Ask the Author: Jason Kapcala
Answered Questions (3)
Jason Kapcala
At the time of this question, I am drafting a novel about a small-time rock band, The Mourning Afters, from a ghost town in central Pennsylvania, and the lead singer, Kev Cassady, who left for California, chasing dreams of stardom and is now returning home to attend his ex-guitarist's funeral. He's going to have to face the remaining members of the band he left behind and the fact that he may have a daughter he didn't know about.
It sounds kind of heavy in summary, but it's actually a comic project.
It sounds kind of heavy in summary, but it's actually a comic project.
Jason Kapcala
Read a lot. Read books similar to the ones you want to write. Read books different from those you want to write. Read across different forms (poetry/prose). Read non-creative research work. Read about the craft of writing. And as you are doing so, read like a writer. Begin forming your opinions about writing--what do you observe, what do you value, what do you believe? Lots of people are going to tell you what they think you should be writing, what you should do to change your story, etc., and it is good to be open to fresh perspectives, but a lot of those suggestions are going to be self-serving and not of much use to you. If you have a strongly developed sense of what you believe about writing, that can guide you and help you filter through that feedback.
So, read a lot.
Then forget it all whenever you sit down to write your first draft. Trust that you've internalized everything you need. Don't try to paint by numbers or apply your intellectual understanding of writing to the act of writing in the moment. You'll have an opportunity to go back later and pick it apart (and pick it apart you should!). But when you sit down to write, shut off that critical faculty and enjoy the experience of creating something new, or beautiful, or heartbreaking. Engage that part of your mind that makes good decisions without your conscious control--you can't think your way through it like a puzzle. And when you look back later, you may be surprised to find you've written things and made intuitive decisions that you don't even remember making at the time.
I also think it is good advice, in revision, to try to write against whatever your initial impulse was. Do whatever you can to break away from "intention" and any blinders you may have had on when you were drafting, and engage the subconscious. I try to switch up my approach from one stage to the next—if I plotted it out, initially, I try to throw that away and just let my mind play during the next pass, and vice versa.
So, read a lot.
Then forget it all whenever you sit down to write your first draft. Trust that you've internalized everything you need. Don't try to paint by numbers or apply your intellectual understanding of writing to the act of writing in the moment. You'll have an opportunity to go back later and pick it apart (and pick it apart you should!). But when you sit down to write, shut off that critical faculty and enjoy the experience of creating something new, or beautiful, or heartbreaking. Engage that part of your mind that makes good decisions without your conscious control--you can't think your way through it like a puzzle. And when you look back later, you may be surprised to find you've written things and made intuitive decisions that you don't even remember making at the time.
I also think it is good advice, in revision, to try to write against whatever your initial impulse was. Do whatever you can to break away from "intention" and any blinders you may have had on when you were drafting, and engage the subconscious. I try to switch up my approach from one stage to the next—if I plotted it out, initially, I try to throw that away and just let my mind play during the next pass, and vice versa.
Jason Kapcala
I'm not sure I believe in "writer's block," per se. I think productivity is going to ebb and flow sometimes, based on how many other commitments a person has in their life--family, work, etc.--and you have to be kind to yourself in those moments. I've heard people say, "You have to write every day to be a writer" and things like that, and I don't buy it. That's a privilege that most of us don't reasonably enjoy, given that most writers aren't paid to sit and practice their craft.
That said, you also can't be too comfortable not writing. I know when I am not writing, not on a schedule, that the problem is me: I am not being disciplined enough, not committing to the work.
I suppose that doesn't really answer the question of writer's block though. That's more of a creative dry spell than a scheduling issue. In those cases where I feel creatively depleted, I just sit down and write anyway. No one said it has to be easy to be valuable. That's how work goes sometimes. Write anything. A hundred words in or so, and I find that it starts to take shape for the day. When I go back to look at it later, it usually isn't as bad as it felt when I was grinding it out.
There's also a self-doubt with larger projects that creeps in and can freeze you if you let it. In my experience, a hundred pages into a manuscript, everything seems like bad writing, a poor decision, but I've come to expect that, and I find that if I ignore that doubting voice, the feeling goes away after about 20 more pages.
That said, you also can't be too comfortable not writing. I know when I am not writing, not on a schedule, that the problem is me: I am not being disciplined enough, not committing to the work.
I suppose that doesn't really answer the question of writer's block though. That's more of a creative dry spell than a scheduling issue. In those cases where I feel creatively depleted, I just sit down and write anyway. No one said it has to be easy to be valuable. That's how work goes sometimes. Write anything. A hundred words in or so, and I find that it starts to take shape for the day. When I go back to look at it later, it usually isn't as bad as it felt when I was grinding it out.
There's also a self-doubt with larger projects that creeps in and can freeze you if you let it. In my experience, a hundred pages into a manuscript, everything seems like bad writing, a poor decision, but I've come to expect that, and I find that if I ignore that doubting voice, the feeling goes away after about 20 more pages.
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