Hello dear mod, I hope that you're doing well! You offer a lot of wonderful advice, both for writing in general and ao3 specifically, I hope it's okay to ask for some myself. ^^;;
I have a problem similar to that of a recent ask, in that I've been struggling to actually write anything for months now. The ideas are there, I want so badly to write them at every moment except when I finally have the opportunity *to* write.
But I can't seem to figure out why I'm blocked so thoroughly. I tend to plan what i want to write in my head for a while before I do it, and I keep doing that with a few ideas and getting right to the point of wanting to move to actually writing and then it just... won't happen. I'll have the words one minute, open my notebook or pull up a document, knowing the sentence I want to put down, but it just dissolves in a blink.
Do you have any advice on how to identify the cause of a block like this? I feel like im stuck in a room with no exit, and it's so frustrating. T-T
*hugs* that's definitely a frustrating place to be in, anon!
It seems to me like this might be a form of writer's block? It's not one I've seen talked about before, though, so that's just a guess.
I suggest pausing the next time you experience this and just sit in the feeling instead of trying to push through it. Feel around the edges of it. Try to see what it is that's actually stopping you, since the words are there right up until you try to write them down.
- Are you sitting in an uncomfortable location or trying to write while there are too many external factors distracting you?
- Are you worried that someone is going to see you write or ask you what you're writing?
- Are you used to operating in dark mode and staring at a white page is throwing you off?
- Is the device that you're trying to write on annoying in some way? Does it make it harder to type?
- Are you worried you're going to be interrupted?
- Are you experiencing any kind of anxiety? Perhaps you're afflicted with a type of perfectionism where you correct each sentence as you write it and that's making you not want to write any sentences at all, for example.
Once you can identify what the actual issue is, you'll be able to start tackling it. This is one of those "the only way out is through" kind of situations, I think, so if you want to keep typing out your stories you'll need to figure out what makes typing them hard.
If you're okay with changing your methods, however, or if you just can't figure it out no matter how hard you try, then I recommend not typing your stories out.
Since writing in your usual way isn't working, try writing differently and see how that works out. Dictate your story into a voice recording and then transcribe it with speech-to-text. Then the typing part can start at the editing phase instead of a blank page.
Or maybe you need to see the words, but a screen is the problem. Try grabbing a pencil and some paper and going to town. Notebooks and pens can be inspiring in their own right, and you can use them almost anywhere. Take yourself out to the park or the beach or any place you find inspiring and see if writing there makes you more comfortable.
Have any of you experienced this particular kind of writer's block before? How did you manage to get past it - or around it?
This is my most common type of block too. I have the idea and I'm excited about the idea, but when I have time to write I want to do anything but that.
Sometimes it's: I have imagined this so thoroughly that it feels overwhelming to write it down. I'll never capture the depth and breadth of this scene in words. How do I convey the scenes in my head in a way that people will see what I'm seeing. My solution for that is starting a "word tree." Pick a word to describe the scene and then start listing synonyms coming off in branches. Then what the character is feeling, sensing, short descriptions of what is going on. This also helps with blank paper syndrome or not knowing how to start a scene as some replies have already mentioned.
The other issue I have is in a similar vein, I get overwhelmed at how long I think this project is going to take. I start thinking it's going to be months of writing. I'll never finish. What if it's not worth all the effort? While I'm working on this story, I won't be able to work on something else. Or if I do take a break to work on something else this wont get finished. What if I get in a good writing groove but then I can't write again this week and I forget what I was trying to say?
Then it's about taking the pressure off. Figure out why there's that pressure or what is causing the most stress. That can be giving your permission to take a break or work on something else. It's could be a reminder that the time is going to pass anyway so you might as well write it rather than worrying about how long it's going to take.
Write something really low stakes. Like a few tumblr tags about the expression of the character's faces during this scene and what might have been going their head. That is one of my favorite ways to break the block