Writing 101: Writer's Block

When it comes to writing, few things are scarier than writer's block. Most people have to deal with it at one point, whether they are prolific writers or not. Writing essays, or school reports, we can run into writer's block. Putting together one form of speech or another for work, we can get writer's block. Some of the reasons we get it are interesting, but knowing them can help prevent writer's block in the future.

Many people are afraid of heights. Heights have nothing to do with writer's block, but that fear will stop people from doing many things. The fear of heights will often stop people from riding a roller coaster, from climbing a mountain, or taking an airplane.

This fear is a block.

Some writers often find it hard to advance a plot, because they fear to damage their characters. Often fiction novels begin with the stereotypical "normal world". This means life for the characters will be close to perfect as they are going to get for the entirety of the book. Things can only go down from there, but to start off the characters have perfect little lives.

In most stories things will begin to go wrong to create drama, suspense, and subsequently advance the plot. Without these things, there is usually no story at all. The problem often comes when we wish for our characters to remain perfect. Writers might consider it unthinkable to transform a beautiful princess into a troll, but that is tragedy, and often times is what good stories are made of.

To side step the block of fear, we must not be afraid to damage our well thought out cast of characters. Think of the worst possible thing that could happen to your creations, and then start writing toward that end. Eventually characters usually find someway to live with their trauma, or overcome it completely. Regardless of how they deal with it, they are often stronger personalities by the end of the story.

Another block is boredom.

When we are bored with our writing, nothing seems to work. We can come up with a hundred ideas, and throw them all away. Why would this happen, and what can we do to prevent it?

First off there may be a problem with our writing. It would be best to closely analyze what we have accomplished. If reading chapter after chapter seems to put you to sleep, perhaps you can ask yourself, "How much have the characters changed? Have they failed to learn anything from the journey they are on? Are they just passing event after event, with no apparent direction? Do I know where I want to take this story?"

The answers to these questions can often shed a lot of light on our problem. But perhaps the boredom is more personal than that. Perhaps as a writer, you need to take a break from this particular project, because it has grown stale in your mind. Move onto another project, until you feel refreshed and ready to revisit those characters.

Even then, you might lack the confidence you need to achieve the level of writing, and storytelling you would like to. Take a look at your notes. How extensive are they? Many writers make a complete bible on all of their characters, and the world they created for them. Most writers can tell us how their characters would react in any given situation. Most writers have to live under the skin of their characters.

As a writer, I have had to deal with writer's block in the past. Fortunately I figured out the secrets to defeating this pesky problem, and haven't had to deal with it for several years. I always ask, "What is the worse thing that can happen to my characters?" To answer that, I must know my character's primary motivations. Once that is established, I can set roadblocks throughout the story, so that things are more exciting.

It's amazing how blocking your characters can help prevent writers from being blocked. To keep my writing fresh I often have to take something precious away from my characters. Sometimes, as a writer, you have to be able to access your own dark side, and bring it out. There is often no other way. Having characters in an action adventure story is often like have children, sending them out into the world, and saying, "Deal with it!"

Once you learn that anything can happen, even the worse thing, writer's block will scarcely be a problem. This is cool because you can spend all your time developing your skill and pushing the plot instead of sitting, doing nothing, and getting depressed.