History Main / WritersBlock

** In ''[[DownloadableContent Plan With Me]]'', Anja F. used to be an artist 40 years ago, but she gave up her passion to work as a caregiver. She orders watercolor stickers from you for some inspiration to cure her artist's block. [[spoiler:Even after quitting her job, she still feels lost, but she realizes that she hasn't been taking care of herself, so she orders more stickers from you to cheer herself up. At the end, she sends you a drawing of herself along with cat representing you as thanks for motivating her.]]

** In ''[[DownloadableContent Plan With Me]]'', Anja F. used to be an artist 40 years ago, but she gave up her passion to work as a caregiver. She orders watercolor stickers from you for some inspiration to cure her artist's block. [[spoiler:Even after quitting her job, she still feels lost, but she realizes that she hasn't been taking care of herself, so she orders more stickers from you to cheer herself up.]]

** In ''[[DownloadableContent Plan With Me]]'', Anja F. used to be an artist 40 years ago, but she gave up her passion to work as a caregiver. She orders watercolor stickers from you for some inspiration to cure her artist's block. [[spoiler:Even after quitting her job, she still feels lost, but she realizes that she hadn't been taking care of herself, so she orders more stickers from you to cheer herself up.]]

** In ''[[DownloadableContent Plan With Me]]'', Anja F. used to be an artist 40 years ago, but she gave up her passion to work as a caregiver. She orders watercolor stickers from you for some inspiration to cure her artist's block.

* In ''VideoGame/StickyBusiness'', Carla F. has her own sticker shop like you, but she struggles with a creative block because she believes she has to follow trends in order to make a profit. [[spoiler:She then decides to make her own sticker designs, and her new stickers get sold out on the first three days.]]

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': The first episode has the eponymous mystery novelist kill off his most popular character and struggle when trying to write something. After helping the police solve a case connected to his novels, he [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections makes an arrangement]] that allows him to tag along on Detective Kate Beckett's investigations for material to use in his books and ends up [[WriteWhoYouKnow using Beckett as the basis]] for his new character.

* Akito Takagi from ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'' experiences this while trying to make a battle manga over summer break. He is best at deep and dark stories, mostly non-mainstream. When tasked with creating a mainstream battle manga over the summer, he fails to deliver.

* Invoked in the ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' comic Smoke and Shadow. Gene said that after "The Search", a lot of fans wrote in tons of mail regarding Azula, with good points on keeping her a villain versus her finding peace and redeeming herself for earlier actions. Because of this, the writers found themselves at a standstill for what direction to take Azula. Zuko in the comic lampshades this by telling his mother "I don't know what it would take to make Azula happy."
* Jonathan Law (Tarantula) struggled with both this and alcoholism in ''JSA: ComicBook/TheGoldenAge''.
* ''The Great ComicBook/{{Fables}} Crossover'' centered around return of the leader of The Literals - race of [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Anthropomorphic Personifications]] of literary concepts - The Writer, who had the power to [[RealityWarper change reality according to what he wrote]]. Having decided that the world ran out of control since his disappearance, he wanted to fix it...only to meet his brother, Writer's Block, whose existence made him unable to write. For most of the story, he consults Literals embodying different genres, trying to find a way to get rid of his writer's block without having to murder his brother.
* In Issue 5 of '''Mazing Man'', Denton gets writer's block, and the main story is all his friends coming over and telling him stories to put in the comic. This issue came out without UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode stamp of approval because one of the stories told to Denton concerns zombies, which was a no-no.
* The [[ComicBook/TheSandman Sandman]] volume "Dream Country" includes the story "Calliope", about a writer whose first book was a critical smash, but who has writer's block so badly that he can't even start on the follow-up book. He is given the Muse Calliope, and by keeping her captive and raping her repeatedly, he is inspired to great writing. When asked to release her, the writer complains that he won't have any ideas without her presence, so Morpheus grants him an unending stream of ideas -- there are so many and they come so fast that he goes mad trying to even write them down.

* [[http://bakuman.wikia.com/wiki/Akito_Takagi Akito Takagi]] from ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'' experiences this while trying to make a battle manga over summer break. He is best at deep and dark stories, mostly non-mainstream. When tasked with creating a mainstream battle manga over the summer, he fails to deliver.

* One example comes from ''Manga/SamuraiHaremAsuNoYoichi''. When Chihaya is stuck on new ideas for her manga, she lets Yoichi read one of them, and he tells her that it's very interesting. She then gets excited, and in order to get some new ideas, decides to [[TheTease flirt]] with him a little bit. Although [[ChasteHero he lets her down gently]], she laughs and says she was just joking about it, then [[ClingyJealousGirl her sister Ibuki]] walks in, and Chihaya jokingly lies and says that Yoichi was trying to strip her. HilarityEnsues as Yoichi gets chased by Ibuki.
** After seeing some of Chihaya's classmates mock her hard work and trash her illustrations, then talk about not wanting to do anything with their lives, Yoichi beats them up for their lack of motivation, as well as their attempts to put down others who are trying to do something with their lives. His actions inspire some more ideas for her manga as a result.
* In ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure'', Tsubomi and Erika aid inspiring mangaka Ban, who is stuck on a portion of his ''doujinshi'' about the Cures. In his story, Blossom had fallen in love with a handsome young man (who looks like a fusion of Ban and Itsuki) and Marine decides to help her out. However, Marine ends up falling for him as well, setting up a LoveTriangle. Ban has absolutely no idea how to solve the problem. [[spoiler:Tsubomi and Erika end up acting out the logical solution - that Blossom and Marine decide that their friendship and duty is much more important than a guy.]]
* In ''Anime/GirlsBeyondTheWasteland'', Buntarou suffers this a few times. The first time he's told to just write, and eventually manages to write enough material for the others to work with. Later on, he goes through another bout, which then forces the others to lock him in his room and preventing him from escaping through the window, or distracting himself with the internet. He gets through this after Yuuka talks to him a little bit while he's in the bath.

* ''The Great ComicBook/{{Fables}} Crossover'' centered around return of the leader of The Literals - race of [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Anthropomorphic Personifications]] of literary concepts - The Writer, who had the power to [[RealityWarper change reality according to what he wrote]]. Having decided that the world ran out of control since his disappearance, he wanted to fix it...only to meet his brother, Writer's Block, whose existence made him unable to write. For most of the story, he consults Literals embodying different genres, trying to find a way to get rid of his writer's block without having to murder his brother.
* Jonathan Law (Tarantula) struggled with both this and alcoholism in ''JSA: ComicBook/TheGoldenAge''.
* Invoked in the ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' comic Smoke and Shadow. Gene said that after "The Search", a lot of fans wrote in tons of mail regarding Azula, with good points on keeping her a villain versus her finding peace and redeeming herself for earlier actions. Because of this, the writers found themselves at a standstill for what direction to take Azula. Zuko in the comic lampshades this by telling his mother "I don't know what it would take to make Azula happy."

* In ''Film/HerAlibi'', Blackwood is suffering from a long dry spell in his writing. To resolve it, he goes to the local courthouse to watch the criminal trials and mine ideas, and it's there he meets the enigmatic Nina, who stands accused of murder, and decides to give her an alibi so he can use her presence to fuel the premise of his book.

* ''Film/SecretWindow'': Protagonist Mort Rainey (Creator/JohnnyDepp) has difficulty writing the ending to his novel. At first, it seems this is brought on simply because he's recently had a divorce, has alcoholic tendencies and is generally neglecting himself. Then a creepy guy shows up and things turn a different way. Let's just say that at a re-watch, the WritersBlock can be viewed entirely differently.
* Also the plot of ''Film/StrangerThanFiction'', where Karen Eiffel has a case of it in trying to kill Harold Crick, the main character. Her publisher assigns her an "assistant" to prod her along.
* Author Calvin Weir-Field, until he's urged to write down his dreams about ''Film/RubySparks''.
* ''Film/BartonFink'': The movie is about a writer suffering from writer's block, written by Creator/TheCoenBrothers as a way of getting around a bout of writer's block on [[Film/MillersCrossing another project]].
* ''Film/SwimmingPool (2003)'': The story revolves around a middle-aged English mystery author, who is having writer's block that is impeding her next book.
* ''Film/TheShining'': The fact that Jack is a writer who is suffering severely from writer's block is the reason the family goes to the hotel in the first place.

* ''Film/IfYouBelieve'': The movie's protagonist Susan is a jaded book editor. One of her star writers Dylan suffers from a long depression or some other mental breakdown and is currently off medication. He has written two third's of a brilliant novel and knows what to do with the rest, but he cannot bring himself to finish it.

* Joan Wilder, the romance novelist who is the heroine of ''Film/RomancingTheStone'', comes up against this problem in the sequel ''Jewel of the Nile''. Now that she's actually met, romanced, and sailed off into the sunset with the hero, [[AndThenWhat what comes next?]] This naturally affects her writing, so the movie begins with Joan pitching her typewriter overboard after she's unable to resolve a CliffHanger in her latest novel.

* ''Film/TrueMemoirsOfAnInternationalAssassin'': As Sam is a writer, he runs into this periodically as he tries to puzzle out the most plausible scenario for his hero to make it through. While he does that, his characters are shown just wandering around waiting for something to happen.
* Jack from ''Film/MagicInTheWater'' is trying to write a book about psychiatry. He spends most of his time staring at a Word document that contains only the words "Chapter 1."

* A crippling case strikes one of the supporting characters in David Lodge's novel ''Literature/{{Small World|DavidLodgeNovel}}''.
* The main protagonist of ''Literature/BagOfBones'' is a writer suffering from it after the death of his wife.
* A researcher once published a peer-reviewed journal article entitled "The Unsuccessful Self-Treatment of a Case of Writers' Block". [[spoiler:Everything except the title was blank]].
* In ''Literature/ThePlague'', Joseph Grand starts writing a story about a woman on horseback but never gets past the first line, which he keeps rewriting by changing around the adjectives.

* Jo March of ''Literature/LittleWomen'' always wears a cap when she writes in the attic. Her family has learned that if they ever see her ''not'' wearing it, it means she flung it off in a fit of despair from this trope, and nobody who values their life should approach her until it's back on!

* In series 1 of ''Series/{{Spaced}}'' Daisy has aspirations of being a writer, but struggles with writer's block/lack of motivation and comes up with distractions for herself. This is highlighted in the last episode of season 1, where during an argument, Tim references several of the plots of previous episodes (to the backdrop of Tekken 2):
-->'''Daisy:''' I am not avoiding work!\\
'''Tim:''' Oh right OK, oh well, ooh let's have a party, ooh let's do some theater, ooh let's get a dog, ooh let's spend hours in front of our bedroom mirror BOGLING TO ASWAD!\\
'''Daisy:''' That was research!
* In a two-part episode of ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', Blanche wants to write romance novels based on her life experiences, but doesn't know where or how to begin. What follows is one of the best exchanges on the show; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP37RQ7pmW0 here it is.]]

* ''Series/{{Voyagers}}'': In "[[Recap/VoyagersS1E20JacksBack Jack's Back]]", when the story starts, Arthur Conan Doyle has written only ''Literature/AStudyInScarlet'' and is unable to come up with anything further.
* ''Series/TheWestWing'':
** Sam is told by Leo to write a birthday message for a minor official, a busywork task that would normally go to a junior staffer. When the President sends it back for ''a second draft'', Sam starts to obsess over it and winds up roping in Toby to "nail it." The shot of him scrunching a paper in his fist and pounding it on the desk shows up in one of the 'previouslies' next season.
** Toby, as a result of massive writing fatigue and nerves, falls victim to this on Bartlet's second inaugural address. He deals with it by setting his failed attempts ''[[KillItWithFire on fire]]'' right there in his office.
* ''Series/MillionYenWomen'': Shin, who writes for a living, struggles with it early in the series. His family situation is complicated enough that it would be more surprising if he ''wasn't'' suffering from it.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "Personal Demons", the veteran television writer Rockne O'Bannon is suffering from severe writer's block. He admits to his friend and neighbor Herman Gold that he has not had an original idea in 20 years. Shortly afterwards, he begins seeing strange, hooded creatures everywhere he goes [[InvisibleToNormals that no one else can see]]. When he finally confronts them, they tell Rockne to write about them and he will never see them again. As soon as he starts typing, they begin to disappear.
* In the ''Series/DiagnosisMurder'' episode "[[Recap/DiagnosisMurderS6E6WriteSheMurdered Write, She Murdered]]", mystery author Kay Ludlow finds herself with such a bad case that she only has one page of her latest book written... when the thing is meant to be 300 pages long and due by that Friday. Her agent mockingly suggest Kay kill someone and see how the cops solve it for inspiration, which she thinks is a great idea. Cue a letter opener to the agent's chest.

* ''Theatre/SeventeenSeventySix'': Jefferson has considerable trouble with the Declaration, to the consternation of Adams.
-->'''John Adams:''' Do you mean to say that it is NOT YET FINISHED?
-->'''Thomas Jefferson:''' [[ByNoIMeanYes No sir. I mean to say that it is not yet begun]].
* Spalding Gray's one-man show ''Monster in a Box'' is a ninety-minute account of all of the things that Gray did while he was supposed to be finishing a novel.
* In ''Theatre/{{Hadestown}}'', Orpheus plans to write a song so beautiful it will bring back spring. His inability to finish his song, and fixation on doing so, drives Eurydice away to Hades.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'': The episode "Papers for Papa" features Ernest Hemingway, who's having so much trouble writing that he finally swears it off, vowing he will "never again put pen to paper". Naturally, this is just as the Warners show up with a delivery of pens and paper, and insist he sign for it. Finally, they come up with a simple solution that'll still let him keep his oath and hand him a pencil instead, which helps him get past his block.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies'' has Gonzo trying to write a story, and has trouble writing, which shows up as [[VisualPun a giant writer's block in-story]]. The solution? Writer's ''Termites''.

* Poet Smurf dealt with writer's block in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' episode "Poet's Writer's Block".

* A crippling case strikes one of the supporting characters in David Lodge's novel ''Literature/SmallWorld''.

* In ''VideoGame/StickyBusiness'', Carla F. has her own sticker shop like you, but she struggles with creative block because she believes she has to follow trends in order to make a profit. [[spoiler:She then decides to make her own sticker designs, and her new stickers get sold out on the first three days.]]

* In ''VideoGame/StickyBusiness'', Carla F. has her own sticker shop like you, but she struggles with creative block because she believes she has to follow trends in order to make a profit. [[spoiler:She then decides to make her own sticker designs, and her new stickers get sold out in the first three days.]]

* In the ''Series/DiagnosisMurder'' episode "Write, She Murdered", mystery author Kay Ludlow finds herself with such a case that she only has one page of her latest book written... when the thing is mean to be 300 pages long and due by that Friday. Her agent mockingly suggest Kay kill someone and see how the cops solve it for inspiration, which she thinks is a great idea. Cue a letter opener to the agent's chest.

* In the Series/DiagnosisMurder episode "Write, She Murdered", mystery author Kay Ludlow finds herself with such a case that she only has one page of her latest book written... when the thing is mean to be 300 pages long and due by that Friday. Her agent mockingly suggest Kay kill someone and see how the cops solve it for inspiration, which she thinks is a great idea. Cue a letter opener to the agent's chest.

* One interpretation of "Music/BestFriend" by Music/FosterThePeople (supported by WordOfGod) is that it's about the fleeting nature of creativity and artistic inspiration.

* Happens to Nakuru in episode 13 of ''LightNovel/MayoChiki''. After a boy confesses his love to her, she gets very confused by it as she feels she's not the type to attract boys, since she's a MegaNekko and obsessed {{Doujinshi}} writer/artist of [[BoysLove BL manga]]. She then asks [[MistakenForGay Jiro]] out on a date to see if it's [[BuxomBeautyStandard simply because of her big boobs]], and after he helps her by barely resisting her advances, she seems to snap out of her block. But then she also has a LoveEpiphany when she [[BishieSparkle looks at him afterward]] as well, and hilariously runs away.

* ''VideoGame/Persona5''
** Yusuke claims that his mentor and adoptive father, Madarame, is suffering this at the moment, and Madarame's disciples, Yusuke included, are offering him their work in order to help him overcome it. In reality, Madarame is a plagiarist who has stolen every work he's presented, including his MagnumOpus, and Yusuke is in denial about it.
** Yusuke himself suffers this as a result of being plagued by doubts over whether it is acceptable to produce art with the expectation of personal gain. His problem is compounded considering that in order to keep his art scholarship, he needs to continue producing art.
* ''VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth'' stars Hikari, an aspiring filmmaker. As a result of severe personal problems, from being ostracized at school to her aunt and uncle disapproving of her pursuits, she eventually snaps and is unable to continue work on her project. [[spoiler:She ultimately recovers with the help of the protagonists]].

* Happens to Nakuru in episode 13 of ''LightNovel/MayoChiki''. After a boy confesses his love to her, she gets very confused by it as she feels she's not the type to attract boys, since she's a MegaNekko and obsessed {{Doujinshi}} writer/artist of [[BoysLove BL manga]]. She then asks [[MistakenForGay Jiro]] out on a date to see if it's simply because of her [[BuxomIsBetter boobs]], and after he helps her by barely resisting her advances, she seems to snap out of her block. But then she also has a LoveEpiphany when she [[BishieSparkle looks at him afterward]] as well, and hilariously runs away.

* Also the plot of ''Film/StrangerThanFiction'', where Karen Eiffel has a case of it in trying to kill Harold Crick, the main character.

** ''WesternAnimation/FetchWithRuffRuffman''': In the episode "That Doesn't Float My Boat", Ruff has a case of "Game Show Host Block", meaning that he can't come up with a challenge for Fetchers. He ends up falling asleep and left the water in the bathtub running. After Ruff wakes up to discover his doghouse flooded with Floating Jumk and Squeaky Toys, it game him the perfect idea for the episode's challenge.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': The episode "[[Recap/SpongebobSquarepantsS2E17ProcrastinationImWithStupid Procrastination]]" involved [=SpongeBob=]'s essay assignment for Mrs. Puff's driving school. He couldn't think of what to write so kept putting it off by doing chores around his house and, eventually, putting a giant illuminated T at the beginning of his essay. Finally, he realizes that [[EurekaMoment the stupid things he's been doing all fit the essay topic as well]] and gets them down. [[spoiler: Come the following morning, he learns that the assignment was cancelled.]]

* ''Swimming Pool (2003)'': The story revolves around a middle-aged English mystery author, who is having writer's block that is impeding her next book.

* ''DeconstructingHarry'': writer's block is one of the symptoms of the title character's depression. And his full ([[MeaningfulName meaningful]]) name is Harry Block.

* ''Literature/{{Animaniacs}}'': The episode "Papers for Papa" features Ernest Hemingway, who's having so much trouble writing that he finally swears it off, vowing he will "never again put pen to paper". Naturally, this is just as the Warners show up with a delivery of pens and paper, and insist he sign for it. Finally, they come up with a simple solution that'll still let him keep his oath and hand him a pencil instead, which helps him get past his block.