Writers' Block?
Five steps to beat it!
by
Rachel Burton
It happens to us all in
the end - we reach an impasse and the words just won't come. It can happen out
of the blue. One day our stories can be flowing beautifully and the next day
nothing happens. We can sit in front of our laptops all day and all we end up
doing is moving a comma. And then putting it back again.
Writer’s block happens to
us all and it can come from anywhere. It could be technical - we're not sure
how to get from this point to the next point in the action, it could be
reluctance - we're really dreading writing this chapter for some reason or
other, or it could be completely non-writing related - other stresses in my
life have often caused writers' block in some way or another. I've started to
see it as a normal part of the creative process, we can't be on top form every
single day. But, at the same time, if we don't get on top of our blocks quickly
they can last for a long time and they can be hard to get
over at all.
Here are my top five ways
of kicking writers' block in the arse!
1. Skip Ahead -
You don't have to write the whole story in order. Sometimes there will be a
chapter that you're reluctant to write, or that needs more research before you
can do it justice. Sometimes you will realise that you don't know how to take
the story smoothly from A to B but that's OK. Don't panic! Just skip ahead for
a while and write a chapter that you want to write, or that you are clear on. I
tend to leave a note on the part that I'm skipping - just a sentence or two in
bold to remind me what I think needs to happen or what I think I need to
research and then I move on. I often find that as I write another chapter (or
sometimes writing the end helps too), I realise where I'd gone wrong in the bit
I skipped and everything becomes clearer.
2. Write Character CVs - If you need a bit of a break from the action of your story but don't
really want to take any time out of that particular world then it might be time
to really get to know your characters instead. I really love writing character
CVs to help with this. I list out each characters’ eye and hair colour,
favourite clothes, food and drinks. I write about their previous jobs, if they
went to university, where they studied. I think about their families and their
exes and I wonder about what they were like as children. None of this detail
will end up the book of course, but you just might find, as you get to know
your characters better, that they will help you to understand where you story
needs to go.
3. Write something else - Put your WIP to one side and write a short story (if you're still
feeling reluctant to leave the world of your WIP it could be about one of your
minor characters), a poem or a hiaku. Get a notebook out and journal your
writing block frustrations. Start planning out that next book that's already
niggling the back of your mind.
4. Leave your desk
- Go for a walk, do some yoga, go for a swim, have a bath, meditate, do some
housework. Do something else that isn't writing related at all and lets your
mind slip down a gear and relax a little. Sometimes we can let ourselves feel
way too guilty about not writing but I believe that sitting down in front of
your laptop is just part of the writing process. We need to allow our minds to
have time away from churning out the words and be free to daydream because
often that's where the lightbulb moments of writing happen. I came up with the
plot for my fourth book while cleaning out the shower drain!
5. Nap - If all
else fails, kick guilt in the arse and take yourself off to bed. I'm always
amazed by the clarity I have about a problem when I sleep on it (and that
applies to non-writing things as well!)
If you try all these
things and you're still blocked, your story still isn't going anywhere and
you're still blocked it might be time to ask yourself if you're writing the
story you want to tell. Sometimes a book idea might not work and that's OK.
Sometimes we might have been writing a story for the wrong reasons, and that's
OK too. Sometimes the story might be right but you've set it in the wrong
place, or you're telling it from the wrong point of view (more on POVs in a
week or so).
Know when it's time to
let an idea go and start again. The first draft of my second book was set in
the wrong place and told from the wrong point of view. I struggled on even when
I knew it wasn't working - but then rewrote it anyway. If I'd gone with my
intuition I'd have saved myself time and heartache!
The
Pieces of You and Me
by
Rachel Burton
They say time can heal all wounds…
When Jess and Rupert parted ways, it was the end of a great love
story that might have been. Now ten years later, the very different paths they
have taken in life will bring them back together for a chance meeting.
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| Purchase Link |
But with so much left unsaid about
the break up neither ever recovered from and with each keeping their own
devastating secrets, will they finally be able to make the fractured pieces of
their love for one another whole again?
About Author Rachel Burton
Rachel Burton is the author of the international ebook bestseller The Many Colours of Us.
Rachel spent most of her life between Cambridge and London but now lives in Yorkshire with her fiance and their three cats. The main loves of her life are The Beatles and very tall romantic heroes.
Find her on Twitter & Instagram as @bookish_yogi or follow her blog at rachelburtonwrites.com. She is always happy to talk books, writing, music, cats and how the weather in Yorkshire is rubbish. She is mostly dreaming of her next holiday....
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