Forums » Smalltalk » Is There a Thing Called RP-Block?

Let's start with...

Before, role playing was one of my outlets, a way for me to free myself, to express myself, to relieve myself from the many painful burdens I have from reality. But now, I could almost feel my touch fade...fade not into dust, but nothing at all. And to be honest, I want to RP. I want to reconnect with my friends here (if they still remember, that is). But every time I try, I just stop -- I pause. I do nothing but stare at the screen so blankly almost like sleeping with my eyes wide open...

...

I hope someday, I could go back to this...to the time when my mind was so clear and filled with imagination -- a world where I find peace, love and calmness. Where are you now, my sweet dear magic? I need you...

Things will work out, just let it come naturally, don't force it, that's all I can offer I'm sorry.

As someone who has experienced this feeling. I can only say that you desire will return. Ive gone some weeks on end without being able to form a single word for an rp. Even ones that bring me huge amounts of joy and anticipation forcthe persons next post i just cant seem to find the energy or the words. But eventually it does return and realize that even creatively there are peaks and valleys in life. So youll be on fire some days and others you just have no spoons to even try to post. Itll come back though i swear. How long itll take i cant say but i do know itll come back.

Absolutely agree with both of these.

Roleplaying is a hobby, first and foremost. It's no different than playing the same game for hours and deciding you're burnt out on it or deciding to put down a book you've been reading. Your inspiration and desire will return in due time, and most importantly I commend you for communicating this to your RP pals instead of leaving them in the dark. I'm sure they appreciate you thinking of them regardless.

TLDR; don't feel guilty, it's something for fun. ♥ You do you and take your time.

I truly agree with everyone's opinion here, just don't tear yourself over it, we all have RP-Blocks one of these days. Nobody is completely perfect after all, we're all only human. The way I see it, RPing is never a single undertaking if you have a partner to help work with you on the script of the story...and that's basically what I'm trying to say... If you're having trouble trying to come up responses to a story, talk with your RP partners and see if they can help.

Aww. I think stress can cause all kinds of blocks, it can block your joy from a lot of activities you normally enjoy.

These ideas may or may not relate to the issue you're having, but I'll throw some ideas out there and maybe something will resonate with you.

I've only been role-playing for less than a year, but I've had this feeling with some RPs before, and I figured out that, for me, RPs need certain elements to stay interesting to me. It's definitely not the same elements that motivate everyone, though, so these are just the ones that seem to motivate me.

One of the things I've noticed for me, is that RPs have to have something in them that I want more of in real life. That way I enjoy imagining my characters having those things.

If someone feels trapped and longs for freedom and independence, I can imagine RPing a life, say in college in a different city might be gratifying for them. Or in a fantasy world where there are not so many physical limits.

If someone longs for nature and beauty, because they spend all day in an office, I can imagine that person might find RPing a journey through a mountainous terrain of beautiful forests and valleys and waterfalls and rushing rivers and sun-drenched meadows might do something for them (that one does something for me a little bit, too. I probably need to spend more time outside, come to think of it)

I knew a girl once, in high school, and she was being homeschooled in a very restrictive setting and was very lonely, and like her favorite thing to RP was this High School RP where everyone just played a student in high school. She was the emo kid. And that totally gave her a kick. It was her favorite RP, I think. Imagining getting to go to high school with other kids her age. The things we take for granted, right? But I digress...

So I think maybe if you find your Thing, the thing that you're longing for, that might be a source you can draw inspiration from, you know? Perhaps.

For me, an RP usually has to have either romance or hurt/comfort, or I get bored. I tried to RP science fiction, because I love watching and reading science fiction, but if it's just straight up plot no romance or hurt/comfort dynamic developing, I get bored pretty fast. So I figure the Thing that I crave is giving and receiving affection. It seems simple, but it's what usually motivates me to respond. That's the carrot, for me. And then if there is science and philosophy and politics and beautiful scenery and interesting action, great. But those are just icing. The cake is the romance or the hurt/comfort. For me, battle scenes and action scenes aren't that interesting. The kind of roleplay where people roll dice and use different attacks and say how effective they are. But some people-- that's the whole motivation...the battles. They want to get stress or anger out, or they get an adrenaline rush from it, I think, maybe. Some people live for creating fantasy characters. So...I guess the magic is in what motivates you. Ask yourself what you enjoyed roleplaying most before and why you enjoyed it, and maybe that's where you'll find your muse.

For a couple years I went through something like this, thought it was heavily weighed down by my depression. I couldn't write anything, and most days I simply forced something down that I was not proud of at all.

Writing became a stress and a burden because I was far more concerned with producing something for someone else instead of just to enjoy the escapism of my characters.

It took me a long time to figure it out, but I eventually realized that all of my unsatisfaction and lack of writing came from only what I was doing to myself. What I wasn't doing for myself. It was a violent cycle of self-deprecation and constantly trying to please everyone else but me.

When I found how to really and truly love myself and start working first on MY feelings and needs... writing started to really flow again. This happened very recently. Less than a full year ago even. I have written more in over 8 months than I have in at least the 2 years prior to that. I have started threads and lost them. I have made friends and lost people along the way who did not let me flourish and write for myself. People who demanded that I write for them.

It took a great deal of self evaluation and me reaching a point of saying that enough is absolutely enough.

It WILL get better. Those sad feelings, the lack of enthusiasm, and the emptiness. It will be something you can recover from no matter what is causing it.

You're going to find your muse again. Just look inside you.

Going through a similar issue, though my general disconnection from my own emotions leads me to make it worse... just today, I burned a bridge with an rp partner without meaning or wanting to... (´^`) Have left others waiting too long...


I know how you feel about it going from a fun, freeing activity to another thing entirely. Maybe take some time to read and relax and see if your creative spark reignites.

I know the feeling of RP Block all too well. Knowing you should write something, even wanting to, doesn't mean you can make yourself do it, unfortunately.

Sometimes, though, what spurs me is just going and making another character, whether I ever intend to use them or not--the creative spark you use to make this character, may ignite what you need for the other things.

I'm not saying that it will be the same for you, but...perhaps there is something that you can use to ignite the spark of creativity in a related area, and then use the fire that doing this starts, to get back into your roleplaying.

This is reminiscent of a friend I once had who would lament his inability to connect with characters and complete his stories, spending weeks in front of a screen to never achieve what he longed to complete. This may not be the same exactly, but I see role play as a form of written acting that is inspired by the many colorful and emotional scenarios we witness in our lives. How do we create those colorful and emotional scenarios? I say we go and live life, and I tell my friend to try new things and do what they’ve never done before to build a new empathy for those emotions and anxieties that help us express what we write. The first time doing Karaoke, I thought I would pass out from pure fear. Lying in the freezing cold on the side of road, I thought of a cruel world, poor choices, and the love I had lost that had brought me to the crossroads that readily threatened my life.

Inspiration doesn’t have to be so extreme, but I say just go out and try something new. If you put yourself in the shoes you’d never thought you’d be in, you may become inspired to do more than you’d ever think you’d be able to do.