Diana Gabaldon once told us that she doesn’t believe in Writer’s Block; she thinks it’s more about Writer’s Inertia.
i.e.
An object (writer) at rest remains at rest.
An object (writer) in motion (writing) remains moving (writing).
So what is the solution when you are writing and come up against a brick wall? Just because it feels like a block, doesn’t mean it is. You may need to give that project a rest from your conscious mind and let your subconscious work things out. To do that, you may need to distract your conscious mind a bit. You may not need to keep moving forward, so long as you keep moving.
Don’t fret about it or dig yourself into a quicksand state of mind when you’re really just walking on the beach. Yeah, it may be a bit of a workout, but it’s not killing you.
Here are 5 suggestions to deal with Writers’ Block:
1. Write something else.
Stuck with your novel? Write a short story, maybe in your novel world, maybe something completely different. Write a poem. Write an article. Writing is writing. You’re still making progress even if it’s not on your main project. If you step away, eventually you’ll see something from a distance that you missed while you were too close.
2. Put the problem that’s stymied you into your subconscious.
Before you go to bed, think about the issue you’re struggling to resolve. Consider each character and what the problem is, and often in the morning you will wake up with a solution.
3. Just write ANYTHING about those characters.
Ignore the main project and just play with your characters. Conduct an interview with your protagonist, your antagonist, a minor character or two. Write a letter to their grandmother, their fourth grade teacher, the kindergarten best friend, etc as a way into their psyche. Bonus! These sorts of things are awesome bonus material for your newsletter subscribers!
4. Pick up a Writing Thesaurus
These amazing resources by Angela Ackerman and Rebecca Puglisi are fantastic. Everything is at your fingertips! Go through the thesaurus, noting character traits that are relevant to the character you’re dealing with and consider how the traits could impact characters’ choices. (I use Emotional Wound Thesaurus. Emotion Thesaurus 2nd edition. Negative Trait Thesaurus. Positive Trait Thesaurus) These seem to always give me lots of ideas to resolve whatever stalls me.
5. Timed write
Set the timer, start writing and don’t pause or overthink. Put words down for 10 minutes on anything relating to the characters, their living situation, their past choices, their wishes, their families, etc. Write out possible endings. Imagine a character telling their therapist about what’s frozen them and why they (their story) aren’t going forward. Free write in stream of consciousness. Usually something shakes loose and you’ll get some direction for your project. Oh- and if something comes to mind that you instantly think “NO! You can’t write THAT down!” that is ABSOLUTELY something you NEED to write down! THAT thing is probably the plug causing all your trouble. PULL THAT PLUG!! Write it down!
I think a sense that you’re ‘blocked’ is often your brain falling for the ‘this isn’t good enough’ lie and getting all caught up in getting something ‘right’ on the page. A first draft is about finishing, not about perfection, so tell that inner critic to shut up while you power through your crappy first draft, and promise to let the critic work out all the issues in the second draft, when you need a critical eye to get things cleaned up. You can’t edit a blank page. Even the worst writing can be fixed. Get writing!
Sometimes it’s okay to realize you don’t know where the story goes next. This is a common pantser problem! We write ourselves into corners and need some ingenuity to work our way out. Sometimes we need to erase the trail and go back a scene or two to change direction. Sometimes we just have to wait in our painted corner until the resolution appears (or the paint dries!). In the meantime, keep writing. When you’ve forgotten that troublesome piece, when you return to it, often the solution pops up as you re-read it! Time is a cure. Just work on something else while you let that project simmer. Simmering isn’t a block. Things taste better if they’ve simmered a while.
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Enough clichés for you in this? 🙂
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Go forth and write. You’ve got this.
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Shawn L. Bird 