Having a REALLY hard time getting back into writing.

[Tahahiro23]

I'm sorry if this isn't in the right spot, I'm still new to the pages and I'm sorry if it's a question that someone else has already asked, but I'm really nervous and new to these sorts of things, so I was hoping that perhaps someone could help me out.... please?

You see, I used to write ALL of the time. I came up with new creatures, I could come up with name's for characters on the fly.... however, after I had started to date someone it seemed that all of my inspiration and creativity went out the window. It wasn't until finding this group and a couple of other bigger communities on the web that the spark to write, create, and draw came back to life. My only problem right now is.... is that i have no idea where to start. Can anyone give me some pointers, or even a direction to look to get started? I eventually want to get my stories and books published, but I have to figure out where to start first. Any suggestions or advice is highly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[Ben Moore]

I don’t know about you, but I’ve found it helpful to mull an idea over in my head for a few days, maybe even a couple of weeks, before physically writing.

If you hit upon a good idea, maybe just try daydreaming on it for a while. Then, when you come to write, you’ll have an idea of the direction you’re heading in.

If you’re a multiple drafts person, then just get words down initially, even if they’re not great. Neil Gaiman once said something along the lines of ‘The point of redrafting is to make everyone think you knew what you were doing the first time round.’

[AdamRedWolf]

Start small. I know you probably have a ton of big ideas in the back of your mind that are just waiting to be built into stories, but if you've been out of practice for a while you really just need to get started again. I have a few ideas for you:

1) Try journaling a little bit every day or a couple days a week just to get back into the swing of things and put words to paper. If your day-to-day isn't something you want to write about, then write down some of your memories - good and bad - to jog up old emotions that you might be able to draw on to reignite the passion you used to have for writing.

2) Do some creative writing exercises, like list out character traits (name/appearance/hobbies/etc.); describe a scene; make lists (things that smell bad, things you like, things you hate, etc... then you can attribute those to characters down the line).

3) Write a back story for a character from a book/movie/show that already exists which hasn't been touched on in the story.


I totally understand your struggle. Big life changes can sap old pieces of ourselves that we thought we'd never lose - and the truth is, it's not lost, you just have to let it resurface. So, my advice is to start small. You don't have to pump out the perfect story or an entire novel the first time you sit down and write.

[Andy_C]

Read On Writing by Stephen King. I’m sure it will help you, very good practical advice on writing, editing and even reading for inspiration. Great book.

[Andy_C]

P.s. it might be a good idea to look out for any creative writing groups or courses near you. I find that universities often have evening courses for non students. Might be worth meeting with likeminded people and sharpening your craft through exercises and feedback etc

[Inkroverts]

You can try visiting writingexercise.co.uk
There're many small writing exercises and prompts to play with. It's nothing serious, but at least it gets me writing.