Mindsets, Difficulties, and General Writer's Block

By JPGriffin · Feb 22, 2012 · 338

Before anyone jumps the gun and says, "There's no such thing as writer's block," I'm going to agree with you completely. My problem isn't writer's block, in that I can't write for some mental restriction, but because I'm simply out of practice. My last ten-minute "free-writing" session was just moments ago, and it's been at least... two weeks, I want to say, since I've done the one before. It helped me out personally, so I thought I might as well share with a community that might share my experiences.

It’s been quite some time since I’ve done reflective writing. Far too long, in my opinion. I hate being out of practice, and stuck on such a stupidly small roadblock that I can’t go on. Introducing a character through a simple opening passage? Why is that the hardest thing to do in the entire world? Maybe because I not only have to introduce 1. The magical origins of how (Name) came to be, 2. The origins of the other races, and how they relate to (Name), and 3. EVERYTHING ELSE. How do I tell the reader about the situation beforehand? A prologue would work perfectly, except for a few things. That would have to include a large background story on a character of little to no consequence. Why is it so daunting? I’ve made characters much more complex than a simple bartender, than a simple farmer. It’s because I can’t get into their mindset.

So, whose mind can I get into? I know the art of swordplay, I know the complexity of the minds of marksman, and I know the minds of some (most) other writers. I know the mind of many of my friends, though a few still baffle me. The perfectionist, the socialist, the “crazies,” and even the mindset of a whole different breed of people; the point is, I have this broad knowledge of how a modern world works. So why should a simpler world be more difficult?

Fantasy is not my strong suit. I know the general strategies, techniques, and skills of combat, as I’ve had practice with them through LARPing. I know the difficulties that mastering multiple weapons include, and I know the price of a mistake. What I don’t know is the exhaustion from battle, the energy that it requires. I don’t know the weight of a full set of armor, and I don’t know the necessary skills it takes for each specific job in an older fantasy-era realm. A blacksmith? I’ve tried to understand it, but it’s all still a blur. A farmer? Day in, day out, work, work, work, it’s not an easy life, but the specific skills are still lost on me. Beyond that, I have no idea what else is needed. A nurse or other form of medic, of course, and a hunter for the months with game but no farm product, those are, I guess, “essential.” But the point remains the same, why is it so difficult to get into these mindsets?

To the people who say Fantasy is an easy genre to write, I say “Bull.” Placing one’s mind in a setting completely unknown and original, filling it with streets never traveled, with cities and villages of people never named or created, getting in sync with a world that doesn’t exist, it’s nothing short of taking a shot in the dark. The skills of doing the impossible, of making something out of nothing, requires much more than a single idea and loads of extra time. Just because one has the creative freedom to make whoever and whatever they want, whenever they want, doesn’t mean that it’ll WORK. And it certainly doesn’t mean that it’ll be easy to write about. The norm of fantasy has become too comfortable as it stands. The stories are becoming too generic, and the tales being repeated. This isn’t a new issue, this is something that’s happening everywhere. Originality is becoming rare, and afterwards is overused until the idea is no longer original. Fantasy is, by no means, an easy genre to write well in. Yes, you can use a world full of magic and dragons and call it an epic trilogy, but in the end, is it truly something progressive? Just like a signature, no fantasy story will be the same, and no writing idea will ever be bad because it’s not original enough. But to write something that’s been rooted in our minds, and to do so with a complete twist on it, isn’t something to scoff at.
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I know this is fairly large, but it has meaning to me, and I frankly want to share my ideas and thoughts. This has rooted the idea of exploring more genres, of trying these new experiences and seeing what I'm comfortable with. I repeat, Fantasy isn't easy, and many genres won't prove easy too. What I need to find is my element, where I'm comfortable in writing and cracking down there.
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Mindsets, Difficulties, and General Writer's Block

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