Kristin asked:
I am trying to do the seventy days of sweat with sven, but I have just hit a wall…I have not written in about 3 days. What do you do to get back in the saddle? Besides “just write”?
Unfortunately, that’s the only answer I have. If you ever find a better one, please do let me know! I’m dying for a magic trick!
I used to not believe in writer’s block. I thought if you were serious about writing, you just did it. Later on in my development, I believed that writer’s block is a symptom that something is wrong with your story. When you’re stuck, it means that you’re making a mistake with your plot, or your characterization, or etc. Some of my friends say that writer’s block is a writer letting her internal editor get the better of her.
I think it’s can be all three. Sometimes, when I’m stuck, I just have to put my butt in a chair and do it. Set a timer and say I can’t do anything else until that timer goes off. Can’t do anything but stare at a blank screen or sheet of paper. It’s amazing how a lack of distraction can get those sentences coming. Other times, I go back and try to figure out what I’m doing wrong. (This is probably my most common approach.) As soon as I figure out what I was doing wrong, I come unstuck. And then sometimes I follow my friends’ advice and just “give myself permission to write crap.” (I think that line might be Nora’s, but I don’t think she uses “crap.”)
A few other things that help:
1. Change the medium. Write on a computer? Try longhand. The very act of using different muscles and nerves might jiggle your neurons awake.
2. Change the setting. Write in your office? Grab a pad of paper and head outside. Try under a tree or near a coffee shop. I really like to write on the metro. The other day I hadn’t written in several days and I got on the metro and words started pouring out and I wrote eight pages. True story.
3. Play some music which makes you think of a particular scene.
4. Take a shower. I swear this works.
5. Give yourself a writing prompt. Say you must put something particular in your next two pages — like the word “indubitably” or a spork. You can edit it out later, of course, but sometimes forcing your mind to think about something particular that isn’t a plot point can help you move forward. It’s the same principle which guides creative writing teachers: when you say “write” people won’t be creative, but if you say “write about purple mushroom caps” you’ll get a dozen different stories.
Of course, all of these are variations on the theme of “just write.”
Anyone else have a method?
July 27th, 2007 at 8:13 am
The writing prompt is the best one I know — I use Dictionary.com’s Word of the Day. I’ve had some fascinating things emerge from using those strange words. Unfortunately, the only real cure is putting your butt in the chair and writing.
I absolutely believe in Writer’s Block. It can be because the your story isn’t going well and what you’re feeling in resistance. Unfortunately, if there are other stresses in your life (illness, death, family problems, layoffs, etc.), writers block can set in big time.
Not writing for a day or two can be procrastination or circumstances. Not writing for a week could be resistance to the story in its current form. When a week or two becomes a month, it’s time to look at what else is going on in your life and see if there’s something else that’s grabbing your focus. Go too long, and you need to start with baby steps to get yourself moving again.
July 27th, 2007 at 8:23 am
Great post, Diana! I agree that everything is a variant of “just write”. It’s like getting back up on the horse when you fall off (I speak metaphorically, having never fallen off a horse - in fact, never even having been on one).
Sometimes changing horses (to continue the equine theme) can help. If the WIP stalls, work on your journal. If your journal palls, hop over to your blog. If your own blog craps out, trying reading those of others (yours, Erica’s, and the Mavens’ all come to mind) and post a comment on one or more of them. By this time your fingers and neurons should be back in the groove.
If all else fails…well, they shoot horses, don’t they?
July 27th, 2007 at 9:25 am
I’m just here to verify that shower suggestion. When I’m having trouble, I’m the cleanest woman in Florida.
July 27th, 2007 at 9:50 am
Just write is all I got. make yourself put words on paper or screen or whatever. Give yourself permission to write crap. often times I will take a few pages of my manuscript and put them in a completely different document. I don’t know why this works for me, but it does. It’s like… Okay, I’m not messing up the real version, this one is just for fun.
Takes the pressure off.
Teri
July 27th, 2007 at 10:12 am
Diana:
I’ve been using a technique called “contingency management” (Jim Gibbon explains it well here.
Basically you pick something you really want to do (for me, it’s usually Spider, because I’m a nerd that way, but sometimes it’s reading HP or something else), and you simply don’t allow yourself to do it until you meet a goal. When playing Spider, I can’t deal another deck until I have 200 more words on the page. It’s a little mind-trick reward system, but it works for me when I’m struggling. {shrug}
July 27th, 2007 at 10:44 am
Depends on why I’m stuck. If it’s just a particular scene, I skip it and move on, making a note about what I want it to accomplish, and come back later. Or I write a random scene out of order. If it’s more a question of what direction I want to go in (since I’m 90% pantster, 10% plotter) I try to work it out in the evening while taking the dog for a walk, or lying in bed right before I go to sleep. If I’m still stuck, I figure it just needs to mull around in my brain for awhile and, like Bill suggested, I’ll just write something else (usually an other WIP). Usually, tho, my problem isn’t not being able to write when I sit down to do it — it’s finding the time in the day to sit down and do it.
July 27th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Phyllis, that’s good advice about skipping a problematic scene. I’ve done that a lot. Usually as the story progresses (and I’m still writing and producing useable pages, which does loads for the self-confidence) I figure out what is wrong/hard about that previous scene and I can fix it.
Excellent advice.
July 27th, 2007 at 11:53 am
I agree that the shower thing really helps! But, the other day when I was stuck on how to transition to something that I knew was coming, I gave myself permission to type STUFF HAPPENS and then I wrote what came next. I don’t do that often, but if I’d had to sit there and try to make that transition, I’d probably still be sitting there.
I know I’ll have to go back and deal with the SH part, but it already seems less daunting now that I have a clear path to work toward. I didn’t skip a whole scene, btw, just, well, stuff.
Hi, Julie! It was great meeting you in Dallas.
July 27th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
I can heartily vouch for Bill and Susan’s suggestions (and I think her link is another must read–thanks, Susan!)
Earlier this year, Julie Leto–if I may borrow an expression of Erica Ridley’s–fish-slapped me into getting my butt in gear on a project by imposing on me a harsh penalty if I didn’t complete a set number of pages by a certain date. Phyllis Towzey promised a reward–which I collected (and thanks again to both of you)–but it was Julie’s penalty that put BICHOK. (She’s brutal, but I love her for it.)
I’ve recently discovered that when it seems as if I have very little time to write, ironically that’s when I’m most productive–e.g., it’s 4:40 pm and I always watch the news at 5–what am I going to do in the meantime? I filled in that gap with writing and knocked out about 200 words.
I’ve also found that when you think you’ve come to the end of a chapter, no matter how precariously your protagonist is hanging from the cliff–keep going anyway, so you don’t lose momentum. You can always put in chapter breaks later.
Just my two little pennies. As always, Diana, great blogpost!
July 27th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
Hi Diana:
You nailed it. I’ve been fighting writers block lately and I couldn’t understand why. But now I realize it’s due to a bunch of problems spanning the scene I’m writing. I knew I should just move on, but this scene sets the tone for the rest of the story and I needed to work out the problems before going any further.
This morning, a solution finally hit me while taking a bath. Not only that, I had a few ideas I had to commit to electrons for my next story before I left for work.
But I have one more suggestion for your list. Driving. I’ve worked out many problems while driving on the highway. I used to joke I got more work done driving to and from work than I did while at work.
Now maybe I can catch up on my goals for Alison Kent’s challenge.
Take care………….Wayne
July 27th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Sometimes I’ll let myself write the most ridiculous thing imaginable; say all of a sudden I’ll have a tiger stroll through the room where two characters are conversing, just to see what happens…
I love #4–taking a shower always jogs things loose from my brain!
July 27th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Character interviews: grill them on paper and ask what’s wrong with a scene or the story as a whole, what’s not working. Sucks when they tell you “everything” and you have to throw out the broken stuff and start over, but at least it’s one way to identify the problem(s).
Or just freewrite for 10 minutes on a timer about the story and what might be wrong, what might work instead. Write a list of ten things you could try. (Change POV in the scene, move the characters to a different setting, etc.)
And sometimes a story just needs more time to simmer. I’ve run into this myself recently. If it’s not ready, I’m not sure you can get around that. If possible, work on something else while the story cooks a little longer so at least you’re using the time productively and keeping up good work habits.
July 28th, 2007 at 7:18 am
Hey, I’m the original question-asker. So, thanks, Diana for taking the time to write about my little issue.
When reading your response, I realized it *was* exactly as you said: something wasn’t working in the scene I was writing. I went in the wrong direction. All this action was happening, the plot was moving forward, things were exciting, and then suddenly my characters were having boring conversations over cups of coffee. I think it is that desire to explain and reveal stuff to the audience that I have been working so hard to drum out of me, which took control for about 10 pages.
I also like the idea one commenter wrote about putting “STUFF HAPPENS” and then moving on to another scene.
I am also 90% pantster (or organic writer, which I much prefer) and 10% plotter. Sometimes it can be very hard to skip ahead when even I don’t know where I’m going. But I do have a couple of crucial plot points in my book that will happen somehow, and I should just jump ahead to those. Why not strike while my imagination is hot?
Thanks so much for all these great suggestions!
July 29th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
Hi Diana,
You’ve been tagged with what else…a meme. This one is a blogging tip meme and you only need to add one tip.
It’s over at my blog so check it out. You along with a couple of peopel I thought would have wonderful tips for bloggers.
July 30th, 2007 at 4:58 am
Change POINT OF VIEW. Seriously. Sometimes it takes me a week of not writing to remember to try this tip but nine times out of ten it works.
July 30th, 2007 at 8:11 am
Ah, Carly, easier said than done if your books are like mine. I only HAVE one POV.
July 31st, 2007 at 12:03 pm
yes, music and showers are always a help. Also, keeping a book on writing on my desk that I can pick up and read off and on, is also a good kick in the butt. Lately I have found that switching to “single space” format rather than double space is helpful. It lets me hold onto my story better and not feel so lost, maybe because it lets me “see” the story the way a book actually looks. I know some authors will change the font to help them see a manuscript freshly and give them a little nudge.