By K.D. Harp
The next great novel
waits within you, and you’ve come down with a case of writer’s block. Join the
club. Or cry in your coffee. Wail to the sun. Whatever you do, don’t complain
to non-writers, who don’t understand the problem and won’t care. (The phrase ‘writer’s
block’ is as meaningful as ‘tennis elbow’ is to a couch potato). Don’t complain
to seasoned writers either, because we see writer’s block as a rite of passage.
You’re not REALLY a pet owner until you’ve dealt with that first public puppy
indiscretion unprepared, and you’re not REALLY a writer until you’ve wrestled
with a Muse who is feeding the world’s worst case of PMS and using it as an
excuse to give you the Silent Treatment. All the gut-wrenching
writer insecurity whirling about in your psyche from writer’s block just makes
it all the more authentic to us.
On the up side, it is a
malady as common as the cold, and remedies abound. Google the term and find
suggestions for everything from changing location, getting a new look, meeting
new people, listening to music, indulging in some sort of recreation, and my
(sarcasm on) favorite, changing your attitude. I know, the world
has become a positive thinking place which can cure anything from world hatred
to panty hose runs, but I’m not this sort of person, and when I read
suggestions like this for anything, I quickly tend to picture someone curing
their writer ailment by plaiting their extensions into gravity defying Wendy’s
logo braids, and singing “If You’re Happy and You Know It” while hopscotching through
a police station holding cell for fun. The image takes all the attitude actions
and rolls them into one: new hair, new people, and song styling exercise
guaranteed to get you a story of one sort or another…
Most of the useful suggestions
involve something encouraging you to write anyway, essentially something that
looks like denial of the writer’s block dilemma, but is in actuality, hard
truth. You don’t really have writer’s block, dear writer.
You’re not focused on the work of writing. You’re
in love with the play of it.
You are the gal with the
totally planned out wedding who isn’t even dating.
Denial Class suggestions
involve working even when you think you can’t, i.e., has
writer’s block. Commit to a set number of words per day, or better yet, a given
amount of time. I like the time strategies because if your mind is truly blank
after word wrestling for X minutes or hours, you’ve proven your dedication to
the project. The minimum number of words strategy can work wonders too, though,
especially if you set a ridiculously easy number of words, (even as low as ten
if necessary), some number that your normal writer self just laughs at,
and doesn’t take seriously as a goal. Even on a Writer’s Block Day, that
ridiculous number is attainable, and once we’ve met the minimum, most of us are
off and running down some writing path, because of the jump start it gives.
Or, READ. Read the text
you were writing when the block occurred. Go back deep in the text, to the
beginning if necessary. Immerse yourself in the story from a reader’s
perspective. What do you want for these fake people, (sorry), characters on
the page? What would be the worst thing to happen to them? …What’s that? You
don’t have a text? OK, if starting the story is the problem, then read its
predecessor, with the same mentality, and make note of what your mind conjures.
Oh c’mon! You’ve got
writer’s block on your first book? Some would say read the
book that inspires you to want to try writing and take note of the elements you
want to emulate. Isn’t that sweet? So encouraging. So academic. While the
Positive Penelopes amongst you are trading warm fuzzies whilst admiring a
classic or bestseller, before you pragmatists run a finger down your throats at
the thought, hang with me. For you folks, read the poorly written drivel that
somehow got published which convinced you that you could do better, and this
time, take note of all the ways to improve it.
Bingo. There’s your
start, the elements you believe a good story requires. …Time to fill in the
blanks. Now that you have it, don’t get sidetracked fretting over titles,
character names or (some people actually DO this) a pen name. (Priorities
people. You need no pen name until sometime AFTER you’ve actually
penned something.) As for the story, use whatever character name comes to
mind and don’t sweat it. It can be changed later with a simple Replace All, as
long as you’re smart enough not to use a name like “Ike” (Guilty. This name
will earn you the thrill of correcting a few hundred bizarre words that used to
be ‘like’, ‘strike’, ‘pike’, etc.) If your mind’s such a blank you have to
write XX and XY instead of a character name, just do it. The names will come
later. Don’t slow their story as it trickles out.
The same strategy goes
for impressive phraseology, extensive descriptions of people or place, and any
other element that is flexible and can change. A story is a
tough thing to craft, a line-up description, dismembered body, or resort’s high
rollers poker room, not so much.
Bottom line on writer’s
block: quit whining about how it’s hard, and write. If it were easy
to craft a book, even Amazon couldn’t hold all the new titles. Write drivel if
you have to, and edit it later (unless you score a three book deal from your
pile of rubbish, in which case, publish and inspire someone else to take up the
profession).
___________________________________________________________________
Award winning author
K.D. Harp writes suspense with romantic elements and strives to create
characters of character in stories worth reading again. K.D.’s volunteer work
with community emergency response teams (CERT) inspired the latest “Fighting
for the Heart of Spencer” release, RESCUE ME, where doing good
deeds after a disaster can score a date with a cop (and get ya killed.) Order
any of K.D.’s titles worldwide in softcover and multiple e-formats.
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