Why can't I get started?

Folks,

Anyone else try to write and just end up staring at a blank screen? I've written prompts for myself and nothing. I have plenty of ideas but just can't get started somehow. I want to keep contributing to the library and express myself but it has just been very difficult to produce anything of worth recently.
I'd love to hear from some of the amazing authors here on how you keep it going and how you battle writers block..

Ah, would that I knew the answer. I did try collaborating on a story with another writer in an attempt at curing the dreaded block, but the effect only lasted as long as the two of us worked on the story. My current plan to kick start a particularly badly stalled story was to start writing another one using the same characters, but that suffered the same fate and now the poor characters are trapped in two limbos at the same time.

You could try what I did - join a great library/website where you can share your stories. That ended a 10-year period of writer's block for me. Oh right - you've already done that. Sorry. That's about it.

Ok... one more idea. Just observe real life going on around you, or a tv show/movie/ad and ask yourself how a spanking might fit into every situation.

I have the same problem. i have novel length stories floating around in my brain but I just can't get them typed out. I think one reason is that I'm worried that nobody will like them.

Eric
Write for yourself, and then you won't have that problem (hopefully!).

Njrick, what would be the point of that?

I generally have 2 or 3 ideas in my head at any one time, so while I'm writing one story on the screen. I'm working on another internally. I'm also fortunate enough to have the Spank Shop stories, and I tend to write one of those, then work on another unrelated story, and then do another entry to the shop series.

Eric
What would be the point? Well, I often read my own stories for enjoyment, for a start they cater to my own ideas of what a story should be pretty accurately (funnily enough). Of course there is always the problem that one can see the errors and poor bits in one's work, but once there are enough good ones it works.
Also getting it out of one's head and onto the page regularises it and robs the idea of its power to mock you with the accusation that you're not good enough to write it. Once it's done you can look back with a bit of pride at a job done.

If you are the kind of writer who'll prefers to plot out your stories you may wish to take a look at a writing tool called Scrivener. All my stories (bar the first) have been written using this marvellous aid, which is especially useful if you like to write in no particular sequence, as opposed to a linear start to finish approach. Sometimes you don't really know what happens next just yet, but you know how it ends up.

One thing that might really help you is the ability to set yourself writing targets such as overall word count, words per day etc. Set yourself nice, easily achieved goals, say one or two hundred words per day. I find it encouraging to see your self-imposed targets becoming ever nearer. It works for me anyway, and it's free to try (both PC and Mac) so you have nothing to lose. Good luck with your writing.

Hi Avalon,

A couple of points that might help:

1) You don't have to start at the beginning. The opening of a story is often the hardest part so leave it until later and start writing at whatever point is most developed in your head.

2) The first words you write don't have to stay in the story, you can always rewrite.

It sounds facile but the only way to start writing is to start writing. Writing isn't a gift that just 'comes to you' - it is a task, a chore. It can be great fun but it can be really hard work, too. Just get something, anything, down on the screen and you will be surprised at what follows.