Getting Unstuck

I had an interesting conversation with my youngest son the other day. He’s in third grade now, and his reading class is starting to write very basic stories. This is something my son does all the time. He makes up the most elaborate stories as he’s playing with legos or stuffed animals or whatever. But, put a sheet of paper in front of him, and he freezes up. He actually believed that he couldn’t write a story.

I suspect many writers get this problem from time to time. It seems so easy to dream up possibilities, but then when we go to write them down, nothing happens. That doesn’t mean we can’t do it, it just means we need to get creative as to how to get the words flowing.

For my son, his teachers told him to draw a mini storyboard. He drew four pictures, each picture leading into the next, and was proud of what he had drawn. But he still didn’t think he could write the story. So, I told him to verbally tell me what was happening in the pictures. Immediately, he rattled off this elaborate scene, including dialog and actions that encompassed far more than what the pictures showed. When he was done, I told him that everything he’d said was his story. Just like that, his eyes widened as he made the connection between picture and story, and he began to write furiously. All he was supposed to write was a paragraph or two, but he ended up with a full page and a half.

If only writing came so easily all the time! It doesn’t, of course. And we can’t expect it to. But when we get stuck like this, there are some things we can do to get ourselves unstuck. The most common advice is to just write something anyway, because you can’t revise nothing. That’s true, but that’s also painful and demoralizing. You know you’re writing crap, and you feel like crap because you’re writing crap. So why put yourself through that if you can avoid it?

The first thing I suggest is to stop doing what you’re doing. Then, try a few different tactics and see if you can find something, anything, that will get those creative juices flowing again. Draw a picture, scribble some random sentences, doodle, make a list, write some dialog, write some backstory, or even walk away entirely. Sometimes you need distance from your work in order to see it clearly. If one thing isn’t working, try something else. Keep trying until you land on something that feels right, that gets the words flowing again, and stick with it.

There is a caveat, though. Of course there is, because this is writing, and writing is never exact. :) The caveat is that this process may not work on your next book, so you might end up going through this problem all over again. Not to worry, though, because, by then you’ll know what to do! When something isn’t working, stop! Keep trying different things until it starts working again.

Writing Prompts

I had planned to post an article on time management today. Ironically, I did not get the time to finish it. :) So, I have a great article for you instead. It's a bunch of great writing prompts when writer's block comes to visit.

Enjoy!

http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/7-creative-writing-prompts-to-spark-your-writing?et_mid=612162&rid=233670636

Writing Exercises for Writer’s Block

I don’t know about you, but there are days when I just can’t make headway on my current WIP. For whatever reason, whenever I sit down to work on it, my brain comes to a screeching halt. There could be a zillion reasons for it—my subconscious needs to work out a few more details, I’m tired, certain ideas need to ‘gel’ in my head, I’m frustrated, something feels ‘off,’ etc. There’s another word for this: Writer’s Block.

When this happens, it’s easy to scream and stomp away from your desk, muttering about how you can never get anything done when you actually sit down to write. Or, you can do something else.

When I feel like I’m stuck, I pull out my trusty list of writing exercises. Each time I work on one of these, I do something completely different with it—new characters, new situations, new settings, etc. And, most importantly, I don’t care what kind of quality comes out of it. I can spend thirty minutes writing the biggest pile of crap anyone has ever seen in the writing universe, and I don’t care because no one is ever going to see it. That said, I have had some great ideas come out of it, and then of course it evolves into much higher quality. :)

Anyway, I thought I’d share my favorites with you. 

• You wake up at the hospital and have no idea who you are. What are you thinking, feeling? And what do you plan on doing next?
• Create a character with an odd phobia, then put your character in a situation where it arises.  Show us how he/she handles it.
• Write a page or two of a childhood memory, using all five senses.
• Write a short story from the perspective of your pet.  How does he view you and your family?  How will you bring his personality to light?
• You’re taking a walk in the forest and a strange creature jumps out at you. What is it, and what do you do?
• You're in high school and your dad comes home to find his lawnmower destroyed. How did this happen?

If you're so inclined, feel free to share your efforts in the comments. Who knows, maybe I’ll even share some of my ramblings…the legible ones, anyway. :) Enjoy!

Getting Unstuck

Last week, Jennifer Matteson and Edward Necarsulmer IV shared signs that you’re ready for an agent. Today, I want to share what Tamra Tuller from Philomel Books had to say about writer’s block.

Tamra’s talk was easily the best I’ve ever heard when it comes to writer’s block. When she was done, the whole room was in awe. I will do my best to do it justice, but her delivery was so heartfelt and honest that I’m not sure I can get all of that across. So any fault on that part is mine alone.

She began by sharing her own experience with writer’s block—she couldn’t get started writing out her notes for this very talk! After much hemming and hawing and puzzling about, she figured out a key piece of information.

The source of all writer’s block is FEAR.

The most common fears are the fear of failure, your work sucks, you feel exposed, you’ll look stupid, you’re unoriginal, etc. Fear then leads to resistance, which manifests itself as pessimism and excuses. THESE ARE ALL LIES. If your inner critic is being mean, then it’s a dirty rotten liar. Don’t listen to it.

Fear actually isn’t a bad thing if you understand it. You don’t need to overcome the fear; you just need to be able to face it. Because when you face it, something else happens. You grow.

If we never did anything scary, if we never challenged ourselves, then we would remain stagnant. So, instead of listening to your inner critic, simple acknowledge it. Then let go of those thoughts. If you don’t, your inner critic will become your censor.

When you write, just write and don’t edit. Instead, write like no one will ever read it, and give yourself permission to suck. Most writers write terrible first drafts. Then, they revise. So, when you write, don’t expect perfection. Just expect to write something that you can revise. This will silence your inner critic.

Some tips and exercises for overcoming writer’s block:
-Get a routine. Keep writing even if you don’t want to, or if it might be too difficult to get back into it. Plus, you can’t improve if you don’t keep doing it!
-Do research. Research is just as important as writing. You might be stuck because you need more information on a particular element in your story.
-Explore the senses. Do some writing exercises that explore all five senses. It can be either in your story’s setting or in the real world.
-Journaling. Write some journal entries from your characters’ points of view. You might be surprised what they have to say.
-Explore the plot. Sit down and brainstorm any possible ‘what if’ scenarios you can think of, even if they’re stupid. You can always cross off the stupid ones later.
-Write a different project. If you’re good and truly stuck on one project, then it may just need time to stew in your head. Try writing something else in the mean time, and then come back to it later.
-Go to a new location. Getting unstuck may be as easy as moving from one room to another. Or to a place with less distractions. Changing your venue can sometimes shift your frame of mind.

She had lots of recommended reading, too:
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Letters To A Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
For Writers Only by Sophy Burnam
Outwitting Writer’s Block by Jenna Glatzer
Writing From The Inside Out by Dennis Palumbo
The Courage To Write by Ralph Keyes
Write: 10 Days To Overcome Writer’s Block by Karen E. Peterson
Unstuck: A Supportive and Practical Guide to Working Through Writer’s Block by Jane Anne Staw

Inspiring to Motivate

As some of you know, I’ve been working on a MG novel. And, the week before last, I finished it! Yay!! It’s not done-done, it’s just ready-for-critique-done. But all the big pieces are there, plus a lot of the little ones, and I’d been wondering if I’d ever reach this goal.

This story has a long history – seven years of it. During that time, I’ve had varying degrees of both inspiration and motivation to write it. Sometimes it poured in like a waterfall, and sometimes it was hardly a trickle. A question that’s been buzzing around my head lately is this: what kept me going on this story for so long? I certainly wasn’t inspired for the full seven years, nor was I motivated. I even set it on the shelf for years at a time. So why did I keep coming back to it?

I wasn’t really sure, so I sat down to examine the life of this project. Turns out it was shaped like a regular story.

Beginning:
With all my new ideas, there is no shortage of inspiration or motivation. The words almost come too fast for me to keep up, even when I’m in the planning stages. The same thing happened with my MG project. When the initial idea fell into my head, I got so excited that I wrote and wrote for weeks on end. The more I planned, the bigger the story got. But when I started writing it, it got smaller. So I went back to planning, then back to writing, planning, writing, etc. I kept going in this circle until I was so dizzy I didn’t know what to do. All I knew was something wasn’t right, and I didn’t know how to fix it. It irritated the heck out of me, so I set it aside to work on something else.

Middle:
After writing my first YA novel, I went back to my MG project to see what I could see. Again, I got really excited about the idea and set to planning. Again, the words flowed freely and I could hardly keep up. Then, I went through the same cycle as before. But I was determined to work through the problem this time. I even wrote separate pieces of the story, out of order, in an attempt to spark a solution. Nothing worked, and I was even more frustrated than the last time. I threw the story back on the shelf, then huffed off to work on something else.

End:
After writing my second YA novel, I didn’t go directly back to my MG project. Instead, I sketched out another YA story. When I had a rough, high level plan, I closed one eye and peeked at my MG project. I don’t know why I was treating it like it was going to jump out and bite me, because it was still in the same state I’d left it. :) This caution turned out to be beneficial, though. Instead of letting the idea carry me away, I took out the high-level plan and spread it out on the floor. And then, something happened...it all clicked into place. I had almost everything I needed, but it wasn’t in the right order, and some of the characters were playing the wrong roles. I switched those things around, and then *more* clicked into place. That required some new pieces to the plan, so I added those. Pretty soon, my floor was covered with a plan that made sense, really made sense, for the first time. I sat down to write the story, and the words flowed. It was like a dam bursting. I guess since they’d been stuck in my head for seven years, they just couldn’t wait to finally get out. This is the strongest first draft I’ve ever written...but that’s probably because it’s really the 200th draft. : )

But why did it take so long to get to this point? Quite frankly, the story required writing skills that I didn’t have, and I didn’t know how to go about learning them. It took seven years to first understand how to write it, and then to realize that I didn’t have those particular skills way back when. I still have plenty to learn, but at least I know enough to give this story what it deserves.

I also discovered that, through all this time of varying degrees of inspiration and motivation, these two remained constant:
Inspiration – I love the idea behind this story. Plus, I’m an explorer at heart, and I wanted to see where this idea would take me.
Motivation – The underlying themes are a huge part of myself. Sorting through them allowed me to grow internally, which made me a stronger, more confident person.

In other words, from the day the idea hatched in my head, there was never a question that I wouldn’t finish it. I will. It’s just a matter of time.
What keeps you motivated? What do you do when your motivation goes on a vacation?

Blocking Writer’s Block

Anyone who writes knows about writer’s block. Some believe in it, and some don’t. If you asked me what I believe, I’d say I don’t. But that’s not a completely honest answer...

Writer’s block is a very real thing. It’s something in a writer’s mind that is keeping her from putting words on a page. Some would argue that that’s why it’s not real, and I’ve even heard some people say “it’s all in your mind, get over it.” But I say that’s what makes it real. After all, where do our stories come from? Yeah, the mind.

Overcoming it isn’t always easy, but it’s definitely possible. Writer’s block can be as huge as a lack of confidence to produce good work, which might mean that the block is rooted deep within the person, and has nothing to do with writing. Writer’s block can also be as small as not being able to figure out what comes next in the story. No matter what it is, it’s possible to defeat it.

I’m stubborn. It runs in my family, on both sides, and my kids have inherited all of it. I think my family must have been cursed ages ago or something, because this stubbornness almost has a life of its own, and I think it will pass itself on through each generation until the world ends. Fortunately for me, I read A WRINKLE IN TIME as a kid, and Meg taught me that stubbornness can be used productively.

So, when I decided that I was going to make a living as a writer, it was as good as a done deal. The fact that it hadn’t happened yet meant nothing, because I would do whatever was necessary in order to get my work out there. : ) That may sound confident, but it’s not. Stubbornness is not confidence. And a lack of confidence can feed writer’s block.

I’ve gone through my share of writer’s block, and at one point it was as big as “everything I write is crap and no one is going to read my work.” I could have given up and pursued something else, which would have been fine. But that’s not what I wanted. I wanted to write in the worst way, and I didn’t want to write crap. Here, I feel lucky to be so stubborn, and to have learned how to harness it. Otherwise, I could have let my dream slip away. Instead, I took some writing classes. That got me one step closer to the confidence I needed in order to succeed, but I still had many steps to go. Some of those steps had nothing to do with writing, and everything to do with me.

Over the years, I’ve beaten down the writer’s block from I-can’t-write to I-don’t-know-what-happens-next. When I run into that kind of block, I lay out the story and examine what I’ve written up to that point. Then I brainstorm and lay out all possible choices (even the ridiculous ones) from there. Often, one will jump out at me, then slide itself into place. If that doesn’t happen, then I move farther back in the story until I reach the place where I got derailed. Then I brainstorm again until I’m back on track.

If none of that works, then I go for a walk. Or, I call up a friend and scream about my stupid story. : )

I still sometimes question whether what I’ve written will ever be good enough, and that sometimes results in zero words on the page. When that happens, I always take a step back and look at what’s blocking me. Is it me? Or is it the story? Once I figure that out, then I can find a way around the block. Or over it. Or under. I’m not picky. : )

So, when I say I don’t believe in writer’s block, what I really mean is that I don’t believe in letting it stop me. And I never will.