(I'll be the first to admit that this seems like a strange thing to do, or at least the idea of posting this on numerous forums I've been on for some time and other websites/places I use on a regular basis, but I figured it might help on getting a variety of different perspectives. (And if this has to be relocated to some other forum in evageeks, fair enough) So, here goes...)

Hi. My name is Jim McGrath, but I'm better known round these random parts of the internet as FrDougal9000 (and on a few occasions, Apollo Chungus). Since December of 2010, I've been creating content for the internet in a variety of ways. The vast majority of that content is either video reviews for games, TV shows, etc. or fanfiction in which I've been trying to figure out how to be a good writer in terms of distinct characterization, subtle world-building, descriptions and other areas (since it inspired me to become a professional writer some day).

I also like to come up with original ideas for short stories or small game scripts when I'm not doing that, I like to write detailed forum posts or brief blurbs discussing all manner of things, and I'm starting work on what I hope to put out as my first novel. (I also compose and arrange music as a hobby. Even though it doesn't really have anything to do with what I'm writing about in this post, I figured I should put it out there at the very least)

As you can guess, pretty much everything I do in terms of creative content involves me sitting down at a keyboard and writing reams and reams of paragraphs: something I've been able to manage for the last four and a half years just fine. Even if I have a creative block in one area, there's three or four other things I can tackle until I get the inspiration to pick up where I left off. But for the last month, I haven't been able to do anything.

Whenever I've sat at the computer or with a pen and paper in hand and said to myself that I'd write something, I can't find the will to keep on it for more than five minutes, at best. I'm stuck in the middle of writing my next review, I'm struggling to end the second chapter of said novel, and I can't even figure out how to continue with that aforementioned fanfiction (which is currently 10 chapters through a complex 12-chapter plot that I don't know how to wrap everything up without it all seeming rushed and terrible).

It's not that I hate writing things; I'm not the kind of person to do something I can't stand. I adore coming up with new worlds and characters, stories to tell that can stick with people, giving my honest opinion on something while acknowledging what it did and didn't do well, along with the English language and all the little subtleties that can tell so much in just a few short words. But I can't muster up the bother to do any of it right now. And that's never happened before.

To add some context, I went through 5 years of secondary/high school while I was doing most of that. I went through the Junior and Leaving Cert exams (which are really important to you not-Irish readers) & the build-up to them by day, and writing reviews and other such things at night. I gladly admit that this is more than likely the end result of me putting so much more work on top of myself than I needed to and getting exhausted by the time I finished the last exams just over two months ago. I'm also 19, which I figure isn't the best age to be doing so much writing and/or work when most of it's my fault.

I remember hearing today that whenever things aren't going well, you should do whatever you need to put your mind at ease and build up your strength until you find the solution to get past them. I thought it was a surprisingly good philosophy, but I don't really know what I need to do. I guess that's why I'm putting this up on some many places for y'all to read.

What do you think I need to do, in order to get over this massive creative block? Should I cut down my work rate, or at least commit to one thing at a time before moving on to the next? Should I stop working for another month or two and let my creative side relax long enough to recharge and get back into the swing of things? I'll appreciate any replies I get, and if it helps me out, I won't be able to thank you enough from the bottom of my heart.

So that's really it for now. If you have any questions you'd like me to answer to help you contextualise matters enough to suggest something, I'll do my best to answer. Thank you for at least reading this, and I hope you have a great day. :)

-Jim McGrath/FrDougal9000

Over time, there's only so much effort you can put out across everything you do; every so often you need a breather. I know the amount of code I write in side projects varies inversely with the amount I've written during the working day; and that extends equally to blogging, or fiction writing -- only so much concentration available in a day.

Forcing through it is possible -- one well-known author once dedicated a book "To My Creditors, an eternal source of inspiration"; but if writing isn't your day-job, where a quick piece of hack work would do just to round out a contract, that impulse isn't there.

Instead, you could try doing something physical that lets the mind wander into a meditative state; or change the focus of what it is you're doing -- GMing served me as a vehicle for my creative impulses when I ran dry on what to write next because it provided different emphases on what I had to do.

I can't give you a definitive solution, but here are some things to consider:

1. 19 is, in writer years, an infant. It doesn't matter how many reviews you have written, you are still at the beginning of your journey. Writers like Antonin Artaud and Brett Easton Ellis are outliers.

2. The best way to become a better writer is to become a better reader. Read the best. I make sure that at least every other book I read is a novel written by a great author in the past 30 years.

Compiling_Autumn wrote:19 is, in writer years, an infant. It doesn't matter how many reviews you have written, you are still at the beginning of your journey. Writers like Antonin Artaud and Brett Easton Ellis are outliers.

This reminds me all too much of Stephen King's foreword to The Gunslinger - itself titled "Nineteen", written after the final book was published.

Mr. Tines has the right of it. When it's me (and it frequently is), intentionally doing something that works different parts of the brain tends to help. Your mind is always working, always recompiling information, and giving it a break from a particular task lets the neurons chat and conspire amongst themselves. If your usual tendencies are barnacle-like (mine are), varying up your environment almost always makes a difference, too.

Compiling_Autumn's suggestion is good, too. (I can't personally vouch for its effectiveness, since my brain has forgotten the art of reading books cover to cover and needs to be retrained.)

Occasionally I find that I suffer not so much from writer's block as being overwhelmed by the breadth of my own projects. In those instances, I pretty much have to force myself to sit down session after session and peck away at the thing. If it works out, that intimidation is eventually replaced by feeling wholly possessed by my own work and needing to see it through.

Reichu wrote:being overwhelmed by the breadth of my own projects

Analysis paralysis, it is often termed -- you spend more time thinking about how to approach the task than actually doing anything.