Hey there gang, and welcome back to Shelves and Stacks! As always, I’m
your indispensable host, Jamie Thomas, promoting literacy one tome at
a…a…Aw, crap! Not again! Don’t you just hate that, gang? You’re hunkered
down in your comfiest chair, hunched over the keyboard (or type writer
for all you hipsters and oldsters), and all of a sudden….BAM! Your brain
blows a fuse, and you start spewing word vomit, making a fine pile of
slurry where a great work of literature in the making had just been.
What a revolting development, am I right? Now, just imagine you’ve got a
grade, contract, the notice of an attractive love interest, or a
literary festival to read at just on the horizon. No pressure!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BWdLt3Afjrg
Freddie knows that feel. This feeling of stress, pressure and/or intestinal discomfort may be one of two things.
1. Your Grande Burrito making its presence known.
2. Writer’s Block.
If it’s not the tex mex talking, you may be suffering from a case of writer’s block.
The first step in defeating thine enemy is to know it. Merriam Webster
(.com) defines writer’s block as “the problem of not being able to think
of something to write about or not being able to finish writing a
story, poem, etc.” So, by this logic we can assume that writer’s block
is a wily little creature, lurking around in the back of our heads,
chasing down, and capturing our ideas as they rush from brain to
fingers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=b5cVYeeMzGI
Not that kind of wily. If our writer’s blocks were that kind of wily,
we’d never have this problem, and we’d all be slugging it out in an
oversaturated literary market.
Now that we know our enemy, why does he keep popping up, trying to lay
hands on our roadrunners? Honestly, the answer to this question (like
the taste of soylent green), varies from person to person. If you really
want to delve into the psychological side of writer’s blocks, there’s a
plethora of articles and theories (reputable and otherwise) online.
Personally, I chalk writer’s block up to the three P’s: Psych outs,
Pressure, and Panic.
Let’s say, you’re working on your latest novel, and it’s an awesome
novel. It’s got everything: action, adventure, great one liners,
dastardly villains, emotional clarity and enlightenment, vast worlds
full of wonder, etc. This thing is gold, and it’s going to bring wave
after wave of publishers to your door, begging and battling one another
for the rights to publish your story, and all you have to do is kick
back in your comfy pants and just make up a whole bunch of stuff while
drinking a coffee and listening to episodes of Buffy. That’s when the
horror begins.
Writer’s Block in Three Acts
Act 1: The Psych Out
As the aspiring author hunches over their work, cranking out draft,
after draft, they wonder, “Is my work good enough? Is it marketable? Is
it worth the shed blood of the ten thousands armies of publishers
slaughtering one another on my front lawn? To write, or not to write?
That is the question. Whether tis nobler to see this draft through to
its end, or to bail and go watch Youtube videos?” Struck dumb with
indecision, the author slowly pushes himself away from his work and
ponders still.
Act 2: The Pressure
Unable to speak, the author has secluded himself to a small space under
his desk where he rocks back and forth in the fetal position, feeling
the crushing weight of the world pressing in from all sides. Cue musical
interlude from David Bowie and Queen.
Act 3: The Panic
After a solid hour of rocking back and forth, the author begins eating
his manuscript in the hopes of keeping its hideousness a secret from the
world at large. He proceeds to run out of his home in nothing but a
robe and his striped boxers. He gets as far as the local convenience
store before he is tackled, cuffed, and carted away to the Bellevue
Home for the Delightfully Unhinged. He now subsists on a diet of tapioca
pudding and crayons.
Fin
Pretty gruesome stuff, gang. So, how does an aspiring writer keep writer’s block from making them…well…you know…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QoQ5RWD7_eE
The best plan is to have a plan. Lucky for you, I’ve got a whole stash
of them that I’m willing to give to you (yes you!) for the low, low
price of free!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GjjZGyYcH9E
You know, I spoil you kids.
8 Ways to Beat the Block (In No Particular Order)
1. Rough Drafts- If you’re approaching your writer’s block with a head
full of ideas, and pages worth of notes, then a rough draft is for you.
By forcing yourself to cut loose and just write your story, you’re able
to lay it all out on paper, creating something tangible that you can
begin revising. If nothing else, it gets those pesky
investors/classmates/professors off your back. See the following link
for more on the subject of rough drafts.
http://wrd.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/1-Shitty%20First%20Drafts.pdf
2. Write Some Hooks- For those of us who’ve sat through the endless
barrage of TV commercials and movie trailers doing everything inhumanly
possible to pry our hard earned dollars from our tired, overworked
fingers we know all about hooks. Behaving exactly as they sound, a hook
is nothing more than an attractive sounding blurb that tells us the bare
minimum (with a little flash) about the product in an attempt to make
us say
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JQCP85FngzE
How does this apply to writing? If the author has no interest in the
work, neither will publishers, critics and readers. So, start generating
buzz by getting yourself on board.
3. Organization- The most boring of my techniques, but the most
effective. When your head’s brimming with frothy grog of good ideas, it
gets hard to pin them all down and start fitting them together into
something of a cohesive whole. Using outlines, graphs, charts, index
cards, and any other means of laying out your ideas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BSOJiSUI0z8
If it works for the cartoon guys, it’ll work for you novelists.
4. Captions- Taking a page from Gary Larson’s classic one panel wonder, The Far Side,
http://www.pinterest.com/amac2236/the-far-side-gary-larson/
my next technique concerns captions. Take a picture, any picture from
your scrapbook, the internet, film stills, you name it. Just take an
interesting picture, stare blankly at it, and make an observation. Turn a
piece of Renaissance art into lowbrow comedy. Make monster movies into
romantic comedies. Turn a Family Circus comic into the next Far Side.
Get creative, and remember, (almost) nothing is sacred.
5. Your Head- Sometimes, we just need to clear our heads to think
clearly. I recommend it whole heartedly. Sit back, relax, take a deep
breath, and just let it all go. Release the stress, have baked ideas and
bad vibes. Doesn’t that feel better? Are we clear and relaxed now?
Groovy. Now, I want you to do as Jefferson Airplane instructs in their
song White Rabbit. “Feed your head”. Get out there and watch some
movies, go for a walk, read some books, chat with friends. Get inspired!
Pull from what’s around you, find something new, and just start
Voltronning that stuff together. You never know what you can find when
you clean house (and then fill that house with brand new junk).
6. Bouncing Ideas- While brainstorming alone is a good way to get a
downpour of material, a particularly nasty writer’s block can turn it
all into a weak drizzle. When this happens, get together with friends
and create a raging monsoon. Using others as a sounding board allows you
to look at your ideas (and theirs too) in an open, honest “not locked
up inside of your own head” environment. It’s easier to inspect your
logic for holes if you’ve got an extra set of eyes. If you happen to
naturally have an extra set of eyes, I still recommend this tip. If you
think one set of eye strain is bad, try two. It’s brutal.
7. Short Bits and Flash Fiction- Similar to the captions method,
Short Bits and Flash Fiction allow you to make use of our overly social
mediacentric society. Using the status bar of your favorite social media
site (which typically limits the number of characters you can input),
create a short, detailed, and interesting story or blurb. Post it, and
let the feedback come rolling in.
8. Stream of Consciousness- One of my personal favorites, stream of
consciousness is a tried and true (albeit oddball) way to get a story
out of your head and onto paper. Through writing (or my favorite
personal favorite talking) and shutting off your filter, you can unlock
concepts, plots, and characters that you may have had stashed away all
along. If you opt for the more vocal method, don’t forget to bring a
tape recorder along, otherwise you may find yourself crafting your next
masterpiece from…”the home”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0cE1fzfOogo
See what I mean?
By using one or more of the eight methods, I guarantee (well, 98 and
¾% anyway) you’ll find the means to slay your dragon, and get back to
your story. If not, there’s always the teen vampire novel. It’s easy to
write, and after awhile, you won’t mind the sparkles so much. This has
been your weekly dose of Shelves and Stacks. As always, I’m your host
Jamie Thomas reminding you to…to…Sigh…Not again.
(Shelves and Stacks acknowledges the copyright and ownership of all videos and links used in this and any and all future posts.)
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