[Writing] The Gap

Still thinking about Writer's Block today. Then I remembered seeing this infographic posted by a friend and thought that I would share it.

[Writing] Ramblings on a Wednesday and Indiana Jones

Today’s Roadtrip Wednesday tackled that perennial and most dreaded problem…Writer’s Block and how to beat it.

For me, Writer’s Block can be caused by one of three things, lack of food, lack of direction/inspiration, or lack of confidence. So the first step is figuring out WHY I’m feeling “Meh” about whatever project is in front of me. 

“I can haz NOMs, plz?”

Unsurprisingly, I love it when the answer is quite simply a low calorie count for the day.  Easiest. Fix. Ever. Why yes, I will have that “healthy” helping of cookie dough ice cream.  If it’s good for my work-in-progress, it’s good for me. Right?  *wink wink, nudge, nudge*

Why can’t all writing problems be solved by carbs and sugar?

“A stampede of pink aardvarks couldn’t liven up this scene.”

Then there are the times that I’m simply just BORED.  And sometimes, the shock of that realization feels like hitting a brick wall at 55 mph. (Huh? Why? How?  When did my own story go so far off track? How did I let that happen? How did I not seen this as a problem as I planned out this scene in the first place? Help! I’m trapped in the most boring story EVER! Doom. Doom. Doom.)  When the momentum is lost, it is difficult for me to get started  again especially when I’m stranded in the middle of a boring scene ripe with dry and stilted dialogue. There’s nothing to reach for and the quicksand is up to my chest.

Now, as the writer it should be within my power to change this.  I wrote myself into this sand trap, why can’t I write myself out of it? Where is my strapping errant knight who bears an uncanny resemblance to Harrison Ford to help pull me out of this mess?  I have the pen. This scenario should not be beyond my ability to create, but what I’ve learned about myself is that I don’t operate well under the duress of Writer’s Block. I waste a ton of valuable time trying to resuscitate a dead horse when I should be moving on or taking a break to plan out my next move in an outline. It’s a personal failing of mine.  Maybe it’s familiar to some of you too?

It helps to remind myself that this stagnation usually stems from a lack of purpose.  I may know where the story is supposed to go next, but I probably have gotten so caught up in the movement from point A to point B that I've forgotten the heart of the matter.  Once I've made that misstep, everything falls flat. So I take a break. Do some yoga. Re-evaluate, and for me that means physically walking away from the document. That’s what helps me get back on track assuming I’m able stop worrying about the problem at hand and remember this fact about myself. (Which is always easier said than done.)

“It’s not you, WIP. It’s me.”

Sometimes I can’t blame it on the story.  Sometimes the problem is me. Some days there is just no other explanation other than that I'm having a bad day. 

Doubt. Everyone, in all industries or walks of life, experiences moments of insecurity and melancholy.  Only you can diagnosis the core issue.  Allow yourself a reasonable time to decompress. Make use of the tricks and exercises that you've learned throughout the years in managing your stress-levels and moods.  And rely on those you trust and love to soothe the worst of it. 

Likely this is not your first time at the rodeo.  You’ll get through this. I know you will.  Now, good luck writing. Or doing whatever it is that you need to do today. 

[Writing] Creative Approach To Brainstorming Sessions

Ever since I read Engineering with LEGOs: Creating the Ships of Knight Errant I’ve had LEGOs on the brain. Now I don’t have kids and it’s been a good number of years since I played with LEGOs, but I have heard the siren’s call.

John Jackson Miller, author of one of the new Star Wars novelizations Knight Errant writes about how he used LEGOs to brainstorm through the design of the ships and vehicles in his novel.

What a wonderful hands on approach to creating these larger than life mechanical constructions! I’ve sketched my way through the discovery phase of writing and writer’s block before. LEGO therapy definitely sounds like a wonderful alternative.

However, the biggest problem with this exercise is the price point of the LEGOs themselves. They are not cheap by anymeans, so unless;

a) you’ve got the cash
b) your child is willing to share
c) your mom hasn’t thrown out the LEGO collection that you squirrel away in her basement

Then you might be out of luck. Otherwise, go for it. In terms of dealing with writer's block, this gets an A+ for fun.

Separation Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

Long story short, last year wasn't so great, but this is a new year, new resolutions, different commitments.  It is time to give more attention to this blog since I have so sadly let it go by the wayside.

Let's talk about a problem that's applicable to writing, blogging, or any regular activity that you commit yourself to: how does one deal with the guilt that comes with a lapse in discipline.

Not every idea or plan or novel pans out exactly like we imagine it would when the thought first occurred to us.  Sometimes an idea is flawed in its concept, and sometimes life just gets in the way.  It's natural to want to attribute blame to someone or something because hey...we're human. We want to understand the "why" when things go awry. If we can figure that out then the hope is that we can avoid the same mistakes in the future.  But all too frequently I see writers and artists turning that blame back on themselves.  I admit it; I'm guilty of this too. 

Guilt leads to stagnation and that's not a healthy environment to create in. To keep moving forward on your current WIP you have to learn to process that guilt and let it go.  So when you feel that overwhelming sensation creeping up on you, it's time to take a step back and evaluate the causes that have been keeping you from your writing.  Let's say you didn't get as much writing done last weekend as you had planned on because you spent it with a friend who needed the company.  You missed the mark in terms of your writing goals, but instead you were investing your energy in this friend's life and happiness.  Or maybe you decided to invest your energy in your own life and happiness by taking it easy and seeing a movie instead of shutting yourself away in your office for the duration of the weekend.  You decided that whatever it was that you finally ended up doing was more important than hammering away at your current word count.

That can be okay. Recognize those moments for what they are and let them go.  Sometimes you just need it, and sometimes those that are nearest and dearest to you need you too.

Personal confession time: I recently left a long term relationship. I haven’t blogged in ages because it was more important to focus on my emotional health at the time. Sure I felt guilty when I opened up blogger again and noted that it had been four months since my last blog post. Yikes! I work in digital marketing; how pathetic does that look? But I stopped and looked back at 2010 in review. I might have been able to push myself harder to crank out a tepid blog post every now and then, but I probably wouldn’t be feeling as well as I am right now (all things considered).

Before moving forward I had to stop and consider whether blogging was still important to me, and I came to the conclusion that yes, it is. I still want to blog. Now that things are more settled and I am getting back on my feet again, the desire to blog again has become more important than my moping around the apartment. So bear with me over the next few weeks as I force myself back into normalcy.  I may trip up again from time-to-time.  You can smack me around about it on Twitter. :)

After a lapse in discipline take that moment to evaluate. You might find that you don’t really have cause to feel guilty anymore and then you can move on. And you might also reaffirm your belief in either yourself, your goals, or your WIP. You’ll be able to tackle the problem at hand with new vigor.

Now this doesn't remove accountability from the equation or give you, the writer, a free pass to literally Twitter the day away.  You're going to make bad choices.  You're going to keep checking Farmville. There will be times when you do things like I did last weekend and marathon The Office for twelve straight hours without thinking about writing once.  It's important to recognize those moments for what they are too - huge freaking distractions, but if you beat yourself up over it you're just wasting more time and energy that could be better spent writing.  Remember, guilt is also a distraction. 

So instead of focusing on how little writing you got done and feeling guilty about it, take responsibility for those lapses in your daily routine and move on to the solution that will get you back on  track.  So what if you blew off writing on Sunday because you wanted to take your dog to the park? Look to add at least fifteen extra minutes to your weekday writing sessions.  There may only be 24 hours in a day, but there are 168 hours in a week.  Each day brings you new opportunities to make better choices than the last.

How do you cope with "breaks"?  What keeps you coming back to the worlds that you writers are busy creating?

Plot: &The Big Bad Wolf

Yesterday, I came across a short series of tweets by writer, Audrey Taylor, that address a chronic problem among many writers.  She had the best anecdotal image I have ever seen for the problem of superfluous plot devices.  Rather than retweeting, I felt it would be clearer as a blog post.  Personal choice, but I've just never liked retweeting multiple inter-connected tweets.  (And hey in a blog post I can make it purple, WIN)
 

"Hubby has a phrase for writing that's all about the window dressing and not about anything underneath: Robotic Wolves. As an editor, he had a convo w/a writer like this..
D: You need plot here in the middle.
W: Hm. How about some robotic wolves?
D: A series of events that don't provide an arc are not plot. Having "robotic wolves" or mercorns will not make your MS either original or good. In the end, it's your writing that needs to be good. You can write an entire novel about wallpaper, if you write about wallpaper brilliantly." ~ AudryT

Hehe, robotic wolves.  I love it.  The strength of your plot comes from more than a series of devices strung together.  Don't let the "robotic wolves" gobble up the good things that you have going for you in your work in progress.

You can follow Audry on Twitter here.

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