When Inspiration Doesn’t Strike At All…
Jules wrote yesterday about inspiration striking and inopportune moments. Well, today I’m going to talk about what happens when inspiration doesn’t strike at all. I’m talking about writer’s block. Those two words strike fear in the heart of every author. That moment when you sit down at your computer, ready to work on your latest project and your mind goes blank is one of the worst feelings in the world.
I have had several spells of writer’s block over the few months, and every time it happens I think “Not Again!” I have the ideas in my head. The characters are there, talking to me, yet all I can do is sit and stare at a blank computer screen. Times like that I wish I could hook my head up directly to my computer and do a brain dump, no typing necessary.
Writer’s block is frustrating for several reasons. First, it just down right sucks not to be able to write when you have ideas in your head. But, more than that, I hate that it slows down my momentum. In fact, it often makes me want to give up writing altogether. To me, writing is supposed to be fun. When typing a simple sentence makes me want to bash my head against a brick wall; well, it just stops being fun and turns into a chore.
I went through a bad bout of writer’s block trying to finish Blessed are the Patient. It was a story I never intended to write in the first place, so I wasn’t as attached to it as I was Lost and Found. I was in Bella’s head in L&F and most of the time the words flowed faster than I could type. With BatP, a group of reviewers begged for an EPOV of L&F, so I decided to try my hand at writing it. I had never written EPOV before, so I thought it would be an interesting exercise and make my readers happy in the process.
Writer’s block hit me so many times writing BatP that I thought about not finishing it several times. Then, I found a nifty concept called the WC, or word count. Basically, a group of authors meet in a Google chat and start writing at a set time. At the end of the allotted time period, the authors exchange how many words they wrote and often give a teaser. I don’t know if it was the competition of hoping to write more than my fellow authors or just knowing that there were a group of women all across the country writing with me, but suddenly my writer’s block was gone. All of those ideas that I couldn’t put to paper spilled out. During my first WC I completed half a chapter, so I joined in another round and finished it. Two hours and I had completed a chapter. The feeling was incredible, and I started relying on WC’s to keep me motivated to write.
After awhile, the WC lost its ability to keep me motivated. I started chatting more than I wrote and soon it turned into social hour instead of writing time. So, I was back to square one. I had a story that needed finishing, and I was drawing a blank on where to take it. I tried things that other authors have found helpful to shake off writer’s block: listening to music, writing something else, eliminating distractions…nothing. Eventually the writer’s block went away on its own, but not without once again taking away a little piece of my love of writing.
I really do enjoy writing, and I have ideas for additional stories bouncing around in my head, but I’m hesitant to start anything new because of the awful bouts of writer’s block I have. Is it worth the grief to get my ideas down on paper, especially when it often feels like no one is reading my story? Or, do I push forward, hoping that one day I will learn to tame writer’s block and really be able to dedicate myself to the craft? Well, right now I’m trying to push forward. In fact, I’m working on Thank You For Being A Friend, my Twilight/Golden Girls crackfic collaboration with SusanAshlea. Yes, you read that right, and if you haven’t read it, go forth and read it. We guarantee you won’t be disappointed. So far, I’ve been able to keep writer’s block at bay, and if you’re lucky, Episode 4 will go up this week. If not, it’s a collaboration, so I’ll pass the buck to SusanAshlea (*snickering*).
So, what do you do to get past writer’s block? How do I keep it from sucking away my love of writing? I would love to hear your ideas!
Ah, the dreaded writer’s block! I have to agree with Jules that sometimes you just have to ride it out. I’ve been dealing with a brutal case of it the last month or so, somewhat fueled by the fact that I’ve fallen out of love with my multi-chapter fic. I had an idea for the next chapter, but when I wrote it, it came out all wrong, so I re-wrote, and re-wrote it, and re-wrote it. Frustrated, I sent it over to my wonderful friend who told me point blank, that Sookie was acting like a psycho. lol
And so, I left it for awhile. And then I took pen to paper and have written ten pages of a far better chapter that I will be proud to post.
Sometimes I look back through the reviews and that gives me motivation to continue…although, generally the ones that say, “I trust that you will continue this story more faithfully” only serve to make me stubborn about ever posting another chapter! :p
At the end of the day, something in my brain catches and my words will flood the pages. I’d love to say that there’s a cure-all for writer’s block, but if there is I haven’t found it yet….but I would love if somebody has discovered one!
♥mm
Writers block does indeed suck some of the joy out of writing. Sometimes there isn’t any breaking through, you just have to ride it out.
My first fic I wrote in a linear fashion. With the current multi-chapter fic I am writing, I expected to do the same thing. Here’s the rub; I have had such strong thoughts and inspirations about chapters that are so far in the future, I had to write them.
I guess my advice, other than the standard listening to music (which I do a lot of) would be to be open to changing up your game. Not feeling what you’re writing? Write something else. Not up to writing the chapter that comes next, write a future chapter. There is one rule I always follow (for myself); NEVER force it. Sometimes things need to marinate before they simmer, and it’s always better to wait it out for a tastier final product.
And just for the record I, of course, think you should continue writing. As long as the joy outweighs the struggle, it will always be worth it in the end. Congratulations on seeing Blessed are the Patient through…it turned out beautifully.
<3 Jules