As someone who's had writer's block a gazillion times, I sympathise with you. I've read a great article about it recently that, in short, said that "writer's block" is the wrong term, it's better to think of it as "struggling to write" bc it's not an external thing (a block) but an internal one. Instead of waiting for it to pass you might be better off figuring out where it stems from.
To me, what you're experiencing sounds like the burden of expectations that comes with followers and a readership. I remember the perfect joy I had while writing my first couple of fics, when no one knew me, when I had no drarry followers or even a drarry blog, and it seems like a different reality. Knowing that there are readers out there who loved one or more of your stories actually makes it so much harder to write: what if they hate this new story? It's a pressure that no one really talks about, but it's very real.
The other thing you might be suffering from (and I've also experienced it) is getting too influenced by social media culture, esp tumblr. There was a time that I'd read a lot of meta and discussed writing aspects or tropes. I was constantly on social media, absorbing all these opinions people had, or even rants they made, about stories, and it completely stifled my creativity. Bc of Tumblr and twitter and discord, I second-guessed every creative choice I made, worried that someone would take offence of this characterisation or that plot point, worried that my ideas were derivative or that they were too controversial, too anxious to let myself loose. This is only a guess, you might not be suffering from this, but at least this has an easy solution: stay off the social media. It's one of the reasons I stopped using tumblr.
I hope it passes soon. It sucks when it happens, and it has a myriad causes. Sometimes it's just fatigue, other times reasons like the above, other times burnout. Figure out what's stopping you, tell your doubts to f**k off, take some time off, read some cool books, and don't force it. Words will come again and they'll be better than before, I promise :)
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2020-05-30 04:50 pm (UTC)To me, what you're experiencing sounds like the burden of expectations that comes with followers and a readership. I remember the perfect joy I had while writing my first couple of fics, when no one knew me, when I had no drarry followers or even a drarry blog, and it seems like a different reality. Knowing that there are readers out there who loved one or more of your stories actually makes it so much harder to write: what if they hate this new story? It's a pressure that no one really talks about, but it's very real.
The other thing you might be suffering from (and I've also experienced it) is getting too influenced by social media culture, esp tumblr. There was a time that I'd read a lot of meta and discussed writing aspects or tropes. I was constantly on social media, absorbing all these opinions people had, or even rants they made, about stories, and it completely stifled my creativity. Bc of Tumblr and twitter and discord, I second-guessed every creative choice I made, worried that someone would take offence of this characterisation or that plot point, worried that my ideas were derivative or that they were too controversial, too anxious to let myself loose. This is only a guess, you might not be suffering from this, but at least this has an easy solution: stay off the social media. It's one of the reasons I stopped using tumblr.
I hope it passes soon. It sucks when it happens, and it has a myriad causes. Sometimes it's just fatigue, other times reasons like the above, other times burnout. Figure out what's stopping you, tell your doubts to f**k off, take some time off, read some cool books, and don't force it. Words will come again and they'll be better than before, I promise :)