i feel like i've lost it

writing poetry used to be so easy for me. being able to just let the words flow out of my hands.. like music, you just let it take control.. but lately, every time i try too, it doesnt come to me. im just not feeling it anymore..

any ever felt like this? i try listening to songs or even reading others poetry to get some ideas or get in the mood.... but, it's just not happening.

I'm the same way and described it the same way as well. Yet, I saw it as a curse recently. I haven't written a poem in nearly a month but not because of writinger's block but because I was not in the mood. Give yourself a rest. Writer's do need a break.

you know i've been writing poetry since basically i was in 7th/8th grade and back then it was shit haha. i'm a freshman in college now and i've had many periods where I felt like I couldn't write and sometimes its just a lull and sometimes you're just forcing it and you can't force it. Like inspiration, you can't just hire a muse to hit you on the head and strike you with brilliance. It takes time, so I suggest to just relax, keep writing, it might not be good stuff for a while, but slowly your head will start to clear. It just takes time. Good luck and I can't wait to hear your stuff soon!

i have felt like that it is called writers block don't worry one day it will come back to you try listening to music you might need a bit of inspiration start thinking of names for poems and may be you will get an idea

don't worry, it will come back to you

you just need to find your own inspiration, maybe one that's different than what it used to be?

it'll be over before you know it

I have mixed feelings about forcing myself to write. On one hand, it feels sort of gross to force creativity.... If you don't have anything to say/write about then just relax right? I don't know, sometimes the poems I enjoy the most came after a half hour of pulling my hair in frustration. It sucks being frustrated, but sometimes it wakes the mind up. When the juices are flowing like that, some things surface that might have stayed dormant if you didn't put yourself through the pain of struggling with your writers block. naw mean?

hmm....

dont loose hope

Yes I've felt like this many times, for a period of like, 4 years, I barely wrote at all. But you realize that it passes. Sometimes its writer's block, sometimes it's things going on in your personal life, sometime's it's something else. But don't give up or let it work into frustration/bitterness. Keep trying (whether you think it's any good or not), or take a break and come at it slowly. Everyone deals with it a bit differently.

Peace, Poetry, & Power,

Gary Jurechka

I have it that I start with a few really good lines but then I lose it and my poem starts getting really lame and I give up.
I think you really need a concentrated topic to focus your poem on. And it needs to be something that really affects you... or at least that's what I find.

try reading more books and if you do not lean an instrumet piano is the best.

To the original poster-I feel this way quite often, as a matter of fact i feel that way now. i can still write...but they lack the spirit my poems once had.

I've had it for the past seven months. Everything I've written during that time period has been complete idiocy. I hate it.

wow so many reply. ^^ dont know whom to reply too.. but... well, to those who says that it will pass. that's what i told myself also..... and it's been almost 2 years now. sure i've wrote a few, but sadly im just not happy with it.

like Bree wrote, "i can still write...but they lack the spirit my poems once had." that's how i feel. sucks!

I think that its normal that you are feeling this way. I felt this way last year. I couldn't understand it. I would write poems everyday, but then i just went blank and wouldnt write one for a week. It wasn't coz i was busy or bored with it, it just wasn't happening. I think it was partly coz i'd used my brain for all my poems and my head needed a break. Don't worry about it. Your talent will come back to you in no time.

Oh yeah....I felt like that for a LONG time. like it started when i got pregnant, then i found I had writers block or just couldn't do it anymore or whatever. (so i switched to drawing and coloring)
but now i had my baby and my post partum depression is gone so now I can write again.
but i know exactly what your feeling. exactly. but it should come back.

Yeah I am kind of like that right now.

Ya thats happened to me before but some how it just comes back to me

To be honest this happened to me and i ended up going from writing a poem or two every single night to writing about three poems in one year!!! i mised writing it but then when i was writing i didnt know what to write. however the break done me good as i started writing again out of the blue with one idea and it just got me back into the swing againx xxx

I know how you feel..i feel like i have writers block but when i least expect it something comes to me.....

Omg gurl, i am the same way. i've recently written poetry, that i thought to be really good. but for example its like i'm brest feeding, and its becoming to hard; too un-natural, and i start bleeding. that is how i'm feeling, i'm pushing it to hard when i kno i have the capablity to let it flow. i'll get there, all i can say is, unfortunalty when something bad (or good :] ) happens you will have poetic thoughts flowing again, you can't just force it...

Usually if you
1. take a break and
2.just read good poetry(like Emily Dickinson or Poe), and books(real classics and/or books that friends say are amazing), and listen to music, look at amazing art, and spend extra time out of your house, living life and
3. sometime, when your mind is empty/blank for a moment, sit down in a quiet spot, think of a topic or just a first line, and start to write
**for extra inspiration, choose lines from writing and poems, or even you own thoughts, that sound really cool. use those as titles, themes, first lines, or just inspiration (as long as you don't steal ideas)

Let it flow

Let it flow

It's called writer's block.
and it's ok if it happens. i usually do things that will inspire me like read someone else's poetry or listen to some music..and i get back on track.
just give it time hun.
--Viola