Thoughts on writers block

First blog. Woo hoo! Okay now that’s over and done with…

Thoughts on writers block

When I have a scene that is really giving me hell I’ll often try to write it out on paper. I find that word processing software encourages an edit as you go approach, which most of the time is fine because it is conducive to how I write. But there are times when you’ll write a few hundred words, realize that they’re crap, delete them and repeat the process again.

The lesson is this deleting stuff on the computer is easy. On paper it take several furious minutes with a rubber, so therefore I’m more inclined to press on past these bad bits, and hopefully get to those good bits beyond. And without those squiggly red and green lines compelling me to fix every spelling and grammar mistake (I know I can turn them off, but I don’t think I’m that strong willed) I find I write faster too.

Another piece of advice I can give concerning writers block is don’t write yourself out. There are days where your inspired and you write until you can’t write any more. You fell great at the time, but then next. You sit down, have a glance over what you did last session and despair. Did I really do all those words, you think to yourself, where is that writer gone? I have no idea where to start? Over and over again, until eventually the dreaded “I give up” surfaces.

The best way, for me at least, to end a writing session is with a few ideas buzzing around in my head, that way I’ll have somewhere to begin next time. I also find it useful to finish up on a cliffhanger or hook. I don’t mean the “Stupendous Man has seconds to deactivate the timer and thus prevent the thermonuclear destruction of the planet Earth! Will he do it in time? Find out in the next enthralling episode!!” type of cliffhanger, think a little smaller. Usually a character introduction, or arrival of an already introduced character, or a shift in location (say a character gets out of a car) serve the purpose quite well, but all it needs to be is a point where you can pick up easily from.

Anyway that’s what works for me, maybe it will for you, maybe it won’t.