some of the things you thought were no good when you first put them down may spark a great idea or become great in their own right.

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    Gypsy48posted 14 years ago

    I go for a nice long walk (4 to 5 miles) and enjoy nature. This seems to clear my mind and I get ideas again.

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    Smaridge01posted 14 years ago

    Step away from the edge for a while
    Then come back and just start typing whatever is in my head... even if it's just something like...
    
    "I'm sitting here at my desk writing and it's cold and windy outside and my freaking toes are COLD and the cat is rolling around in a pile of catnip and having a good time and what is catnip anyway, and why do cats go nuts for it and can it be smoked and and and and ...."
    
    Something like that will usually get something going.  And no, I haven't tried smoking catnip, yet.

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    Rob Hanlonposted 14 years ago

    I don't do anything.
    
    Worst thing I could do is to beat myself up about it, as potentially that could exacberate the problem.
    
    Experience tells me that I have phases where the writing flows and times where it just ... goes.
    
    To be honest, I don't think I could handle being able to come up with new ideas to write about all of the time :-)

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