Mini Stories and One Shots

So you wanna be a writer, huh?

Over-Coming Writer’s Block – and how:

I think every person to ever write something – anything – ever, has had writer’s block. Maybe it lasted as little as twenty seconds when you wondered what to say next, which way to phrase your next sentence. Or maybe longer: a day, a month...  a year?

I raise my hand here. I’ve had writer’s block for a whole year. It could’ve been easily overcame if I realised what kind of writer’s block it was and how to conquer it.

I think there are three main types of Writer’s Block:

1)      “Get off the couch and write” writer’s block – where you just can’t find the motivation.

2)      “This sounds weird” writer’s block – where everything you write sounds wrong and forced.

3)      “What’s next?” writer’s block – where you don’t know what to write or where to continue.

I suffer from all three, unfortunately. Type 3, for me, is the longest term, however. Type three is the type of writer’s block which leaves me closing the document, hiding it deep into my computer, and forgetting about it for the longest amount of time possible. Type 2 is quite short term. It depends about how YOU choose to handle it. Do you shrug and leave your unwritten manuscript to be completed another day? Or do you go out and get the motivation you need to write.

And Type 1 – the most popular. “I can’t be bothered”, “not today”, “I’ve got homework”, “I can do it tomorrow” – things we tell ourselves to feel less guilty about putting our shit off. Stop.

All these different types and sub-types of writer’s block are curable. Perhaps not easily. But you want to see the finished product, right? See the amount of effort you’ve put in has actually paid off. You’ve written a novel.

And you can look at your however many thousand words and think with a smug smile, oh yeah, I wrote every. Single. Word.

Here are 5 tips to cure the three main types of writer’s block:

Tip #1: Stop putting your novel off and creating excuses.

Days meld into weeks, weeks into months – whoa, it’s been a whole year?! Stop that! One part of novel-writing is the effort put in. If you’ve put in a hell of a lot of effort into your novel (researched what you need to research, learned correct grammar rules, read lots of books to help you, and planned it out) you can’t go wrong. You need to pace yourself. How many days a week do you want to write? Be realistic, reasonable, and get to it. Hey, maybe you want to write at least 5-10 thousand words a week. You can do that! Give yourself targets and then go for it. Maybe for every achieved target, you can treat yourself to something without feeling guilty about it. You’ve earned that pair of fifty quid stilettos! Wear them with pride!

Tip #2: Plan out your novel.

I cannot stress this enough. For ages, I just went with the flow. I liked the flow. The flow was good. But what about when the flow leads you into a waterless ditch? Then what you gonna do? This leads to Type 3 writer’s block. Seriously. I thought maybe I was an exception but after getting thirty chapters into a novel with no direction, with scattered sub-plots, and then having no freaking idea what to do next... I realised something: nobody’s the exception.

Plan your chapters. I’m not asking for lots and lots of detail. Just have an idea of what you want to happen in that chapter. For example, “Chapter 1: Main Character boards the plane and allows herself to relish in the all-new Spanish sunlight. Spanish aunt picks her up and shows her to her place for the summer and suggests she go for a walk to stop herself from falling asleep from Jet-Lag. There she stumbles into... (introduce these characters to the story). Chapter ends with:”

Then there’s no way you can wonder what’s next. You know! It’s there, in your plan. But wait, what if you want to change something? Go to your plan and change it! It’s simple and very, very effective.

Tip #3: Scoop out the weirdness.

So you have Type 2 Writer’s block, huh? Everything sounds weird, the writing is forced, and you just want to stop. Don’t stop! Keep going! I know writing like this is going to make you want to stick a fork in your eye so you don’t have to read the pure drivel you’re producing. Write, say, a thousand words. Maybe two thousand. Give yourself something to work with. Bad words is better than no words. You can work with bad words! Then go. Stop. Close the document. You’ve reached your target; go take  a bath, walk your dog, read your favourite book. Give yourself some time to get your ideas flowing again. Then come back. Open your doc. What you’ve written is probably isn’t as bad as it was then. Think what needs changing/tweaking. Then scoop out the weirdness. Re-word stuff. Re-write the bad parts. It’ll take time, but you’re getting there.

Tip #4: “This novel’s past worth saving; it’s not worth it”.

If you’re not overall ENJOYING your novel, then why are you even writing it?! Don’t get that confused with “I am not enjoying writing this chapter” – the whole novel, do you like it? Are you enjoying writing it? Yes or no. If no, stop. It’s really simple. In order for your readers to enjoy your work, you need to enjoy writing it and reading over it.

Sub-tip: Reading helps you learn what you enjoy. Do you read mostly paranormal books; is that what attracts you? Write a paranormal book. Are you in love with a bit of romance (see what I did there)? Write a romance book! Write what you would enjoy, what you would pick up at a book shop.

Sometimes it takes some practice finding the write genre for you. Maybe you’re an all-rounder who can write it all. Maybe there’s just one particular genre you excel at. Practice and find your strong points. Find your weak points and work on them. Do what you love – don’t settle for less.

Tip #5: Sneaking up on the motivation and inspiration and capturing it.

“I have absolutely no motivation to write this so I’m just gonna sit on my sofa with a bucket of chocolate Ice Cream and flick on Tangled.”

‘Scuse me, missy, but you’re only watching Tangled and eating ice cream if it gives you a bucket-load of inspiration to finish your next chapter! Think: what made you want to write this novel in the first place? Was it the sudden strike of a brand new idea idea? Do you remember desperately scribbling down everything in your mind on the first piece of paper you could find just to get it out? You had high hopes for this story, and you’re going to complete it.

Maybe it was this AMAZING book you read – that little passage that just struck you with the desire to write. Go find that book and read your favourite parts, and track down that little passage and remember what you felt.

Get yourself into the zone.

Put on your favourite song, wear your lucky socks, find any morsel of inspiration/motivation out there and pounce on it and drag it back to you, then take advantage of it. Use that motivation and write. You can do it.

Your story’s waiting for you.

 

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