I'm in the process of setting up a blog to start writing fiction again. Problem is, I can't seem to get started with actual writing. Sometimes I just stare at the screen for long periods of time. Any advice, other than a swift kick in the ass?

#Writing #Fiction #SwiftKickInTheAss

@j Let your mind wander...type whatever comes up...sometimes you have to ease in and then delete the 'startup writing'

@j - I could bore you with plenty!

There is no such thing as writers block. You are not in the mood, have nothing to say, have something else on your mind - a thousand reason could be behind it. None of them mysterious and most of them probably mundane.

Do something daft like write a short fairy tale or children's story. Just to get your fingers and brain moving!

Here you go:

"Jane thought if she had to go up that hill one more time...."

@j write. A subject, intro, sentence, or write out your grocery list. Then it will come. Or not. In that case: let it be. Nobody is forcing you to write, so don’t force yourself. Make it fun or relaxing, not a chore, job or must.

@j I hit blocks like this too, and I sometimes find that contests/prompts are good to get me back in the habit so that I don't have access to my entire brain. This is what I'll be working on this week: https://www.stonecropmag.com/microfiction-contest-2020

@cchogan Thanks! Much appreciated.

@vlazuvius My block has lasted for years. Feels like a prison sentence. Thank you for the advice.

@j I get it. I wrote constantly in adolescence, but then it just went away. I went to college just to have deadlines, and wrote a bunch again. Then I graduated and didn't get in grad school, and other than last year's contest, I haven't done shit since my diploma arrived. Spend all day at work with writer brain, and as soon as I'm on my own time, *poof*. It's depressing.

@vlazuvius I can so relate to this. Writing seems to come and go for me..wrote a lot in my teens and early 20s, then not again until my mid-40s. Now I'm mid-50s and stuck again. Maybe I should give up? At this rate, I'll be 80 before I ever write a book. *sigh*

@j I have been writing on and off. Wrote my first book laboriously over several months and I think I took another year or so of editing. Then stopped writing altogether (except for short stuff) for about 10 - 15 years. Started writing again last year and trying to do serialized stuff was what motivated me. Just trying to get something out because I knew there might be somebody who'd want to read it and so that I had to keep going and put down at least a chapter each day ...

Then got busy again, but one of the reasons I like the Fediverse is that you can do really long posts on some instances so that you can do daily fiction on here 🙂 So that's what I'm thinking of doing again. Writing daily on here rather than on a blog ... but just need to find the time 😛

Maybe that might work for you too? Knowing that people are reading and getting feedback might be the motivator?