Why is it that sometimes words flow out of your brain and onto the screen effortlessly, while at other times each syllable comes out screaming in protest as you sit in front of a stark, white monitor, your brain doing a slow idle?
Is it that life interferes with creativity? That’s a big part of writers’ block—at least it is with me. A sick baby…a significant other with an issue that demands more TLC than usual…an adult child with a problem that’s a lot harder to fix than the scraped knee he got on his first fall off a two-wheeler. The possibilities for life intruding are endless and almost impossible to ignore.
Sometimes it’s not life but my story that stalls out. My hero doesn’t want to do what I planned for him, or my heroine comes across as too stupid to live when she reacts to him in a way that pushes along the story line. I try to force the story along until I give up and let it go in a different but maybe not a better direction.
When my writing stalls out, that’s when I (the world’s worst housekeeper) decide my office needs rearranging or my windows suddenly require cleaning. Or maybe I (an indifferent cook at best) conclude that if I succeed in making that cheesecake that requires the use of every small electric appliance and specialty kitchen gadget I own, my writing block will miraculously disappear. (It doesn’t—I just get frustrated when I discover somebody drank the Grand Marnier I was saving just for this recipe.)
So what’s the cure for writers’ block? I can’t turn off life, my story won’t fix itself, and the distractions I create only last a little while and create physical exhaustion to go with the brain inertia I was trying to heal.
Sometimes a brainstorming session with a fellow author/friend helps. It’s amazing how a second, fresh take on a problem makes it somehow become surmountable. Other tricks I’ve used with some success include making a change of venue—that is, moving my writing out of the confines of my office onto the patio or into a quiet, serene park away from home. Before gas went to $4 a gallon, I used to take long, scenic rides in my car, having aimless mental conversations with recalcitrant characters and imagining how they’d react to what I was looking at.
I’ve also done what I’m doing now, LOL: avoiding that ominous, blank monitor syndrome by writing a blog entry. At least it’s a little bit productive—I think!
How do you combat writers’ block? I’m anxious to hear other takes on the subject, before I drive myself crazy. Along with my eternal gratitude, I’ll donate a download, any of my published stories the winner may want, for the comment that works best for me. (Winner to be announced on this blog on May 1, 2012, or whenever I finish LOVERS’ FEUD, whichever comes first.)
