Go take a walk, do some homework, play a video game. Socialize with friends, get away from it for a couple of hours.

The key, for me, is to gently ease my way into writing and when I am writing plan on spending no less than an hour doing so. Otherwise my strategy of running away at frustration would keep me from ever getting anywhere.

One: Something's not working and I'm trying too hard to make it work. If the story isn't working, that's because I haven't asked enough "why?" questions -- that is, I haven't dug deep enough into my characters and their motivations. If the writing isn't working, that's usually because I haven't seen things as clearly as I should; I haven't visualized what I want to write before writing it. In both of these cases, I try to approach the problem from a completely different angle -- if I can't get into the house by the front door, maybe a window will work. This can be hard at times, but you just have to go back to the place where it was working and try to figure out where it went sour.

Two: A lot more frustration comes when I start thinking about publishing -- when I start wondering "is this good enough?" But that is out of my control. The only thing I have control over is writing the best story I can today. And so long as I do that -- and so long as I remember Somerset Maugham's advise that the writer's primary delight should be in writing, and that he shouldn't worry about publishing or commercial success (he shouldn't worry about things out of his control, in other words) -- I'm usually able to hew down this frustration rather quickly.

As for fun? Well, when it's working it is a great delight, and when it's not it's hell. But it seems to me that everything is like that. Nothing can be fun all of the time, can it? On some level, writing is work and we all know that it sucks to go to work. But as Stephen King said, the worst days at the keyboard as usually far better than the best days at other jobs.

I'd have to say, when I've got an EXTREMELY fresh idea that I'm dying to get to . . . it's ok. Most of the time, until I begin and get into the story, I dread it. While I'm writing, though, I hit my routine groove and the time passes. I guess it's more enjoyable for me--once I'm in my groove, that is--than television, but I'd much rather read or play games.

I do find writing to be extremely rewarding, and not just monetarily, but spiritually. It's a sort of release for me, getting out all my negative emotions and ideas that I can't normally express in conversation.

Like Ray Bradbury says, you must:
1- Work
2- Relax
3- Don't think

When I'm having trouble with a story, it stops being fun, but when the problem is fixed I can't -wait- to get back to the writing.

As a sidenote, playing guitar is also really fun. And making jewelry. I think I just enjoy doing things with my fingers.

Of course, when things won’t come together, and the vision in your head is becoming hopelessly muddled, or you’re just sitting there drawing a big blank on what anybody in the scene could say next, writing is hell. Sometimes I can work through it, say to get though a tough scene, and know things will be better for it the next day. Other times I have to take a mental break for a couple of days and not work on anything, letting my mind regroup. Then I’ll often need work on something else, maybe just toying around with an idea, for a couple of days just to get back into sync with the original project. And sometimes life interferes – jobs, family, friends, and all the joys and problems that come with them can sap any strength I have for producing the written word.

If I stopped working because of frustration, I would have written 20 pages then stopped.

Mind Surfer, to be honest, very little of writing is fun. There are parts (like finishing, being published, or fine-comb editing [for me at keast]) which are great. The rest is pure torture.

What isn't fun is the feeling that you can't write, that you're not really a writer. We've all had that feeling, and it's never fun.

If you take yourself or your work too seriously, you will end up hating it. If you don't take it serious enough, you will never get anywhere. It is key to laugh at yourself occasionally, then laugh at others just as much. Although to be P.C. about it you should tell them you are laughing "with" them. I wish someone would invent a seriousometer, or a seriousiliscope to tell us when we are getting too serious. Maybe it could have a blood pressure cuff and infrared capabilities.

Anyway, I think you get the picture. Writing is fun, or it is what you make it. Just think, people pay Therapists thousands of dollars to unload their fantasies and fears. We get to do it for free, with the possiblity of making some money at it. Who could ask for anything more?

On the other hand if you overthink it, you'll end up shakin' like a dog poopin' peach pits!

Have you ever tried to begin with a detailed outline? I was just wondering how literal you meant your, "20 pages until frustration," comment, because I am in the middle of a novel and haven't hit any writers block or real frustrations at all.

I just read this and thought,, Yes, that is what responding to the audience is all about, plus, I think I now want to include the phrase 'coastal monkey factory' in everyday conversation.