A new resolution

I'm not yet confident in my skills as a writer. It's all still feeling quite new for me. Because I'm not so confident I've asked two people who know I'm working on this WIP to read what I've written. However I found that the comments they would come back with was really affecting my writing and my need to get the story out.

While one would simply say, I don't like this part, the other would ask the small questions that I hadn't even thought of and certainly weren't necessary to think of in the first draft. But I'd look at their questions and comments and panic. I'd say if these questions are coming up now and I can't answer them, or I'm giving the answer they don't want to hear, then my book isn't going to work. The story isn't going to be right.

Consequently I would stop writing. I'd stop for a few days or a week and then I'd usually delete huge sections. Then I'd feel deflated. I'd think I couldn't do it and that I'd never be good enough.

I know they didn't mean for their comments to have that affect on me, but I was so desperate for my story to be....right. I wanted their approval with what I was writing, I wanted them to like what was written on those pages. I'm not saying they didn't, but there were aspects that needed work, or questions that were raised that they wanted to bring up with me.

Eventually I sat back and said to myself, I'm writing this story for me. It's my story and these bits this person is telling me to include or exclude will totally change the vision I have for it. I need to do what's right for me to get this story told. I need to do whatever I can to get the first draft complete, then I can hear what they have to say.

To do this I had to basically cut them off from my story. I don't talk about the content with them much anymore, and I definitely don't send them chapters. They understand, which I'm grateful for, and for the moment that is definitely what is best for me and my WIP. Since I stopped worrying about the comments they'd make and the questions they'd raise, the ideas poured into my brain and helped the story form in my mind. Now i'm more on track than ever.

I've asked a lot of people for help getting past my roadblocks over the past month or so, and I thank you all for your advice. Every piece of advice I was given, I've kept, and I use when I need inspiration. It turned out for me though, the way to really open the dam and let the ideas flow was to get rid of the external forces and to write this story on my own.

It's scary, but I really think it's going to be worth it! 

Squeezing past the road block

How do you overcome writers block? That massive block in the road which you just can't seem to get past. That moment when you're ripping through a new story, you have so many great ideas.... and then suddenly you don't know where to go next....What happens? How does your character get from A to B? How does your character overcome this obstacle?

So what do you do?

Here's a few things I do

1. Take my favourite novels and pull them to pieces (not literally. Please do not hurt your novels!). I think about what it is that I really love about them. Chances are the things I love about those stories will help me overcome my current roadblock.

The character in my one of my favourite novel's loves sitting by the river. That is something I love about the book. It's her place to go, to think, to reflect, to get away and to dream. This could open my brain to new possibilities for the character in my novel. Perhaps instead of trying to escape on land, she escapes by swimming down the river. Perhaps instead of hiding in her bedroom, she has a place on top of a mountain she goes to think. It's the perspective thing - stepping back and getting a new perspective. This was a terrible example - but you get the gist! (I hope)

2. Plan the next plot point. I'm a planner, I like details and I like to know where things are heading. My life, my relationships, my travel plans, my career and my novels! This freakish planning often helps me avoid too many roadblocks. It means I know where my character needs to get to. If she's at point A and she needs to ultimately get to point B, what is going to happen in between point A and B to get her there. If I didn't have a point B, I feel she'd wander around aimlessly, but the fact I know where she's heading, where she has to end up, it helps to work past those blocks.

3. This point I got from Pixar! Make a list of what wouldn't happen next. If you sit down and say, okay, well I don't think there'll be an earthquake or flood you might see that a volcano might erupt. Basically writing down what wouldn't happen next helps you find the things that COULD happen next. It helps unblock the road!


4. It is a character you're having trouble with? You don't know what to do with your protagonist? Think about what you would do if you were in their position. Identify with the character and the situation. Write down 5+ ideas, then think about which of those ideas would be the most exciting for your audience to read.  Don't be afraid to be honest either. Honestly will often be more incredible than a fabricated feeling or emotion. It will feel more genuine as well.

5. Throw in some action. Have the character meet someone that is a total opposite. Challenge your character and take them out of their comfort zone. A positive for a negative, a tall for a short, a beautiful for a plain, a jock for a nerd. Someone that will clash with your character, someone that will create some drama and action. Having that character in there might help move the story forward more smoothly.

6. Just keep writing. Who cares if what you put down is absolute crap....... Keep writing, then come back to this point later and rewrite it. By the time you come back you might know what needs to happen here.

7. Skip this section. Figure out what is due to happen next and write that, then come back and fill in the blanks.

What ideas do you have? How do you get past writers block?