How do you deal with low muse?

[Steele0Sterling]

When you are stuck and can't figure out what to write about how do you fix it?
How do you get inspired to write something good again.

Also, in the same vain.
How do you avoid word vomit and repeating yourself?

 

[skyfetcher]

I kinda don't, but the times I do succeed usually revolve around consuming media related to what I want to write. Fantasy work comes easier when I'm playing games and watching movies that contribute to the style I want to build; you probably shouldn't be watching The Mandalorian and then trying to write a LOTR fanfiction in the same stretch. Runners up include goalsetting/forcing myself to write even if it looks terrible (at least you have something to proofread) and ridding yourself of things that would distract you from the necessary mindset.

I similarly am poor with word vomit, but I'll prescribe a bit anyways; the idea that works best for me is to have an outline of what you want to touch base on in what you post. Don't prewrite, but just note the sorts of things you want to hit; cover what came before, call it good, run through actions in the order that would be relevant to your PoV, basically just arrange the notable details and hit them one by one. You shouldn't be repeating yourself if you have a grasp of time flowing in the scale of your content.

 

[Ocean Eyes]

To help with low muse; I usually write up scenarios of the characters with my partner. Anything related to the current scene of the roleplay or new scenes/ideas that can be added onto the roleplay later on~ Though, I only do this with close roleplay friends since usually not all roleplayers are into this kinda stuff lol

 

[LizH]

Watching/reading things 'in-theme' can work with triggering inspiration. Personally I often find the best solution to the blank page problem is just to write *anything*, and then sometimes you find inspiration comes, or at least you decide what you didn't want to say and can edit and re-do. But it can still be hard to force yourself to type the first lines in that situation.
If I'm truly stuck, I'll probably also ask my partner for help and suggestions. I ought to do that more often. But sometimes I just need to spend some time away from it and come back to it refreshed. Or realise that the block is because I'm not actually enjoying it any more.

 

[RestlessPanda]

Honestly I talk to my partner. I ask them, what would you like to see happen? What could happen? What's something that would make the scene better?

Or sometimes I take a nap. Been RPing for hours and I didn't realize how drained I was.

 

[Xanaphia]

I have techniques that work in the short term, techniques that help me get a post out.

• OOC dialogue. This is often the biggest help. Talking about the rp, and future directions we want to go in is often a big help in reinvigorating my desire to write and work on a story.
• Sprints can be really effective, just giving myself 10-15 minutes to write whatever comes to mind, focusing entirely on the writing and resisting the urge to click away from the writing. This one helps me, because I like to click away to twitter or even on here just to browse while I work on a post, one sentence at a time. Often I can get half or more of a post done in a single 15 minute sprint.
• Brief outline, just a sentence or two about what I want to address in the post, what feelings I want to explore, general tone, etc. This often helps narrow my focus, when I am at a loss as to what to write, mostly when I have too many ideas.
• Music that sets the mood. Personally, I really like these ambiance sounds that I can get on sites like TableTopAudio.com.

My struggle is a lack of long term muse. It wasn't that long ago that I regularly wrote 1000 to 1200 words a day. 2 to 3 posts on average. Now a days, I struggle to get one 400 word post done a day. Not sure if I have burnt myself out writing expansive, complicated stories with massive casts, or just desperate for something new to write. I don't want to drop my stories, but have a couple on unofficial hiatus. I need techniques and strategies to get back to the level of writing I know for a fact I am capable of.