Fuck I Can't Write Crisis Pack:
@phoebe-delia asked in response to this fun lil ask game:
Do you have any advice for getting out of a slump/getting writing confidence back? . (for the ask anything) Do you have any advice for getting out of a slump/getting writing confidence back?
Now THIS. This is a good question, and something that is very much on my mind and has been for a while, as I am currently absolutely in the midst of this and trying to army crawl my way out. I don't have any magic bullets (is that the saying? idk) but I have been here before and i do have a small arsenal of tips or methods that I find can help me.
Here is my Fuck I Can't Write Crisis Pack (In no particular order):
Write anything
This is hardly groundbreaking advice, and it's also the hardest thing to actually do (imo) so do not beat yourself up if it takes a while to get to this. Basically, write ANYTHING―it can be aimless, it can be pointless, it can be crap (crap is subjective!! don't let the brain gremlins win!!).
Don't think about posting it, don't worry about anyone else ever reading it, just fling a few words onto a page and feel the rusty faucet turn on, proving to yourself that it still works.
Try and sus out what it is that's blocking you
Again this one is hard and annoying but functional. Once you can put your finger on the particular reason you're staring at a flashing black line on a blank page it can help you kick that reason off your lawn and into the bin.
And then, take it out of the bin and be kind to yourself about whatever that reason is. Maybe you feel shit because you're comparing yourself to others, your last fic felt like a lead balloon, you can't muster enthusiasm for what you once loved doing and fear that it's gone forever, you're projecting in a Tumblr post―whatever it is, it's something all the writers you admire and aspire to be like have felt, and been annoyed with themselves for, and so you can wrap it up in a blanket and put it on a shelf and be kind to it so it, (respectfully) shuts the fuck up.
(and remember, everyone feels insecure about their stuff. Like literally everyone, at some stage, feels like their stuff is rubbish)
Cheat on your OTP
Okay this one might not work for everyone, but it really does for me lol. Ruts (not the sexy kind) can often come with not wanting to engage in my usual ships, being annoyed by my lack of ability to fucking write them/anything/all my ideas taste like cardboard/bleh, and stepping out on them and reading something new can snap me out of it. Just, an injection of new ideas or scenarios or words or even just a little reprieve from being fed up with myself, which ideally, is why we're all here anyway.
(And then I come crawling back, and am welcomed with open arms haha)
In a similar vein:
Engage in media
This subtitle is genuinely terrible, i am sorry, LMAO, but essentially: find a piece of media that makes you go "oh, helLO sailor", unhinge your jaw like a snake, and consume it whole.
Let it nourish you, inspire you, excite you, making you feel SOMETHING, and then take that and think "fuck, what if i wrote bleepbloopblarp" and even if you write nary a single word, you've thought about it and that fucking counts.
It might be an album, a book, a song, a show, gifs of a hot person, the wikipedia summary of a movie, literally anything counts here if it makes you feel a twinge of creativity.
Ask yourself, what would Astolat do?
No for real. @candybarrnerd and I genuinely use this haha.
Worried your idea is stupid? Astolat would say write it.
Worried it's too weird? Nah, just write it.
It's dumb and no one will read it? Just write it for you *waggles eyebrows* (and then find out that yeah, nah, someone else will absolutely read this and be real fucking happy about it haha.)
Worried you're a one trick pony and have already written this fic before, like, and not even once before, and also you're projecting again in Tumblr post? WRITE IT AGAIN! As Astolat once said, "it's a fic so nice, I wrote it thrice".
It's good advice.
Make a friend or lean hard on the ones you have here
Misery loves company because it knows they'll come out of this together :). I know, I know, that's fucking NAFF, but fandom is all about finding like-minded freaks and blowing up their DMs because you saw a gif and now feel a kind of ways about it.
And lastly:
FUCK STATS!
I mean I love stats (yay validation!), but god can they make you feel like a worthless shit (hey where did my validation go :((( ). It can be really insidious, so piss that right off when it starts to fuck with your confidence or outlook on your own writing.
Hopefully there is something useful here, even if it's just looking at this advice and thinking "no that's shit, it's writing POISON" cos then you can maybe do the version you think is NOT shit, and that might work.
Good luck, fellow travelers!!
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Art is dead - Bo Burnham is relatable.
Because I've been taught that my theater group depends on donations to finance the shows.
Because I've been taught that art is painting with colors. Anything else is anything but art.
Because art can't get you a stable life, you have to get a "real" job.
Because everyone likes the artistic pieces unless they find out they're made by a part of a group they hate (like disabled, poc, queer, etc.)
Because most successful artists have committed crimes nowadays.
Because my aunt complains that we don't do more modern pieces and doesn't appreciate our new interpretations of art that has existed for a long time.
Because art class is just about painting and not how we can utilize words, melodies, our voice to create all kinds of art.
Because artists get destroyed by (modern) education.
Because how can it be that I have been told countless times that "PaInTiNg WoNt GeT mE aNyWhErE" or "YoU cAnT mAkE a LiViNg OfF oF yOuR(my) wRiTiNg" and no one DARES to question why??
Because how can it be that people can't (won't) look at the layers old poems or paintings have and just view the top layer, which is how it looks???
BECAUSE I'VE BEEN CALLED A NERD FOR LOOKING BEHIND THE OBVIOUS JUST BECAUSE THE AVERAGE TEENAGER CAN'T.
BECAUSE I'VE BEEN CALLED CRINGE FOR WRITING AND THAT I SHOULD KEEP IT SECRET
BECAUSE THE WHOLE CLASS GROANS WHEN I WANNA PRESENT WHAT I'VE WRITTEN
BECAUSE MY WRITING HAS BEEN CALLED EMBARRASSING,
YET OTHERS ARE ENVIOUS OF MY PAINTINGS
EVEN THOUGH I JUST PAINT WHAT WORDS I HAVE IN MY HEAD
BECAUSE MY OWN FATHER MOCKED ME FOR MY FIRST ATTEMPTS AT WRITING
BECAUSE I'VE BEEN CALLED "CRINGE" "EMBARRASSING" AND A "NERD" JUST BECAUSE I AM NOT AS MENTALLY PUT BEHIND AS THE AVERAGE STUDENT
YES I CAN'T DO MATH AS GOOD AS YOU, BUT I HAVE EXCELLED AT THE JOKE POETRY ASSIGNMENT MY GERMAN TEACHER GAVE ME, WHEN YOU HAVE FAILED AND I WATCHED GLEEFULLY
I CAN EXPRESS MYSELF THROUGH MY KIND OF ART BETTER THAN YOU CAN ATTEMPT BECAUSE YES I MAY HAVE FOUR As BUT I STILL HAVE A MIND THAT CAN CREATE AND NOT JUST FOLLOW RULES.
My writing is art.
I want it to be recognized as art.
Art is not cringe.
Art is not embarrassing.
Art is not something to groan at.
Art is not something only for nerds.
Art is wonderful.
Art is to be appreciated and interpreted again.
And I fear for the future if this is the start of how art will be treated.
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