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My work in progress, Telemachus, is stuck halfway in the middle. How could this be so hard? goo, old fashioned Greco-Roman comedy, five chapters. Chapter one, boy sees girl. Chapter two, boy meets girl. Chapter three, boy challenged by her father. Chapter four, boy quests to earn her love, both in here eyes and her father’s. chapter five, wedding day. How can this be so hard?

Writer’s Block

The conundrum of Writer’s Block is not knowing what comes next, because I know that. I have the whole book outlined, with all the characters described on the inside and the out. Writer’s Block is more than not knowing what to say next. It’s more like a phobia in that it’s an irrational response to the irrational need to write perfection, and in a first draft, at that.

It’s a good thing I have such worthwhile outlines of everything. There are some who write without such outlines. They fly by the seat of their pants, so they are called planters, as opposed to us planners. I don’t see how pantsers escape the Block.

Now What?

How do I overcome the Block? There are a few things I can try. Talk about it with your friends who know that you write. Simply speaking of it puts things down a different set of wires in your brain. This rerouting may force something up to the surface. Also, you never know what other people are going to say.

Another thing you can do is to write something completely different, like non-fiction. That’s what I’m doing with this blog post. All writing is not writing. It takes different skillsets and creative aptitude to write novels as opposed to essays or even poetry. Like with the discussion angle, shifting to non-fiction tells the story in yet again another mode. These options bring up may options. Maybe one of them will help.

I’m trying all of these and one more. I’m finishing my draft backward. Rarely do I start with “Once upon a time,” and finish with “they all lived happily ever after.” Because the beginnings and ends are so important, I usually write and rewrite these several times in my first draft process. This time, I’m going to write the last chapter, then the penultimate chapter. That’ll bring me with a novel sandwich, four slices of chapter bread all done only needing the meaty middle to be done. By that time, I should have my mind right. I should.

You know that when Telemachus is done, I’ll let you know. You can pick up your copy and read it for your own and decide if this worked. I hope it will. Moreover, I hope this helps all those who suffer from the occasional Writer’s Block.