Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Tuesday's Inspiration - Battling Writer's Block #MFRWauthor, #am writing


The first thing one needs to look at is what causes writer's block.  The first one is inhibition. You sit there, you have a great idea and you start writing. Suddenly you begin to question yourself. Is what I'm writing different enough from all the other books out there? Is what I'm planning to write good enough? Is what I'm writing relevant? These kinds of question result in false starts and of throwing hands into the air and believing the story has gotten into a corner that the writer can's solve.

A second cause of writer's block is the desire for fame and glory. When the book doesn't make the best seller's list or doesn't fly off the shelves, receive those glowing reviews, the writer begins to wonder if telling stories is worth the trouble. Part of the fame and glory quest is the desire for money.

Blocked, blocked. Nothing is ever good enough. No amount of work seems to solve the problems the writer sees in his stories. He or she throws the towel in the laundry and the pages in the garbage and announces they have "Writer's block." Having admitted that, there's no reason to try again. Problem is with this solution, digging into the work can overcome the block. "Persistence pays."

In a corner. Maybe you thought you were writing a 1000,000 word story when it's really a 60,000 word story. Maybe the ideas you thought were wonderful weren't thought out enough. Maybe a twist would turn them into a story. About being different. There are only so many plots flying around. What matters is the words chosen and the characters developed. The last group of those with writer's block may never cure their block. Writing for all those things doesn't really matter if you're not driven to write even if no one reads the story. Writers write.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Enjoyed your post today!

Melissa Keir said...

Great post. I'm stuck with the first writer's block. I am feeling like I'm not good enough. I know I need to get over it... :)

Thanks for sharing!

Sarah J. McNeal said...

It's truer, most writer's block comes about due to fear or self-doubt. Some writers seem to think it comes about from the lack of story ideas, but that's not true. A writer can sit before the computer with a swirl of imaginative ideas, but becomes paralyzed when it comes time to write it down.
I had writer's block right in the middle of a story. I knew what was supposed to happen next, but I just couldn't move forward. So I took an RWA writer's class: Writer's Block And Procrastination. By the time I finished that class, I was back on my way. One of the most helpful exercises was to spend 10 minutes writing about a bowl of fruit. I'm not kidding. It worked. It was a baby step that brought me back.
A good subject today.