Kicking Writer's Block to the Curb
During your writing journey along
Lonely-Misunderstood Highway--commonly known to be paved with
rejection--your focus is on reaching its intersection with Published
Avenue. Occasionally, however, you must pass
through the maligned neighborhood of Writers’ Block. In this section of
town, people wander aimlessly, circling, blank or frustrated looks on
their face.
You might hit this detour at the start of
your journey, though most trips start off with great excitement. A full
tank of gas, goodie bag, sweet tunes on the radio, and the open road
ahead—writing is good!
We’re not yet sick of our traveling
companions (characters), the scenery (setting), the purpose of the trip
(theme), and we’re not discouraged by how far there is still to go (word
count).
Imagine this: you’re cruising along at just
over the speed limit, impressed with what good time you’re making, when
a pendulous, glaring, red eye of a stoplight appears over the roadway.
Screech!
Suddenly your companions have gone silent,
the setting is stagnant, you’re not sure why or where you are headed
where you are, and wherever it is … it’s too far away.
U-turn and go back to your existence as a
happy non-writer, clueless as to the pain of Writers’ Block, untouched
by literary angst? Never! Try some of these things to get, in the
timeless words of Willie Nelson, on the road again.
1) Pray!
This is the answer to everything, so a great place to start, no doubt.
2) Play
a game with yourself. Sometimes I make a list of my chores, and a list
of my word count in 100-word increments. After crossing off a chunk of
words, I can start a load of laundry or shower or grab a handful of
M&Ms.
3) Read a great book to
inspire you, or a horrible book to remind you that even bad books get
finished eventually. Some even are published.
4) Take
a walk. The exercise will stimulate the blood flow to your brain,
creating instant genius fixes to whatever plagues your manuscript.
5) Open
up a new document or grab a notebook and let your mind go in a stream
of consciousness monologue from one of your characters. After ten
minutes, reread what poured on to the screen/page. Is there a new
conflict you didn’t even know about before that can be explored? What
worries does your character reveal?
6) Vent.
Call a friend. If you call a fellow writer, you might get a bit of
sympathy, but she won’t let you whine for long. Choose a non-writer.
You’ll have an aura of mystic creativity, which allows for a longer
whine.
7) I
know I already mentioned M&Ms, but snacking is always a good thing.
Just make wise choices. Carrots, raisins, and a cup of dry Cinnamon
Life might allow you to maintain a better lap for your laptop to rest
upon than chocolate, ice cream, and cappuccinos.
8) Have
your character do a normal thing, but with a crazy twist. I thought my
daughter was building a snowman after the last good accumulation of
white stuff. She called me out a few hours later to show off her
snowseal, complete with ball on its nose. Those little details, if
you’ve stuck in a needed scene that’s been done too many times before,
could get your story moving again.
9) Grab
the newspaper. Find the craziest story, then work some aspect of it
into your novel. The fresh direction should give you a “novel” wind.
10) Introduce
a new character and see how the dynamic of the novel shifts.
11) Skip
ahead a few chapters, see what’s going on, then go back and connect the
dots.
12) Ask
yourself, “If I don’t want to write this, is it because it’s boring and
I know nobody wants to read it?” Maybe it’s a scene that can be cut.
(These final
two are courtesy of Stephen Bly’s keynotes during the 2008 OCW Summer
Conference)
13) Put
some characters together and write only the conversation. NO actions,
or dialogue tags, or description—only conversation. Go back and fill in
the blanks.
14) My
favorite piece of Steve’s advice? If the scene is dragging, or you seem
to be riding a dead horse, shoot somebody. I find this is especially
plot-changing in gentle women’s fiction and Amish.
I hope these strategies work for you. Do me
a favor, will you? Give me a little wave when you zoom past and I’m stuck wandering the block?