call ’em writer’s bug.

So if there’s no such thing as writer’s block, there’s got to be a thing as writer’s bug, right? Because those four traits bug me to madness. I think I’ll call it that. Writer’s bug. What do you think?

Anyway, being a common victim of writer’s bug, I constantly get frustrated and pessimistic. ‘Cause I starting my story all excited and stuff and then BAM! My story becomes a string of words that look as if I just picked ’em up and arranged them in random order. Doesn’t make sense. So, it has been hard, but then I’ve found awesome ways of getting myself back on my feet, and I’ve decided to share them with you.

1) Read here, read there. Read, read, read. Okay, so since I don’t have access to really awesome (modern) teen books, I have to depend on the net and some books that I got from teens who left this country (expats). But even then, we have all kinds of books; from documentaries to studies to textbooks to guides–we have books. So what I do in my low times is take any book–any, open it, and just skim through a page or pages. It works wonders and it takes my mind off of my book(s) and gives way to new ideas. It’s possible even with dictionaries and encyclopedias. You never know…

2) Get off the laptop and get my pen and notebook/journal and sit near a window or outside–anywhere besides my desk. Sometimes the reason I’m not able to write is because I’m clogging up my mind with the Internet, surfing the waves of nothingness. So what I do is take a deep breath and just close my laptop and go outside; stretch my muscles and such. I even *cough* spy on my neighbors and write down what I think they’re doing and add my own whimsical touches. It’s extremely fun 😀 Don’t let them catch you though 🙂

3) Watch a movie. I love movies. I can literally sit down and watch movies for ten hours or more (with stretching intervals, hehe). Movies are very inspiring to me (well, some are), especially since that’s basically how I see all of books–as movies. I make sure to keep a pen and paper by my side though, even if it’s a movie I’ve watched countless times. You never know what random things may pop up in your head. They easily dissipate!

4) Listen to music…and convos. I love listening to music as I write. It’s so awesome when the music fits the mood because my writing flows better, and it just makes everything fun. I also happen to eavesdrop on a number of conversations…be it when my dad has friends over or my parents are chatting on the phone,  or in a restaurant–wherever there are people who talk, I have at least one ear on attention. It’s so cool observing their facial expressions and trying to predict what goes on inside their head, or listening to the tone of their voice and trying to figure out if the person is nervous or excited or bored. This is extremely great when I get stuck on creating characters. The little details many of us leave out are actually quite helpful in creating realistic characters.

5) Narrate a story to an inanimate object or my pet. Okay, okay, this may sound extremely weird, but it’s fun! If I’m tired and my brain is flat-out dry, I narrate a random story to a stuffed animal, my little sister (although she isn’t patient enough to sit and listen to me), or my pet. Animals love company, and I know for sure my dog doesn’t mind listening to stories coming off the top of my head or the ones I’m struggling with. I try my best to make it intriguing though–I’m trying to convince my dog that my stories are worth reading!  I also create different scenes with my dog and I, for example:

1. My dog is trying to get me to his home planet away from Earth.
2. My dog has puppy power. We can fly.
3. We are escapees from a factory that forces dogs and owners to switch character traits to create better people.

It’s crazy, I know. But if you’re looking for inspiration, you’ve got to find ways to get it. And so, these are my ways. Thanks so much for having a look, and I hope that some of these might help in your battle. If you have any more ideas, don’t hesitate to say so in the comments. I’m always open for new techniques 🙂

Keep writing!

Jojo

Disclaimer: All photos except for item #1 do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners. Also, the girl on the roof comes from an amazing blog you should  totally check out right here.