 |
Technique #4: Writer's block is an indication of a larger plot or
structural issue; go back and re-evaluate.
First, let me define writer's block. I don't mean staring at a
blank page, not knowing how to begin. I don't know what that is --
maybe not knowing what your next project's going to be -- but it
isn't writer's block.
What I mean by writer's
block is when your story is moving happily along and suddenly you
hit a roadblock and are unable to continue. Now nothing seems to
work and you spend hours, days, even weeks, wrestling with a specific
scene or chapter.
Often it's not the scene
or chapter itself that's causing the problem but a larger plot or
structural issue that, when solved, eliminates the problem.
Example:
I was working on the third draft of my science fiction trilogy when
I ran into a case of writer's block that for weeks left me puzzled
about how to continue. In the scene, my protagonist was in a dark,
thickly-treed, alien forest. After weeks of being relentlessly
pursued by an army of colonial militia, thousands of troops were
finally closing in on him.
In previous drafts his
escape had been easy enough to craft. But now, in draft three, he
kept getting shot! As much as I tried, what had worked in drafts
one and two wasn't working now. I was baffled for weeks until I
learned that writer's block is often the result of a plot flaw or
structural problem.
When I reevaluated the
overall story, I realized that I had made the army that was hunting
for my hero a lot stronger than I had in previous drafts. So, when
I tried to have him escape, it no longer seemed plausible that he
could simply slip away. I eventually solved this problem by
inserting a new scene from the army's perspective, listing out all
the difficulties they'd had during their long and tedious search.
As a result, it made the army seem less omnipotent, made the story
more three-dimensional, and allowed my character to get away in the
manner I'd originally intended.
|
|
|
Technique #5: As writers we are all mini project managers. Plan!
Think for a minute of all
the tasks necessary to write a book through to publication: There's
creating a plot or story idea, coming up with the conflict, story
arc, main and impact character through-lines, etc. There's creating
memorable, interesting characters. There's writing the first draft,
editing and rewriting successive drafts, and formatting your
manuscript for submission. There's authoring a query letter,
writing a synopsis, and researching and contacting the appropriate
agents and editors who might be interested in your work. And when
your book gets accepted for publication, that's when the work really
begins. All together, the process could take months or even years
to complete.
My point is that writing a
book is a complex project. By default, then, we as writers are all
de facto project managers. One of the things you'd hear if
you trained to be a project manager is that on a good project, half
the time as project manager is spent planning.
At the top of this
article, I told you I'd written my 110,000-word novel in just ten
weeks. But what I didn't tell you was that I spent the ten weeks
prior to writing it sketching out scenes, characters, and settings.
In short, I had a plan.
Notice, I didn't use the
word outline. The term "outlining" has a lot of unnecessary
baggage attached to it. Planning may mean writing an outline or it
may mean organizing notes about your characters, plot, and setting.
It could mean jotting down ideas or historical background. Or it
might mean having a mini-recorder on hand to capture dialogue or
fragments of prose.
If you were a good
carpenter and you had enough wood, concrete, nails and the proper
tools, there's nothing stopping you from successfully building a
house. But I submit that if you had a blueprint, you could build
the house better, quicker, and more efficiently. The same applies
to writing your book.
concluded
page 4 |
|
