CURING YOUR WRITERS BLOCK
Before I get started I just want to say that I respect all authors and all writing styles. Only we know the struggles of writing and the fear of presenting it for others to see. What I am about to say is merely my own opinion and suggestions that have worked for me. But whatever works for you is always the best option; I’m sure you will agree.
THE PROBLEM
One of the best sounds for an author is the constant drilling of his/her fingers on the keyboard as their story comes to life. Confident and eager with a smile on our faces we finally complete the scene that has been lingering in our minds all day. Then it happens. What’s next? We stare at the blinking cursor positioned at the end of the sentence we last wrote, frustrated that the words are no longer pouring from our fingers like water from a faucet.
If you haven’t felt this as an author, then you’re not human. Anyone who has written any story, knows the age old question posed by most all authors. It is a question that many of us have attempted to answer, yet still find ourselves facing that literary brick wall. “How do I cure writers block?”
THE SEARCH FOR THE CURE
The internet is saturated with “how to” videos on what to do when facing this speed bump in your manuscript. Some authors telling you to “Just write and keep writing” as if that was the remedy, when, in my opinion, all it does is create babble and drag out the scene in your novel. The only benefit to “just keep writing” is it allows your word count to increase substantially. In my eyes, that has to be the worst advice you could give someone who wants to create a page turner of a novel.
Writing whatever is just filler to make yourself feel better about not writing meaningful content at the time, and your reader will see it, feel it, and set your book down after losing interest. It’s no different than a rapper who repeats the same verse over and over again with very little meaning to their lyrics. You’ve all heard the songs, rolled your eyes and changed the station mumbling “What in the hell was that?”
QUALITY NOT QUANTITY
If you want to produce a quality book you have to take your time and add material that you feel is quality, and a quality product takes time to create. Wine, food, furniture, clothes—whatever it may be. If you want the best, it’s usually because someone took the time to build it the best way they knew how and used the time it would take to complete it. With that being said, don’t write unless you feel comfortable, or have material that you are excited to add. I’ll give suggestions on how to do this.
We don’t want to be that author who just wants to say they have a book published. We want that book to entertain and possibly become a best seller, right? That takes time.
SOME SUGGESTIONS THAT WORK FOR ME
I sometimes get stuck on the next scene, even though I know what’s in it. That’s where I stop. If I am writing a horror novel I’ll sometimes watch a horror movie, and relax. Doing this often sparks ideas because it puts you in the horror mind frame. Not stealing ideas, mind you lol. For example, you may be watching a scene where you see the character doing something like eating a bowl of cereal, but it sparks the idea for your next scene that your character fights with his roommate over the last of the Captain Crunch.
Here’s another suggestion. There are things in your everyday life that you may want to write down; a funny joke you’ve heard, something at work that happened that may not have anything to do with the story, but will give the book some comic relief and depth so your readers can get to know your characters. If your readers don’t know your characters, they won’t care what happens to them.
Let’s say you watch a horror movie and right away the killer starts slashing the characters before you got to know who they are as people. If they make you laugh, if they have some history that your reader can bond too or whatever it is. If you don’t feel that for them; hell, slash away killer. And I may even laugh in the process. But if you kill Ms. Beanie who has struggled most of her life, is a single mother who was abused by her husband during her pregnancy, people tend to get a little pissed…aka involved. The reader keeps reading because they wanna see hubby eventually get his.
I guess what I am saying is, it’s your name that is going on this book and it will be there FOREVER. Take your time and write a quality book with depth and meaning, while sticking with your plots and subplots. VERY IMPORTANT!! Create a movie in your own mind, then place it on paper.
One other suggestion. And it’s something I have done when writing “Strong” and “The REP“. If you have multiple concepts for novels and find yourself stumped at the one you are currently writing, go to your other idea and see if you can flow with that. I am currently writing two novels “Stronger” and “Premises” which I’ve gone back and forth between the two when I wasn’t feeling the other at the time. Don’t limit yourself to just that story. Stephen Kings’ “Dark Tower” and numerous others took years to write. So with so many novels published year after year, it’s proof that he didn’t write one after the other, he wrote multiple novels at a time. We all don’t have the time to write like him, but we hope to.
PATIENCE IS THE CURE
There is no cure for writer’s block, simply recommendations that may help for your writing style or mood. And as we all know, moods vary from time to time. One thing may work one day and not the next. Figure out your mood and you may find your cure.
Remember, your book is YOUR baby to raise! And you want your baby to be as successful as possible so you do what it takes to make it that way. Don’t rush it. As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day. When it’s all said and done, it’s your name on the cover! Quality is more than just dotting your “i’s” and crossing your t’s before publishing. It’s taking the time to make sure you’ve cooked the chicken thoroughly before serving your customer’s unseasoned, under cooked meat.
Keep up the good work. We all are growing and learning. Lord knows I am :).
If you have any suggestions or comments, please leave them.
Thank you!
Author Terrence Damon Spencer
