Is there a way to get rid of writer’s block?
I have writers block frequently, which is no help to a writer. So is there anyway to help get rid of it? Or should I just try to let it pass? (Even though it’s not like a disease or anything..)
- Mimi
Tags: Writer S Block, Writer's Block
June 23rd, 2009 at 7:12 am
go do something with other people out side for an hour ” live ” alittle and you’ll see things you never would in front of your laptop hope that helped
June 25th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
whenever i get it i just leave the subject. Write down anything your thinking of and go with it till there is nothing left to write. then look back at what you were trying to do and if you like me then you will be able to continue.
June 27th, 2009 at 8:37 am
There’s no right answer to cure writer’s block.
I should also point out that I don’t believe “writer’s block” exists. I think it’s more like “writer’s fatigue”. You’re probably tired. Staring at a computer screen, waiting for inspiration to come, can be “stressful”, per se. Sometimes it’s best to listen to music, or watch a movie, or draw a picture. Sometimes it’s best to delete a line or two and see if there are any other choices your characters could have made. Sometimes it’s best to just walk away.
Try online prompts, so you can write something. Because even though it may not be perfect, there is ALWAYS something you can write.
June 29th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
These are the words Tamora Pierce said to those with writer’s block:
* Introduce a new character, a strong one with an individual style in speech, dress and behavior–one who will cause the other characters to review their own actions and motives to decide where they stand with regard to the new character. Don’t forget that with me, at least, new characters include animals: most characters will react to an animal intrusion of some kind in an interesting way.
* Have something dramatic happen. As Raymond Chandler put it, “Have someone come through the door with a gun in his hand.” (My husband translates this as “Have a troll come through the door with a spear in his hand.”) Machinery or vehicles (cars, wagons, horses, camels) can break down; your characters can be attacked by robbers or pirates; a flood or tornado sweeps through. Stage a war or an elopement or a financial crash. New, hard circumstances force characters to sink or swim, and the way you show how they do either will move things along.
* Change the point of view from which you tell the story. If you’re doing it from inside one character’s head, try switching to another character’s point of view. If you’re telling the story from an all-seeing, third person (”he/she thought”) point of view, try narrowing your focus down to one character telling the story in first person, as Huckleberry Finn and Anne Frank tell their stories. If down the road in the world you’ve created someone has written a book or encyclopedia about these events, insert a nonfiction-like segment (that doesn’t give the important stuff away) as a change of pace. Try telling it as a poem, or a play (you can convert it to story form later).
* Put this story aside, and start something else: letters, an article, a poem, a play, an art project. Look at the story in a day, or a week, or a couple of months. It may be fresh for you then; it may spark new ideas.
* If you have an intelligent friend who’s into the things you’re writing about, talk it out with him/her. My husband often supplies wonderful new ideas so I can get past whatever hangs me up, and my family and friends are used to mysterious phone calls asking about things seemingly out of the blue, like what gems would you wear with a scarlet gown, or how tall are pole beans in late June?
* Most important of all, know when it’s time to quit. Sometimes you take an idea as far as it will go, then run out of steam. This is completely normal. When I began to write, I must have started 25 things for each one I completed. Whether you finish something or not, you’ll still have learned as you wrote. The things you learn and ideas you developed, even in a project you don’t finish, can be brought to your next project, and the next, and the next. Sooner or later you’ll have a story which you can carry to a finish.