Writer's Block
No, I promise! The Writer's Block in the subject line isn't mine! Although, the migraine that is now in day two... three? of its unrelenting assault is doing a pretty good job keeping me from writing.
Someone asked how I deal with Writer's Block, so instead of writing (which I can't do at the moment because every time I try, it comes out like crap), I am going to write about writing. Or rather, not writing. Because, you know, that's what Writer's Block is.
So -- how do I deal with Writer's Block? About as well as I seem to deal with Writer's Burn-Out, which is Not Well, because the eagle-eyed among you have probably noticed that when I complain about the Block or the Burn-Out, I invariably still have some sort of word output, which is completely contradictory to having Writer's Block or Writer's Burn-Out in the first place.
But I digress.
There's several types of Writer's Block -- at least, I've been hit by a few that I recognized as such, but really, nobody gets hit by Writer's Block in quite the same way. So here are ten situations that I've found myself in and what I've done to get out of it.
1. I want to write but I don't have anything to write about. I actually went up to a friend of mine and told him this exact same thing. He stared at me, asked me if I was making a joke, because it wasn't funny, and when I finally convinced him that I was serious, damn it, and help me out here, because I'm dying, we played Bouncing Board. Now, my friend doesn't write, but he used to run a lot of role-playing game, and he knows that my writing is mostly character-driven, so he started prompting me with questions -- What kind of character do you want to write about? Male? Female? Human? Half-human? Half-dragon? Half-Kobold? (Kobold? really?) Give them an occupation -- firefighter? Police officer? Desk clerk? Movie theatre projectionist? After enough questions, I get the character formed in my head -- and usually I know where to go from there. But if I already have the character, just not the scenario that they're in -- the questions are different. Is it modern times? Is it the Renaissance Fair? Are there bad guys after them? Are there no bad guys? Why aren't there any bad guys?
Eventually I get bored of answering questions and want to get back to writing, which is the point of Bouncing Board -- it doesn't matter how good the idea is or how horrible the character is, as long as it gets you writing about something again. Eventually the good stuff will come out, and you'll want to take the silly crap you've just written about a Half-Kobold movie theatre projectionist at a Renaissance Fair who's running away from pixies who want to steal all of his precious antique movie posters because they believe one of those posters is a portal to another dimension and toss it in the bin.
Wait.
That doesn't sound like a half-bad plot. *steals*
2. I have a character, I have a plot, I have a scenario, but I don't know how to begin! This is where you don't go to your friend for help, because my friend's suggestion was "It was a dark and stormy night", which was so outrageous that I both screeched and tried to say six or seven rude things all at the same time in a nonsensical sputter. My solution to this was to just pick a scene that should happen in the beginning and start -- forget pussyfooting around. Never mind the fancy hook or the great descriptions or the irresistible line of dialogue to drag someone into the story -- just start. If it means skipping ahead to that scene you really want to write, skip ahead to the scene you really want to write and worry about going back to the beginning later.
3. I have this scene that should go right after all this happens but it doesn't matter how many times I write it -- it doesn't work! Yeah. Been there. Many, many, many times. If you recognize that you're having trouble with a scene, you're much, much, much smarter than I am, because I am stubborn and bull-headed and will keep writing until it damn well works, and, well. I've been known to realize too late that a scene isn't working and have to delete 60,000 words to get back to the point where it was still working. Don't do that. If you know it's not working, stop. Re-read what you've got so far, and try to find the thread that you really are supposed to be writing. Sit down and outline it properly if you need to -- even if it's just to get a clear idea of what you already have and where you're supposed to go. I hate outlining, personally, because I never follow outlines, but writing it out, however sloppily, helps things get a bit clearer in my head.
I've gotten better at recognizing when something isn't working, but I still end up deleting massive amounts of Words.
4. I don't want to write this anymore. Tough noogies. Write something else.
5. I've got a beginning, I've got an end, I don't know what to do about this middle bullshit! Okay, I have to admit I've never had this problem before. I always have beginnings, and I always have middles, but connecting the middle to the end has always been my problem. Either way, I use the same solution that I mentioned in #3 -- I go back, read what I've got, and outline everything -- the solution usually presents itself by way of a sub-plot that I forgot about that ties everything else together.
6. I am not getting anywhere with this! My writing is crap! I've been trying to fix this paragraph for ages! This situation requires a three step process. Step one: take your inner editor by the ear. Step two: take your inner editor out back or in the woods or someplace where no one will see you. Step three: shoot your inner editor. Get back to writing.
7. I don't want to write this scene. I want to write that scene. I can't write that scene until I write this scene. Again, not a situation I find myself in very often, but when it does happen, I put a placeholder in with everything that should happen: [And in this section there's a big fight, the bad guy's cronies get killed but the bad guy gets away and the hero is injured and someone finds him and takes him to the hospital where you segue into the next scene]. Then I keep writing.
8. I don't know how to write this scene. Well, that could be down to any variety of reasons -- the hero has to defuse a bomb and I'm not sure how to go about it. The villain has to steal a spaceship but he doesn't know the first thing about flying. The bad guys are going to release a pathogen that will turn everyone who hasn't been immunized into a zombie, only, I don't know if it's feasible. If it's anything like that, then all you have to do is research it until you have a firm enough idea in your head how it would work. Or, you could, you know, make shit up. If it's because the scene you're writing is outside your comfort zone, then, well, either you write around your comfort zone, or you challenge yourself into breaking your personal barriers, because a lot of writing has to do with pushing the line.
9. Oh my God, my writing is drek, a five year old could -- Say it with me. Take your inner editor by the ear. Drag the inner editor somewhere nice and quiet and without witnesses. Stab the inner editor. Shoot it. Pummel it. Club it. Silence it. You'll feel better after you have, trust me. Then get back to writing.
Yes, I know this is the second time I've mentioned the inner editor as a cause of the Writer's Block, but believe me, it happens more than you think. I've gotten to the point where I refuse to let myself pick at my own writing as I go and only touch it after I am sure that I'm at the end.
10. I don't want to write. Okay. Don't.
No, really. Don't. If you don't want to write, it's guaranteed that you will hate it and you'll never write again. Forcing it out never did anyone any favours. Go do some other things that are writing related: read a book, watch a movie, talk to your friends, whine about it a bit. It's okay to whine -- I've done plenty of whining, but there is eventually a point where I tell myself, okay, I'm tired of whining, it's time to get over it and suck it up and go back to work.
A few of you have pointed it out to me, and I'm horrible for taking this advice and I really should take it more often, but taking a break never hurt anyone, and it is advice I really, really should take. And I will. Soon. I promise.