{"id":3338,"date":"2024-04-03T01:05:07","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T09:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/?p=3338"},"modified":"2024-03-31T16:12:37","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T00:12:37","slug":"writers-round-table-pros-give-advice-on-writers-block","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/2024\/04\/03\/writers-round-table-pros-give-advice-on-writers-block\/","title":{"rendered":"Writer’s Round Table: Pros Give Advice on Writer’s Block"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few years ago, a friend wrote poignantly about what it’s like to be blocked. I asked some pro writer friends for words of encouragement. <\/span>This is from a well-known,\u00a0<\/span>NYTimes<\/em>-best-selling author:\"\"<\/span>

WRITER’S BLOCK<\/p>\n

I am sitting here looking at a fic I have not touched since 2007.\u00a0\u00a0I have 135K done, including the last scene…or, about 2\/3 of the total fic.\u00a0\u00a0I am ALSO sitting here looking at a novel that was due three years ago, for which I have something similar to an outline and the first 50K written (only 100K to go, right?)<\/p>\n

I’ve been writing fanfic and profic since the 80s, and dealing with blocked, derailed, and MIA stories for most of that time.\u00a0\u00a0Here are some of the strategies that have worked for me.\u00a0\u00a0(NOTE: some of these ideas are mutually-exclusive, because every writer writes differently.)<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. WELCOME TO THE GULAG: Block out a specific time and place where you do the same thing every day: sit in front of the screen and make words come.Doesn’t matter what you write, or even if you don’t write.\u00a0\u00a0Just be there doing nothing else (no shopping, no reading AO3, no social media) for that one or two hours (no more) each and every day (same Bat-time, same Bat-channel).\u00a0\u00a0Eventually your brain gives up and you get to write what you want to write.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    1A. If absolutely nothing else will come to your fingers, choose a favorite book (or longfic) and retype it.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. FACE THE MUSIC: Between day job and commute (long) I was really bushed when Writing Time arrived in the evening.I just didn’t have the energy\u2014but I did have a deadline.\u00a0\u00a0Solution?\u00a0\u00a0ROCK’N’ROLL BAY-BEE!!!\u00a0\u00a0I wrote two novels to “Bad To The Bone”.\u00a0\u00a0Just that one track.\u00a0\u00a0On infinite repeat.\u00a0\u00a0Loud.\u00a0\u00a0So pick a piece of music, declare it your writing music, and hit “Repeat” on iTunes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      2A: Earphones are a great help.\u00a0\u00a0Use the sport kind that leave your ears free.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. WELCOME TO THE MACHINE: When I would dry up working on a piece\u2014and we are talking YEARS in some cases\u2014it was often because I was trying to take it in the wrong direction.I learned to recognize that feeling when it came and take a step back.\u00a0\u00a0(You can either wait for inspiration to come\u2014I know! I know!\u2014or try to negotiate with your subconscious.\u00a0\u00a0Or, yanno, try to REASON your way through to the answer.)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        3A. Sometimes switching to another project will help.<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. PRESENT COMPANY: 95% of all fic is written in the present tense, for reasons that utterly escape me (even though I do it too).Try taking your blocked piece and changing it to past tense.\u00a0\u00a0Or first person.\u00a0\u00a0Anything to get The Muse\u2014AKA your subconscious\u2014awake and grumbling.\u00a0\u00a0(When you have annoyed it enough it usually gets back to work.\u00a0\u00a0Nobody knows how much annoying is the exact right amount, though.)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. THE WALLPAPER IS ALSO A CHARACTER: Back in the beginning, when typewriters ruled the earth. I made a solemn vow not to stop for the night before I had two pages (500 words).And when nothing else would come, I described the background.\u00a0\u00a0Or the weather.\u00a0\u00a0Or the furniture.\u00a0\u00a0(Amazingly, all those descriptions didn’t look out of place when the book was done.)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            5A: The corollary to this is THE MAGIC\u00a0TCHOTCHKE: Every story needs one important and well-described item.\u00a0\u00a0It might be a magic sword, a 1967 Chevy Impala hardtop, a\u00a0big stone ring built by Ancient astronauts.\u00a0\u00a0Find out which it is in your story and show it some love.\u00a0\u00a0And if your story doesn’t have a magic tchotchke yet, consider adding it.<\/p>\n

              \n
            1. INERTIA CREEPS (MOVING UP SLOWLY): If you know what comes next, tell yourself.Use any words you need to for writing down the information.\u00a0\u00a0Sometime this is called a scene-by-scene breakdown.\u00a0\u00a0It is very familiar to the “treatment” for a film (most good books on screenwriting will show examples of treatment style).\u00a0\u00a0Once you have a version of what happens, you can poke at it to see if it’s the “real for true” version.\u00a0\u00a0Then you are one step closer to finishing the story.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                \n
              1. EURIPEDES, YOUR PANTS ARE READY: There are essentially two kinds of writer: the Pantser, and the Outliner (I’m both.Sue me.)\u00a0\u00a0The Pantser begins a work with a vague idea of where it might be going and an enthusiasm for the journey, and not much more.\u00a0\u00a0The Outliner wants a roadmap, a GPS, and the location of every Rest Stop along the road before beginning.\u00a0\u00a0The takeaway here is that BOTH METHODS WORK WONDERFULLY WELL.\u00a0\u00a0Except if you’re a Pantser who’s trying to follow a detailed outline.\u00a0\u00a0Or an Outliner who’s decided to just go with the whole Inspiration thing.\u00a0\u00a0Figure out which kind you are, and nurture that writing-self.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                  \n
                1. LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS (THE “I WILL GO DOWN WITH THIS SHIP” REMIX): Writing takes emotional energy.So does talking about your WIP.\u00a0\u00a0If you deny yourself the outlet of talking about your story while it’s in progress, you might just find that (since you are looking forward to all those lovely comments) this gives you enough oomph to unlock your Muse.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                  And don’t forget The Broccoli Test, The Bechdel Test, interviewing your characters, and the story’s Blooper Reel.\u00a0\u00a0(I’m hoping somebody else will cover these in depth?)<\/p>\n

                  Good Luck!<\/p>\n

                  —\u00a0Dejah Vue, Writer of Two Worlds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  A few years ago, a friend wrote poignantly about what it’s like to be blocked. I asked some pro writer friends for words of encouragement. This is from a well-known,\u00a0NYTimes-best-selling author:WRITER’S BLOCK I am sitting here looking at a fic I have not touched since 2007.\u00a0\u00a0I have 135K done, including the last scene…or, about 2\/3 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,18],"tags":[326,833],"class_list":["post-3338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-process","category-writing","tag-the-writing-life","tag-writers-block"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3338"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3339,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3338\/revisions\/3339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/treehousewriters.com\/wp53\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}