C.J. Anaya
I once read an article by Charlie Jane Anders, entitled, "The 10 Types of Writer's Block (and how to overcome them)" that lessened my feeling of panic every time I thought I might be experiencing such a terrible mental malady! LOL
I learned that the term writer's block "sounds so dreadful and insurmountable [because] nobody ever takes it apart. Treating a broad range of creative slow downs as a single ailment just creates something monolithic and huge." Anders suggests we take the term, writer's block, apart to better understand it, and then conquer the particular creative slow down we may be suffering from.
One of the types of writer's block stuck out to me. It was #3 on the list. "You have an outline, but you can't get through this one part of it."
Holy cow, how that spoke to me. Whenever I get stumped it's usually because I have an outline, but the next scene I need to write isn't speaking to me. I generally tend to mull over the scene I am going to write for about a week or two as if I were enacting the moments in my head. I repeat lines that should be said, give my characters their blocking...or physical cues...it's the same process I went through when I did some acting in college and high school. The scene simply wasn't right until my fellow actors and myself had the blocking, props, intent and lines down with perfect precision.
When a scene doesn't play out for me in my head like that, I can't get excited enough to write about it, so then I'm stuck. Anders suggests two reasons for this. Maybe your outline doesn't make sense and you can't get from point A to point C because point B is way off base. Another cause could be you have two cool moments but you can't figure out how to connect them.
I fall under both categories, and I always know this is happening when I can't direct the scene in my head like I would in the theater. I realize my well-laid plans are being frustrated by my own independent characters, and for some reason they want different lines and blocking. My characters are soon calling the shots...for the better, I might add.
It's time for a slight detour or even a major tangent. Just remember no writing is considered a waste. Whether your tangent actually becomes your outline or takes you even further from where you wanted to be, always keep it for future reference. You might need it later.
Once I reluctantly let go of my game plan, I find myself getting excited about shooting from the hip and writing the scene as I go, letting it naturally unfold. It might suck, but then again it might not. So long as I'm writing and pushing through it instead of letting my crazy mind games get the best of me.
I learned that the term writer's block "sounds so dreadful and insurmountable [because] nobody ever takes it apart. Treating a broad range of creative slow downs as a single ailment just creates something monolithic and huge." Anders suggests we take the term, writer's block, apart to better understand it, and then conquer the particular creative slow down we may be suffering from.
One of the types of writer's block stuck out to me. It was #3 on the list. "You have an outline, but you can't get through this one part of it."
Holy cow, how that spoke to me. Whenever I get stumped it's usually because I have an outline, but the next scene I need to write isn't speaking to me. I generally tend to mull over the scene I am going to write for about a week or two as if I were enacting the moments in my head. I repeat lines that should be said, give my characters their blocking...or physical cues...it's the same process I went through when I did some acting in college and high school. The scene simply wasn't right until my fellow actors and myself had the blocking, props, intent and lines down with perfect precision.
When a scene doesn't play out for me in my head like that, I can't get excited enough to write about it, so then I'm stuck. Anders suggests two reasons for this. Maybe your outline doesn't make sense and you can't get from point A to point C because point B is way off base. Another cause could be you have two cool moments but you can't figure out how to connect them.
I fall under both categories, and I always know this is happening when I can't direct the scene in my head like I would in the theater. I realize my well-laid plans are being frustrated by my own independent characters, and for some reason they want different lines and blocking. My characters are soon calling the shots...for the better, I might add.
It's time for a slight detour or even a major tangent. Just remember no writing is considered a waste. Whether your tangent actually becomes your outline or takes you even further from where you wanted to be, always keep it for future reference. You might need it later.
Once I reluctantly let go of my game plan, I find myself getting excited about shooting from the hip and writing the scene as I go, letting it naturally unfold. It might suck, but then again it might not. So long as I'm writing and pushing through it instead of letting my crazy mind games get the best of me.
More Answered Questions
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more