So, here's the thing. If you write, like, ever, you will, at some point in your life, experience that lovely thing called writer's block. It sucks. Don't know what I mean? Well, let me help you out.
Have you ever gone to the beach and stood in the sand by the water, very, very still. You watch as the waves come and wet your feet and both pull sand away at the same time as covering your feet with new sand. Slowly, your feet will be buried. Deeper and deeper they go. Soon, you try to wiggle your toes and the amount of wet muddy beach sand weighs down on them. Not long after that, you have to force your feet out if you want to escape. You can see what you have to do, you can feel what you need to do, but there is a weight, a pressure causing resistance and difficulty. The more you stand there, the more stuck you will be, but it takes effort to get out and begin your journey again. That's what writer's block feels like. At least for me. It doesn't usually come suddenly. It comes in such a way that I can see it coming, I can feel myself becoming buried and stuck. I can feel myself sinking into the mud, but I'm not sure where to go from there.
My brain usually combs over a multitude of scenarios that I could put into the story at that moment just to move on. But, I am the kind of writer who will not skip a part to come back and write later. (If you are one of these people, I applaud you, because wow. Just wow.) I like to write in chronological order so I can lace different things in through the story as I go. So, until I figure that scene out just the way I want it, I do not continue on. I mull it over in my head, I explore different options, different characters to put in the scene to make it better. I just think.
I find myself not really afraid of coming upon writer's block. Sometimes, actually almost always, it becomes a blessing in disguise. Here's what I mean: it challenges me to think in ways I wasn't currently thinking. It makes me consider the possibilities. It also sometimes helps me set the mood of the scene. I use that writer's block to my advantage. You can't win me over Mr. Writer's Block!
Let's say for example I have two characters interacting. I had this whole idea of point A and point B, where the scene was starting and where I needed it to head to. But then, I get to this point in the writing and it just slows to a halt. It feels unnatural to just pick up the next bit. Too rushed even. I need something that will help the conversation or interaction along in a more organic way. Something that doesn't feel forced. I consider the personalities of my characters involved. Then, I consider something. That part of the conversation came to a slow on its own. It felt natural to taper off. Sometimes that means that is an opportunity to pause for the characters, too. Have them observe the environment. Or maybe, it's an overall awkward encounter and the pauses help make that awkwardness apparent to the reader. I tap into my main character's feelings. I don't avoid that it's a weird pause. I WRITE IT IN. Something in the air shifted. There was an uncomfortable silence between the two of us. I looked at my toes and wriggled them around in my shoes searching for how to progress the conversation... Boom. I meant for a pause. Thanks Mr. Writer's Block.
Now here's another trick I use. Say I am writing a scene and it just doesn't feel write. The scenery is all off. The characters are as bland as the last sip of your iced coffee that has been sitting all day, and quite frankly there's no more ice to your iced coffee. And don't even get me started on the plot progression. I find that I welcome the writer's block with open arms. Obviously, the scene is going absolutely no where. And as many times as I am going to force it and rewrite a paragraph, a sentence, a word, it's not going to get anywhere near what I want it to. That to me is a sign that I need to get up and walk away from my writing. Go do something else. Expand my mind. Watch TV, listen to music, go to a store, play a game... DO SOMETHING. Because often times it's because my brain has been on one task for so long, that I don't have any new inspiration coming in. As writers, we often can only write what we have experience or learned about. So If we aren't adding to those experiences and filling in our inspiration cup, then we can't get anywhere with it. It's a lot about balance, which sometimes as humans we forget.
Writer's block is frustrating and annoying. We like to feel free and not stuck in mud. But writer's block is inevitable. Whether you are writing a book, a poem, a column, or heck even an essay for class, at some point you are going to tango with Mr. Writer's Block. But as they say it takes two to tango, and if you aren't dancing, then you aren't moving. No movement, means no progress. But, if you move, if you welcome the writer's block, if you use that writer's block to your advantage, who knows where it may take you.
Comments