Writers block?

[DommieGirl;;]

Why is that I can start a story, and can never finish it. I've had tons of stories, that I lost because my computer would crash on me constantly. Now I'm starting a new one, when I have one that I need to finish. I deleted one out of complete anger, or else I would still have three. Now its just two. Does any one else have this problem?
Where you can start something and can't finish it?

[Ash]

I have this same problem all the time. Only I wrote in notebooks and lost my writings because a pencil would break and there’d be no knife to sharpen it, or a pen would run out of ink. I’d have pages and pages of story that would seem good until I went back over it and realized it was crap…poor trees. What I’m getting at is that I’ve started countless stories and never finished one. My grand parents pulled together for a lap top so at least I don’t have to worry about knocking over trees for nothing any more.
My advice for you is to by some blank CDs to save progress on incase of a computer crash. They’re cheap and worth it. Rewritable ones are better though because you’ll get more uses out of them. You could also buy a flash drive stick thingy but they’re too expensive for me. My brother used floppy disk but I don’t know that they make those any more.
Any ways, your not alone here.
~Ash~

[Cody]

This is a big problem for me. I'll start a painting or writing and be really stoked about working on it, but it doesn't get finished fast enough and I have to move onto another idea that I have before I forget it and I end up having 20 half finished projects around me. It's especially bad when you're writing or drawing on paper and you start wondering how many trees have gone to waste so far. It's a sad thing.

[Jane Doe]

yeah, I have a ton of songs that aren't finished because I started writing them then I thought they sucked or sounded stupid so I stopped them, but I keep them in a binder in case I ever think of something to add

[Amy Lynn]

I normally have full plans before I begin writing, or at least plans for the first couple of chapters. Then I come up with more and more.

;] If its a good idea, you'll be able to write more on it.

[Charlotte Tracey]

Normally I'm pretty good about thinking up stuff for my stories. I did just come out of a tough writer's block though. It was painful. I couldn't think of any stories for a few months. ;_; I just had to wait for inspiration to come back.

One thing that does come in handy for my when I am creating stories though was creating character profiles. Just make a list of the physical features of a character, their likes, dislikes, ambitions, dreams, long term and short term goals, etc. It makes it easier to get a story in order, and get other characters involved.

[Connor Saxe]

I have nine college ruled, spiral bound notebooks filled with my writing, and not a single damn one of them has a finished story anywhere in it. You're not alone. I've had three huge stories going for years now, the earliest being a supernatural/realistic fiction. The second one's a high-fantasy along the lines of Tolkien, and the most recent (and most developed) is far future sci-fi. None have made it past random scenario writings so far, though I do love all the characters very much and refuse to give them up. So there you go.

[mari m]

YES!!!
I have lost a finished novel after my HD crashed.
Now I keep every thing on USBs and write all of them on Open Office. Because that program allows for so many formats no matter what is on your computer it could read it.
As for finishing: Actually what has helped me is doing contests like National Novel Writing Month or Script Frenzy.
I proved to myself I can write and finish something. I have kept it up since then. My problem is now I have two large stories on my computer I am switching between.

[evilpuke]

I actually have problems coming up with ideas. Once I get one though, I roll with for a while. Sorry not very helpful. You should get an external hard drive and back up all your stuff daily or weekly if it's that much of a problem

[brandee]

When i get writers block, i just start writing different words until i come up with something.
It works 0-o

[Karissa JeAnne Neal]

i get writers block really bad. i write my big stories by hand so i dont lose them. i have two really long stories ive been writing in for about a year now and every once in a while, i wont be able to write for one reason or another like i dont know what or how to write out the next part or i want to change the plot or i lose the urge to write anymore. so i just put my note books up till i get the urge to write again or i figure out the next part. sometimes reading a lot of other peoples works, not actual books (those do help too) helps me through my block. you should check out fanfiction.net sometime and read some work of people who write for fun.

[Jo]

I do! All of the time! Something that helps me get through it is taking a dictionary (or a thesaurus) and flipping through until you see a word that you like. Write a ton of them down and then look over them and think about where you left off in your story. Or think up ideas that you want to include in it.

I don't know. It works for me.

[Charlotte Tracey]

It's a curse. My major issue is just starting something, but everyone has an issue with writer's block. It sucks, I always feel like crap when I can't finish something. I would encourage you though to not delete any of your stories, no matter how crappy they may seem when you look back at them. You might be able to salvage something from it for a future story. Good luck.