Getting over writer's block?

How do you deal with writer's block Veeky Forums? What gets your imagination moving again?

I said I'd run a one-shot for some friends, but I've since been unable to think of anything interesting. How do I alleviate this suffering?

Quit being a bitch about it and just write some shit down. You don't need to be inspired and you don't need to come up with the perfect shit.

Brute force it and write something anyway.

Funnily enough it's doing something else entirely. The magic combination for me is getting mentally tired (usually from studying) then watch/read something stimulating (i.e. in the genre that you want to run your game).

Also don't listen to That's how bad sessions are born (it is not necessary, but when the GM isn't enthusiastic it really shows, and will most likely kill the mood at the table).

>Instead of actually writing, watch some TV or read a book or generally just avoid getting shit done!
Shut up.

>just regurgitate the first thing that pops into your mind!
>who gives a shit if it’s not coherent or refined!
You’d be great at writing sitcoms.

There's no such thing as "writer's block". You're just afraid your audience, whoever they may be, will think that what you wrote sucks and that they'll think you're a colossal tool. It's all there is to it. It is just your fear of fucking up something you care about.

I know this shit all too well, and one thing that helps is just figure out a character or two for the party to play off of (especially in a one-shot) and just improvise your way out of it. Don't bother with writing down a whole bunch of shit. It's enough to just get the general idea, give them a direction (this is important, none of that "lol you can do whatever you want now" type of shit because then they'll just fuck about and do nothing, a simple, clear goal is always needed for players to be drawn in) and then just work with what your party does. This way the story will grow organically, it will be tied directly to what the players are doing and they'll like it.

Feeling stumped at some point? Just roll some dice behind the screen while you come up with what's happening, maybe roll some random encounter/effect table, maybe just go with whatever feels appropriate for the roll you made. Your players will never get a look into your head, so if they miss a character, a plot hook or whatever else you wanted them to notice? Well, you just put it around the next corner. Or sometimes scrap it, only to introduce it at some other time. Or don't and just forget about the idea because it would no longer make sense.

Point is, you gotta get the ball rolling, and the only way to do it is by, well, doing it (the very crucial step), and second, not sweating too much even if you might fuck up, because at the very worst case you and your friends will be a little bit bored. The biggest hurdle is overcoming your fear. Calling it what it is is the first step in mustering the courage to fight it.

And you'd be shit at writing anything ever, because you'd be too fucking busy watching movies and whining about how you're "not feeling inspired".

Just wing it. Eventually you'll get the hang of it.

All it takes is a cool opening scene.

I usually GM a session every month or so. I haven't had a truly shitty session in years. The way I see it a slowly moving campaign is better than a quick but shitty one.

I run a game twice a week for anywhere between 3-16 people. I haven't had a shitty session either, so I have to ask what the fuck your point is?

Not OP, but this did help me stop procrastinating, so thanks.

My point is that taking your time to create something doesn't equal just "watching movies and whining about how you're "not feeling inspired"."

Trying to force something pretty much guarantees bad work. If you do soemthing else for even just twenty minutes, you let your mind wander and get inspired and are more likely to just have ideas that you then want to write up.

Just force yourself to get something down on the paper, and tidy it up later! Another way to think about it is this: if you keep your pen in the same spot for too long, you'll just get a big dark puddle of ink. So just move your hand, and go with the flow!

>and don't forget to save your game

Or he just can't think of anything to write that isn't actual garbage on a page?
OP try looking for some inspiration. Do something different.

I got something for this.

I usually watch or read media related to what I want to write about and get inspiration from that.

Steal shit from early age Comic books where they didn't have this problem you're talking about.

>How do you deal with writer's block Veeky Forums? What gets your imagination moving again?
no need to thank me

stupid amounts of coffee and almost no sleep. sleep is for dead people

give a few nights, you'll just spew magic before you inevitably crash.

LJust write anything. Even if its a blatant rip off. Even if its a knock off of another game. Even if its uninspired fetish fuel.

Even if you are rewriting an entire system to make sense to only you.

The point is to keep yourself busy because the less time you spend NOT WRITING, the more time you are gonna be blocked by not being creative.

Try to jump between game worlds too if that helps.

Go fantasy one week, watch horror movies and think of Call of Cthulhu scenarios one day, then have fun writing up a new fantasy with a mix of Lord of the Rings and Hyrule Warriors.

Will it be good? Fuck no but it will keep your creative juices boiling for when you are ready to add the creative noodles later.

Sounds like you need to input for a while.
Read.
Watch TV.
Read.
Go to the movies.
Read.
Play video games with "plot".
Read.

If you want advice on a quick fix to try to get your juices flowing, here's an exercise:

Pick one of your favorite TV shows, preferably one that's not currently on the air. Now pick a movie that you know very well, whether or not it's recent or one of your favorites.
And pick a genre suitable for the system you want to play, or do it independent of the system if that's your thing, like Space Opera or sword & sorcery or film noir?
Now switch the cast of characters from the TV show into the movie setting replacing the main characters or merging them as you see fit. Now erase the primary protagonist and figure out how the beginning of the story would start without them.
Now add your players characters instead of the protagonist.
Now tweak everything until it all makes complete and utter sense.
Give it a try right now, everyone.

If the end result is weak, just do it again with different show and different movie or book.
The idea is to take characters that don't belong in a setting and wedge them into the setting with another elements such as a villain or the player characters or a MacGuffin.
Doing it with ones you know well make it intuitive.
My best result was combining a Mech system with Tank Girl and King of the Hill.
Don't be afraid to mix fudge into the tuna casserole and see what happens.

Making the changes necessary to get it all on the same page and make sense is what gets the juices flowing.
How'd it work?

Another technique is using random tables to generate everything. Figuring out why there is a rustmonster in farmland can be a nice seed for ideas.

Not OP, but thanks for the advice. I need to try this at some point.

Go outside and do shit

Like excercise. Or drugs.