On Writer's Block
I received an interesting question the other day on Tumblr:
Do you ever get writer's block, or otherwise feel frustrated or discouraged by your writing? If so, how do you deal with it? Or if not, how do you avoid it?
Since Tumblr's a poor platform for discussion, I thought I'd repost my answer here, about how I deal with frustrations of a writerly nature...
Honestly I can’t say that I have ever experienced writer’s block, in the sense of a long period of time where I just couldn’t write. (Wait, I take that back! I hardly wrote a word when I was pregnant three years ago, but I’m not sure that counts.) Like all writers, I have those days when I open my Word doc and stare at my flashing cursor and wonder what words are or labor for hours to write a sentence that I end up deleting before I close my laptop in a fit of frustration, but I don’t let myself call that a block. If I can’t write, usually the more honest answer is that I’m too distracted to write, or too tired to write, or that writing is hard, or I simply don’t want to write. And all of those things are legitimate and even okay. If I acknowledge the real root for not writing, it’s easier to figure out a way that I’ll be able to write, whether that’s moving to a less distracting location, getting off the computer, taking a nap, or taking a walk to clear my head, or taking the day off.
Absolutely I get frustrated with my writing, or just don’t know what I’m doing with a particular story, and I want to throw my hands up in the air and be dramatic about it. Usually this happens for the simple reason that I’ve sat down to write without a clear enough plan of where I’m going and how I get there, or I’m hung up on an idea that should be scrapped. (I actually experienced that with this most recent chapter of A Girl in Black, if you’re following that; about 1500 words I struggled to get on paper ended up in the trash because they just weren’t working for me. That made me want to cry. But I didn’t. I just hit delete and started over.)
And of course I have periods of discouragement, especially about original fic. I wonder if I’ll ever come up with characters of my own who I love as much as the characters who inspire me to write fanfic, or a plot people care about reading. I try not to dwell there, though, and write what I want to write (which at the moment is fanfic) because all writing is profitable and part of the process of becoming a writer. And I try to view fanfic as a springboard for original novel ideas.
As for how to avoid writer’s block…the following strategies tend to work best for me:
1. Write every day. It’s a habit, a non-negotiable part of my day, and occurs at consistent times/places, so I don’t have to work myself up into writing mode, which cuts down on those mental blocks.
2. Have a plan. If I know where I’m going and how I mean to get there, it’s rare to get stuck. If I do get stuck, I stop writing and go back to planning (including brainstorming with a beta reader or fellow writer) and usually that does the trick.
Of course, sometimes the plan is the problem, so I try not to cling too hard to what I initially think a scene or chapter should be. Sometimes I just have to write the wrong thing to know what the right thing should be.
If I’m simply having trouble with words, a trick I’m learning to implement is to insert a placeholder and move ahead. Storytelling doesn’t have to happen in sequential order, and sometimes writing something that happens later can help me get a better idea of how to set it up earlier in a scene/chapter, even if it’s just a paragraph of internal monologue. My placeholders tend to be something extremely basic like [insert self-effacing but important character growth thought here].
3. Don’t strive for perfection. One of my favorite bits of writing advice I cling to is from Anne Lamott: write shitty first drafts. It’s so easy to get hung up on making everything perfect as I go and never moving forward. So I simply do not edit until the end.
4. Don’t believe in writer’s block. I am in control, not the characters, the story, or even the words. It’s okay to take a break from writing-everyone needs a vacation from a job, or a weekend. But I try never to say I can’t write.
Hope some of that was helpful advice. And please take everything I say with a grain of salt, because I’m by no means a pro.
Do you ever get writer's block, or otherwise feel frustrated or discouraged by your writing? If so, how do you deal with it? Or if not, how do you avoid it?
Since Tumblr's a poor platform for discussion, I thought I'd repost my answer here, about how I deal with frustrations of a writerly nature...
Honestly I can’t say that I have ever experienced writer’s block, in the sense of a long period of time where I just couldn’t write. (Wait, I take that back! I hardly wrote a word when I was pregnant three years ago, but I’m not sure that counts.) Like all writers, I have those days when I open my Word doc and stare at my flashing cursor and wonder what words are or labor for hours to write a sentence that I end up deleting before I close my laptop in a fit of frustration, but I don’t let myself call that a block. If I can’t write, usually the more honest answer is that I’m too distracted to write, or too tired to write, or that writing is hard, or I simply don’t want to write. And all of those things are legitimate and even okay. If I acknowledge the real root for not writing, it’s easier to figure out a way that I’ll be able to write, whether that’s moving to a less distracting location, getting off the computer, taking a nap, or taking a walk to clear my head, or taking the day off.
Absolutely I get frustrated with my writing, or just don’t know what I’m doing with a particular story, and I want to throw my hands up in the air and be dramatic about it. Usually this happens for the simple reason that I’ve sat down to write without a clear enough plan of where I’m going and how I get there, or I’m hung up on an idea that should be scrapped. (I actually experienced that with this most recent chapter of A Girl in Black, if you’re following that; about 1500 words I struggled to get on paper ended up in the trash because they just weren’t working for me. That made me want to cry. But I didn’t. I just hit delete and started over.)
And of course I have periods of discouragement, especially about original fic. I wonder if I’ll ever come up with characters of my own who I love as much as the characters who inspire me to write fanfic, or a plot people care about reading. I try not to dwell there, though, and write what I want to write (which at the moment is fanfic) because all writing is profitable and part of the process of becoming a writer. And I try to view fanfic as a springboard for original novel ideas.
As for how to avoid writer’s block…the following strategies tend to work best for me:
1. Write every day. It’s a habit, a non-negotiable part of my day, and occurs at consistent times/places, so I don’t have to work myself up into writing mode, which cuts down on those mental blocks.
2. Have a plan. If I know where I’m going and how I mean to get there, it’s rare to get stuck. If I do get stuck, I stop writing and go back to planning (including brainstorming with a beta reader or fellow writer) and usually that does the trick.
Of course, sometimes the plan is the problem, so I try not to cling too hard to what I initially think a scene or chapter should be. Sometimes I just have to write the wrong thing to know what the right thing should be.
If I’m simply having trouble with words, a trick I’m learning to implement is to insert a placeholder and move ahead. Storytelling doesn’t have to happen in sequential order, and sometimes writing something that happens later can help me get a better idea of how to set it up earlier in a scene/chapter, even if it’s just a paragraph of internal monologue. My placeholders tend to be something extremely basic like [insert self-effacing but important character growth thought here].
3. Don’t strive for perfection. One of my favorite bits of writing advice I cling to is from Anne Lamott: write shitty first drafts. It’s so easy to get hung up on making everything perfect as I go and never moving forward. So I simply do not edit until the end.
4. Don’t believe in writer’s block. I am in control, not the characters, the story, or even the words. It’s okay to take a break from writing-everyone needs a vacation from a job, or a weekend. But I try never to say I can’t write.
Hope some of that was helpful advice. And please take everything I say with a grain of salt, because I’m by no means a pro.