Well, I am a terrible person. I didn't post for the whole stinkin' semester. In my defense, it was the craziest, most hectic semester I have yet to experience. I SHALL POST MORE IN THE FUTURE.
So right now I'm working on my main story and I can't think of the reason *why* two minor characters are feuding.
I have writer's block.
So what do you do when you have writer's block? Well, you Google, "How to beat writer's block", of course. So I was reading through some of these ideas (one of them was "cuss like a sailor"- I kind of doubt that would help me) and decided I would write out some of the things that sound like they
would help me. And then I shall proceed to do them.
~
1. Go back and read what you've already written.
If you've been gone for a while and come back to a story, of course you aren't going to be able to pick up right where you left off. You probably won't even remember exactly where you left off, so go back and read a page of what you have so far. If that doesn't work, go back a few more pages. If you still can't think of anything, or if you haven't written on this story in a while, you might need to start from the beginning.
2. Talk to someone about it.
It doesn't even have to be a real person. It can be your imaginary friend or a cartoon character, just talk it out. I know I'm a auditory processing type of person, meaning I can process things better when I'm talking to someone. Often times I will write a page explaining a story or even write a journal entry to someone, be it one of my characters or my best friend, and don't even plan on sending it to them. I just write as if I were talking to them. Well....maybe I
do sometimes send them to my characters, but only occasionally. Talk out what the problem is. Talk it out with the characters in question. Interrogate them as to why they aren't cooperating. Ask them their POV of the situation. It can often be really fun anyway. Play the suave detective for half an hour and something's sure to come to you.
3. Go eat something with some sugar or caffeine in it.
Your brain slows down if you're running low on sugar, so go act like you've just run into a Dementor and munch some chocolate. What we writers do for our craft.....
4. Daydream.
Go to your happy place. When and where do you get your best ideas at? Where are you when your mind starts to wander into the realm of the fictional? Go there and let your mind wander freely for a bit. Don't try and force it. Just relax for a bit, take a break from stressing out. Imagine your self as the character in question. What would
you do? How does this differ from what your character would do?
5. Take a break.
Sometimes you do just get burnt out. Your mind starts to fume and you honestly can't think anymore. Save your work and go talk to someone for an hour. Get your mind completely off your story, letting that area of your brain "recharge", if you will. Then COME BACK TO IT. Read the last couple of paragraphs, and with a clear mind, continue.
6. Picture this.
Where do your favorite, most inspiring pictures come from? Pinterest? Deviantart? Facebook? A photography website? Someone's blog? Tumblr? Wherever they come from, go there and look around for a little bit. Get inspiration from visual images, then create written ones. If you have the problem that you lose track of time and are afraid you won't come back to writing, set yourself a timer. Give yourself 15 minutes, and when the timer goes off, either exit the tab or bookmark it,
then exit the tab. But always exit the tab. Otherwise you will come right back to it. Trust me. *Sheepish grin*
7. Go read.
If your brain won't continue working in your own realm, let it take a break and gather inspiration from another writer's realm. This is one of my favorite ways to get rid of writer's block, and the one I first turn to. Go pick up a book and read. Sometimes your brain will even be unconsciously working on the problem in the back of your mind and the answer will spring up out of nowhere. Other times you will come across situations in their story which are similar to the one you are struggling with, and you will get ideas from there.
8. Get up and go outside.
Go take a walk. Seriously. Go be alone with yourself and nature and your thoughts. Moving around will get the blood pumping to your brain, and having the peace and quiet will help you to think. Maybe it's something other than your writing that's keeping you from being able to keep the story flowing. Maybe you could spend this time to just pray and talk to God. Whatever you end up doing, just go on a walk. It's good for you. Doctor's orders.
9. Switch stories.
If you're like me, then you probably have several stories going at once. If you get stuck, switch between them for a bit. JUST FOR A BIT THOUGH. My problem with this is that I'll start writing on one and keep writing on it for a while and kind of forget about the other one. That, or I'll end up starting a new one. I must have AT THE
VERY LEAST 35 stories on my computer at the moment, and I've only had this computer for ten months. So be careful, and only leave your main story for a day at most.
10. Don't be afraid that your audience won't like it.
If the reason you delete line after line is because you think "No one would want to read
that", then please stop. Often you will have to write an unsophisticated sentence or two, maybe even a few paragraphs, before you can get back into your niche. You can go back and fix those later. Right now you should just be working on your first draft anyway. That's why a first draft is also called a ROUGH DRAFT. IT'S ROUGH, BUDDY.
Anyway, I'm going to go try a few of these now, and I kind of already have done number 5, 3, and 9 (instead of switching stories, I wrote a blog post. Sue me.) My brain feels clearer too. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go be a suave investigator for the next half hour.
