The first thing to accept is that
it happens to everyone. No matter who you are - Jane Austen, Stephen King, Catherine Cookson, Jeffrey Deaver, you name it...they all suffered from writer's block at one time or another. I have never heard any L&C fanfic writer claim they've never had writer's block either. I've certainly had it, lots of times.
Great solutions so far from Hazel and Lynn, and I'd definitely endorse them. Starting with putting aside the story you're working on and writing something else: I've done that plenty of times and that's how I now have a few completed stories with an author's note beginning something like 'this story has lurked on my HD unfinished for almost three years'.
It happens; you sometimes just run out of inspiration on a particular story and it may help to write something different and come back to it later. If it helps, CC, I think I have only one story on my HD that I'm pretty sure I'll never finish; other WIPs I've left either did get finished or will be in the near-ish future.
Another tactic I've used a few times is to skip ahead. Do you know where you want to go in the story in question? Is there a scene you've been dying to write, but you can't seem to get the stuff before it filled in? I have no idea if you're a 'linear writer' or if, like some (LabRat being a classic example
) you write scenes as and when they occur to you, regardless of where they appear in the story. I'm a linear writer, but have occasionally jumped ahead to write a scene which fascinates me, and then I often find that I can somehow see my way to filling in the blanks afterwards.
Hazel mentioned brainstorming, and that's something I
really recommend. Do you have a beta-reader currently? I know LabRat BRed TTW/ABA for you. BRs can be terrific at helping to iron out seemingly-insoluble problems. They're also hugely useful in either pinpointing just what was nagging you about a particular scene (eg something not quite working), or reassuring you that something you think is awful is really very, very good.
My own BRs are absolutely fantastic at that, and it's immensely helpful, if you've got blocked because you think what you've written is dragging and uninteresting, to be told that actually it's pretty darned good.
(Or to be given some fantastic suggestions as to how to make it better).
For me, one of the best ways of brainstorming is on IRC, and I'm sure lots of writers would agree. I know you've resisted IRCing, CC, but maybe once in a while, if it'd help you overcome your block, it couldn't hurt?
If you arrange to meet your BR online, you can chat privately - or you could arrange to meet a few people in a private channel, and brainstorm there.
But above all, remember that you're not alone, and it will pass.
Wendy
