When you´ve had some attempts to write
something whatsoever, I bet you know the feeling. Staring at a blank
sheet of paper or at a blinking cursor on a perfectly empty computer
monitor. I once got myself to the point, when I started to google :
„How to stop blinking cursor?“. Yeah, it was that
bad... Seriously, what is this writer´s block and how to overcome it?
For many writers, this is the worst
part. You have excellent idea for your new novel but somehow, right
words don´t seem to come to you. You don´t know how to start, how
to continue, how to express what you see so clearly in your mind.
There are several types of writer´s block:
- You can't come up with an idea – this is the most common one and hey, I´ve got some good news for you – it´s also the easiest problem to solve. When you just keep typing and erasing all over again and at the end of the day you are staring at one single paragraph, there is an easy solution. Just try to write some fan-fiction. Or write about your life but try to think about how would your life look like if you´d started to date someone else instead of your current boyfriend/girlfriend (husband/wife). The ideas in your head will eventually become clearer and clearer and writing will become easier.
- You actually have a ton of ideas but none of them seems to be good enough
Okay, this is slightly harder. You start to type and after while you simply lose interest in your idea. Oftentimes, the coolest ideas can turn to most boring and annoying stories and you can do nothing about it. When you have these issues at the beginning, just throw those ideas away. If they are not meant to be, they´re not meant to be. Or if you don´t want to get rid of them completely, just save them in special file and you can always return to them later. Maybe in a month, maybe in a year or even in 20 years.
- You're stuck in the middle and have no idea how to continue
Well, probably you don´t have an outline, or you ditched it while ago. If you´re not big outline fan, that´s okay. Maybe you just need a couple days to recharge your creativity. Or try to rethink your original idea. Step aside and look for new perspective. Did you know that Mark Twain spent months stuck in the middle of Huckleberry Finn? And look how great it turned out!
- You have an outline but you can't get through one particular part of it
Some writers make great friends with outlines and some don't. For some writers outline is way to start writing. Outline is like a map for a driver. When you are about to get on a trip and you NEED to know where you are going, then it´s usually good idea to have a map with you. But when you are up for some adventure, you can leave you map at home. (there is a chance you get lost somewhere along the way, though :)) When you can´t get through some parts of the story there might be some gaps in your outline. Try to rewrite it and see where story is getting now.
- You have a terrible feeling that your story took a wrong turn a hundred pages back, and you now hit a dead end
I´m not going to lie to you. This is the worst. Every writer makes decisions about how will storyline progress. You made one as well and it felt right at that moment but somehow after hundred pages you feel like you´ve made horrible mistake. Yeah, it happens. First of all, don´t panic. Re-read what you´ve written so far. Is it really bad or are you just having second thoughts? When you are completely sure that you´ve made mistake, there´s only one way how to solve this. Go back to that place, where you took the wrong turn and start all over again. I know. It sucks! Big time. But it´s the only way how you can fix this.
- You're bored with some of your characters
First of all – it´s your fault. Maybe it´s hard to hear but it´s true. You created them, remember? When your characters don´t do anything interesting, they´re not interesting. Period. If you want them to be active, bold, funny, you have to create adequate conditions for them. When you want them to run, you have to make someone else chasing them. Capish?
But most of all remember this: Writer´s
block is your subconscious telling you, that something doesn´t feel
right. If you´re experiencing writer´s block right now, don´t
freak out. Take a break, go for a walk, read a book, watch a movie,
or hang out with your friends. You´ll see that „visiting another
world“ will help you come up with fresh ideas and new perspectives
on your story.
