Ask the Author: Harrison Kitteridge
Answered Questions (1)
Harrison Kitteridge
I used to have terrible writer's block. I went years without being able to finish anything I started. I could do free-writing excercises that I was happy with and had journals full of ideas, but there was some block in my mind preventing me from plotting anything. Nothing ever happened in anything I wrote. I had some interesting character studies and snippets, but I could never come up with anything cohesive.
I finally decided to make the time to finish something. I had been writing prose, but switched formats to screenplays, which are plot-driven. I wrote an outline and followed it slavishly for the first two-thirds. Then I got stuck. The process was like pulling teeth, but I tried to add even a sentence a day. Finally something broke free and I was able to finish a script that was pretty mediocre, but it was finished.
That is the simple "make a plan and follow it" answer, but the truth is writer's block is psychological. There were people and relationships in my life that were draining my creative energy. Refocussing that energy into my writing was really the key. I had to learn to put myself and what was important to me first.
I finally decided to make the time to finish something. I had been writing prose, but switched formats to screenplays, which are plot-driven. I wrote an outline and followed it slavishly for the first two-thirds. Then I got stuck. The process was like pulling teeth, but I tried to add even a sentence a day. Finally something broke free and I was able to finish a script that was pretty mediocre, but it was finished.
That is the simple "make a plan and follow it" answer, but the truth is writer's block is psychological. There were people and relationships in my life that were draining my creative energy. Refocussing that energy into my writing was really the key. I had to learn to put myself and what was important to me first.
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