Greetings RPN! I hope you are all having a marvelous time and your creativity is at its peak; if not, then this post might be just helpful enough to get those creative juices flowing yet again.
Ah, writer's block! We all get it, and sometimes waiting it out is easier said than done. You find yourself sitting in front of your screen - be it your laptop, your PC or your plain ol' phone - and your mind is as blank as the Word document you are trying to fill up. Whether you are working on a chilled roleplay starter or your characters are caught in the middle of an inciting impasse, sometimes ideas are simply impossible to be translated into words. Over the years, I have gathered a bunch of little things that make feel better and help nourish the mind, that I hope you will find just as useful as I do.
If exercises of the spirit prove to be ineffective, try giving your body some attention as well!
I hope you found at least one of these suggestions useful! What are your tips for when you're stuck in a ditch?
Ah, writer's block! We all get it, and sometimes waiting it out is easier said than done. You find yourself sitting in front of your screen - be it your laptop, your PC or your plain ol' phone - and your mind is as blank as the Word document you are trying to fill up. Whether you are working on a chilled roleplay starter or your characters are caught in the middle of an inciting impasse, sometimes ideas are simply impossible to be translated into words. Over the years, I have gathered a bunch of little things that make feel better and help nourish the mind, that I hope you will find just as useful as I do.
- Spend your time ingesting art. Be it a good book, Victorian poems or paintings, the greatest source of inspiration sometimes does not only lie in our heads. A site that is pure fuel for my imagination is Artstation, and I have borrowed from artists like Lana Šator, Andreas Rocha, Anton Fadeev and Vyacheslav Safronov for as long as I can remember. For those of you who are fans of realistic (mostly female) faceclaims, the amazing photographer Marta Bevacqua on Behance is a godsend.
- Communicate with your writing partners. Find what the problem really is. On another note, an undeveloped idea that seems out of place when written down can take flight when a second mind joins the creative workshop. Left unsolved, it can slow down a roleplay and potentially make it die out. Lack of communication has been the cause of many of my losses, and I like to believe that I have learned a big load from my past mistakes in that matter.
- Shift your mind to something completely different. Are you stuck on a reply for a knight's adventure set in the middle ages of Europe? Great! Come up with a scenario for a peasant caught up in an unfortunate series of events in Feudal Japan! Taking another route can reset your mind when you find an obstacle you have been overdriving yourself to pass. Bear with me and think of it this way - eating one type of food for too long can get bland and uninteresting, no matter how good it was to begin with. Try a new recipe, and you might just find a couple ingredients that you can implement in your boring meal to make it pop again. Even if that fails, taking a small break from a story is still likely to help alleviate the pressure.
If exercises of the spirit prove to be ineffective, try giving your body some attention as well!
- The almighty bath (or shower). Cliche, I know, but trust me when I say submerging yourself in steaming liquid is probably the best thing you could do to help your body and mind. Hot water improves circulation and can help relieve pain that you did not even know was there. PRO TIP: Run the hot shower head over your nape, right at the base of your head, for a good few seconds. Thank me later.
- A proper snack. And no, I'm not talking about sugary, diabetes-inducing candy, but rather, the more tame version of that. Sometimes low energy derives from the lack of a good nutrition (or maybe, your body just needs a boost of energy to work at its peak again). What gets me back on my feet is a teaspoon of cacao (not to be confused cocoa - its more processed and sugary sibling) melted in a bit of warm milk and with a touch of sweetener to taste for those of us *REALLY* craving chocolate when we are low on will to live, or a plain old smoothie made with greek yogurt and fruit of your choice. (P.S.: The latter is what got me flashing through this post!)
- Being forgiving to your mind. If all else fails, then beating yourself over it will not spark your desire to write any more. Sometimes, it does take patience, and you should allow your mind some time to heal.
I hope you found at least one of these suggestions useful! What are your tips for when you're stuck in a ditch?
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