I've found a probable cure for writer's block!

It happened by chance this morning. I hadn't written so well in a long time.

A bit of info first. Up until early 2011, I was in college earning my associate's degree. During that time, I was creative and, most of all, loved to write. I had my own special world that I visited over and over again.

After I graduated and was able to sleep as much as I wanted, my creativity dropped like a rock. It was like pulling teeth trying to finish last year's NanoWrimo project, which ended up being subpar compared to the previous years'.

I'm a night owl and always have been. Getting up early for classes always left me vaguely tired.

Now, this morning my mom had to leave for a trip. I wake up twice every morning for some reason, one WAY too early and the other embarrassingly late. I knew that if I chose the second one, I'd miss my mom's departure, so I got up the first time to stay up for the two hours until she left.

While she got ready, I decided to pass the time by trying to write again. And lo and behold, the words flew out... with no objection from the critical thinking part of my brain that always gets in the way when my mind is fully rested and filled with a pointless racket of thoughts.

I'd only gotten 5 hours of sleep, so this situation was a bit extreme. But I made the connection soon enough. Sleep deprivation makes me more creative. It's a known phenomenon, in fact-- I looked it up to make sure.

I'm so happy I have a working theory as to my lost creativity. Now for an ongoing experiment: an alarm clock set for roughly 7 hours after I go to bed. If this goes as planned, this November I'll have a great time indeed!

Glad you found your own way to overcome a troublesome menace.

I used to use a few 'things' to negate my writers block but i'm afraid ATS's t&c doesn't look to kindly into discussing them. Your right though it's when we are exhausted that the right brain seems to go into overdrive and flood you with creativity. Often a problem for artists and writers wanting sleep!

Happy writing.

Thanks!
I'm curious as to what your methods were, but if it involves drugs of some sort, they would be out of the question anyway.

Sorry if I seemed a bit egocentric in my post. I try not to reference other people, as if I know what their situations are.
Just putting my little experience out there, in hopes that it might help someone.

Different things work for different people.

Glad you found yours. I find copying others work then changing the words then deleting it all and starting my own puts me on track.

So if I have a research paper to write and am stuck I will just start writing what someone else did, a few paragraphs, then go back and reword the sentences, then delete it and start writing with my own research.

Seems to set me on the right track.

reply to post by EllaMarina

While I was in college, and needed inspiration for a paper, I would tell myself, before I went to bed, that I wanted to dream about it. The unconscious mind seems to be quite a powerful thing, at least for me. I might not have remembered the dream, but I would wake up with a floodgate of ideas, and write out a paper (non-stop) within the hour. I was on the honers list my entire time in college (Summa cum laude) so this technique certainly worked for me.

Oh I wanted to add that if I was unfamiliar with the topic that I would read everything I could get my hands on before bed, and then go to sleep. The brain does a fairly good job of figuring it all out. Then get up and start writing.

I am also a night owl and a horrendous sleeper and used to sleep in a lot.

I am curious to try this as my artistic creativity has been in the toilet as of late. I have considered writing too so maybe this could be a jumping off point...

As an novel author, songwriter, blog author and newsletter editor, I too get blocked from time to time. One thing I learned a long time ago is to put things away for a bit.

I'v written book chapters, song titles, lyrics, ideas etc down....and sometime Ive put them away for months-years even...and come back to them. When I write, I just write. No thinking. I can think when I edit later. It works better for me to just charge into it, like a flow...or automatic writing. If I stop to think each line, word and do it all at once....I become too critical.

Some of the best things Ive written began with a line or couple verses or paragraphs 10 or more years back.... when I was able to "connect the dots" at last and finish them!

Good Luck to you....MS

reply to post by StarsInDust


I might try that trick tonight! I never dream about what I want to, though. Maybe the simple act of thinking about my world (or rereading some of my old writings) before I fall asleep will do some good.

Best of luck to you, abeverage.

reply to post by mysterioustranger


That never did work for me. It seems I'm destined for loose ends, since my stories have no plot and therefore no neatly tied endings. I'd be more motivated if I planned on working towards resolutions of round, separate stories rather than slices of life with endless continuations. (Unless one considers a character's death to be about as final of an ending as one can get...)

reply to post by EllaMarina


I really hope my technique works for you!!