Writer’s Block and how I deal with it.
Years ago, I rarely got writer’s block. I always knew what I
wanted to write and how to write it. Lately however, I’ve been plagued with
stress from many directions. I’ve had health issues, and schedule changes and
things just don’t seem to mesh together the way they used to.
So… what did I do? I sat down and wrote up a plan, a
strategy, if you will. What I want to get accomplished in a day. I want to
write at least 1000 words a day. That isn’t impossible for me. I know this
because I used to write 10,000 words a day quite regularly. I want to do
certain things around my home, whether it’s dishes, laundry or just emptying
the trash can in the kitchen. I need to work at the day job.
Unfortunately, I work an hour from my home and I carpool to
save gas money and the three of us rarely have the same schedule so doing
things at home are difficult on days I work. Sometimes, I’m away from my house
14 hours a day, which makes writing that much more difficult. I have a pad of
paper I use during my breaks to write down fleeting thoughts and ideas. I carry
a netbook or mini laptop to record those ideas after work, while I’m waiting
for the others to finish up so we can head home.
I digress...or did I? Can you see how these things can cause
a block? If not, and you’re still writing loads every day. More power to you.
If you can, welcome to the club.
I’ve begun to treat writing a bit like a workout—a workout for
the brain. All day long, I think about what if scenarios for the situations my
characters are in. What if they did this, what if they did that?
What if Carrie wasn’t really the birth mother of the baby in
her nursery, what if her baby was with another family, what if he had been
kidnapped at birth because Carrie is the direct descendant of the ruler of a
country, or a world and someone has stolen her child to lay claim to the child’s
rightful kingdom? What if Carrie is a vampire, and her child something special,
because its father is an angel or a demon, or a superhero?
Exercises such as the what
if and why questions some authors
practice are essential to their writing, to their world building. I use as many
of these as I can. What are your characters motivations? If you can’t think of
something to write. Think of these things and eventually, you’ll think yourself
right out of that block.
Some authors--and I include myself in this--switch manuscripts
when they run into a block. Sometimes, just keeping the words flowing, even if
it’s not in the same story, can help you work through the corner you’ve written
your characters into. This can be a good
tactic if you don’t have deadlines.
If that doesn’t work, ask yourself what are your characters
thinking? Once you figure out what they’re thinking or doing, you should be able
to move on. If you still can’t move on, give yourself an exercise. Write about
your day, or something that upset you. Sometimes, just the act of writing about
anything can get you back on track.
What if you have a deadline? It’s Wednesday and you have until
Monday to finish your project. What do you do? Try sitting down and writing
something, anything, that takes your characters to another place. Then go back
and read it. Sometimes, you’ll find that while it might not fit exactly where
you’ve written it, it will fit somewhere else in the story. Reread the last few
chapters and try to remember what you were thinking as you wrote them. At one
time, you had an idea of where you wanted to go or you wouldn’t have written it
in the first place.
With luck, one of these exercises will get you writing
again. If it doesn’t, sit down with your favorite treat and indulge in
something you love. You’ll deserve it after all of that hard work.
Good Luck!
Until the next time,
Tianna
Or you could try these:
