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Sunday 26 January 2014

How do you get past writer's block?


Blickling Hall, Norfolk

Sometimes writing, editing and rewriting (let's call them all 'writing') can become a drag. Confidence can be knocked by rejection or by showing work to the wrong person when it isn’t ready. Sometimes life gets in the way, meaning there's less time or a reduced ability to focus. In the run up to Christmas last year, I stopped writing.

In September 2013, an agent requested my full manuscript, and the comments they made on my first three chapters were the most complimentary I’ve received. Bowled over, I was swept into an adrenalin-fuelled edit. A few chapters in, I received a rejection from an independent publisher and the adrenalin-fuelled edit became a rejection-induced plod. I plodded on until a writing course in November (described in post: Do writers need friends who write?). Shortly after that, I stopped writing for a few days. The few days became a week and so on, my irritation accumulating each day because I wasn’t writing.

On top of this, pre-Christmas nights out and present-buying etc ate time and made it difficult to prioritise writing. So I decided to stop beating myself up, to take a break until after Christmas, and To just be (the subject of my previous post).

On 2nd January, I opened my manuscript and came up with a plan.
1. Rewrite Act Three, which needed more ooomph.
2. I asked myself: How can I make it seem as though I’m achieving something every day?

I split my manuscript into two parts, saving two documents in Word:
The Grandson done and The Grandson to do.

Each day I work on The Grandson to do file and when I complete a chapter, I cut and paste it into The Grandson done. This works well as I can see word count and number of pages moving daily. The Grandson to do is now down to forty pages. I’m working fairly slowly because Act Three has become a case of rewriting rather than editing.
So I have forty pages to rewrite and three scenes to write from scratch. I’ve given myself a deadline of 9th February (and now I've told you, I'll have to stick to it!). Then I’ll put the manuscript away for
two weeks before doing a final edit.

Stephen King says in ‘On Writing’:
‘I had come to a place where the straight way was lost. I wasn’t the first writer to discover this awful place, and I’m a long way from being the last; this is the land of writer’s block.’

Later he says:
‘So instead of moving to another project, I started taking long walks……I took a book or magazine on these walks but rarely opened it, no matter how bored I felt looking at the same old chattering, ill-natured jays and squirrels. Boredom can be a very good thing for someone in a creative jam. I spent these walks being bored and thinking about my gigantic boondoggle of a manuscript.’

And then:

‘For weeks I got exactly nowhere in my thinking…..and then one day when I was thinking of nothing much at all, the answer came to me. It arrived whole and gift-wrapped, you could say – in a single bright flash.’
 
Isn't boondoggle a brilliant word? www.thefreedictionary.com says boondoggle means 'an unnecessary or wasteful project or activity'.

In ‘How to Write a Novel’, 47 rules for writing a stupendously awesome novel that you will love forever, Nathan Bransford starts Rule #34 with:
‘The most important thing you need to know about writer’s block is this: it doesn’t exist.’

He goes on to say:
‘But when people encounter the phenomenon otherwise known as “writer’s block,” what they are really describing is one thing and one thing only: writing stopped being fun.’

Later he says:

‘The first step to getting unstuck is understanding the problem you need to solve. Once you’ve identified the main issue, the solution is just around the corner.’

He suggests going outside to ‘get fresh air and sunshine’, exercise and staring at a blank screen. I read Nathan Bransford's 'How to Write a Novel' over Christmas and I think it's well worth a read.

So I have a deadline. After that, then what?
I’m lucky to be on the Romantic Novelists’Association New Writers’ Scheme again this year. When I’ve completed the rewrite of Book 1, I’ll be returning to Book 2, The Painting so I can send in a manuscript by the end of August.

Wishing you a very happy 2014 and best of luck with your writing! I usually post an uplifting seaside photo at this time of year, so here you go:

Sardinia
 

27 comments:

  1. I like the idea of the two documents. Good luck with the last 40 pages x

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  2. Although I don't suffer from writer's block as such, I do need to have a couple of different projects on the go to keep me motivated enough, as I often go start to go too slow with something I should be finishing. That sounds like a good plan you have, Anita -all the best with it. By the way, it was probably only the NWS that kept me going until my first novel was published!

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    1. Thanks Rosemary! That's a good idea, working on more than project at once. I need to do that more. x

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  3. Very best of luck with completing your rewrite, Anita, and with preparing your NWS submission. I definitely find doing something boondoggleish tremendously helpful! In fact, it's also one of the recommendations on this BBC page: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/0/21660191, which talks about 5 ways to be more creative. I’ve used them all when I need to get out of a jam! C x

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    1. Thanks Clare! And for the link-will have a look at that later. Best of luck with your NWS submission too. Glad you're back! Maybe I'll see you at the RNA Summer Party?x

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    2. Thanks, Anita! I would love to make it to the summer party! As it stands, by annoying coincidence, I'm meant to be working that evening, as it's the awards dinner for the fiction prize I mentioned on my blog at the College where I work. However, if there's any change of plan I shall definitely sign up! x

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    3. What a shame! I'm sure we'll bump into each other at the conference or the Winter Party. Hope to go to the conference this year.

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  4. This is such a great post and one that I can empathise with totally. I'm glad you've got your writing spark back again and I'm sure you'll meet your deadline - I love the cutting and pasting from one list to the other idea! x

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    1. Thanks so much Debs! Hope this is a good writing year for you.x.

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  5. Fabulous post. I'm learning that my standstill moments almost always mean I've taken a wrong turn in the last 2 chapters and need to scrap them and start again. Or that I'm not listening to my characters :)

    Love boondoggle - may have to find a way to throw that into conversation this week!

    I love your system - what a great way to see your progress and build your momentum! Wishing you all the best with your rewrite!!!

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    1. Thanks Jemi! Isn't the word boondoggle great?! Best of luck with your writing this year.x

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  6. Good luck with your revision, Anita. I know you'll get that manuscript into great shape.

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  7. So much of writing is psychological and feeling the need for progress. Your tactic of dividing your manuscript seems a novel (pardon the pun) way to accomplish that!

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    1. Thanks Ethan! And thank you for visiting my blog.

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  8. I really like the idea of two documents Anita. I may just borrow this idea ;-)

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    1. It really helps when you're stuck Cathy! Thanks for visiting. Wishing you a happy 2014!x

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  9. Hi Anita, This post really resonated with me as I was feeling exactly the same as you before Christmas, so decided to return to shorter pieces throughout January, letting my mind become more free and just see what words fell on the page. I found that has helped a lot! Good luck with your project

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    1. Thanks for visiting my blog Vikki and best of luck with your writing projects this year!

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  10. I always have more than one project on the go. I find if I'm working on a novel or novella, to have some short stories ticking over is a great relief. Then, if I'm stuck on one thing I can easily drop it and go to another. HOWEVER - word of warning - one has to be disciplined in not starting too many things and also, always make the end your goal. It's very easy to start - not so easy to finish....

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    1. I know what you mean Cara re more than one project. I'd like to submit short stories to competitions/magazines and have started a few, but find they distract me from novel-writing. Hopefully I'll get them finished one of these days when I have a gap between novels. Best of luck with your writing projects in 2014!

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  11. Hi Anita,

    Fantastic post - and ironically EXACTLY what I have been going through with my blog. I have been suffering from blogger's block since Summer last year. I tried everything - moving my blog, mixing things up, trying to put pressure on myself to be more professional. But, in the end I just stopped. I think, like they say, writing just stopped being fun, and I have filled up the past 5 months with a heck of a lot of boondoggle! (Great word!)

    But, I feel re-energised and am back with a vengeance! Good luck with your writing, Anita!! Keep it up!!

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    1. Thanks Melissa! Good luck with getting your blog back on track-look forward to reading your posts x

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  12. If I'm ever feeling overwhelmed, I give myself mini goals to aim towards - could be anything as small as write 500 words. I feel like I'm achieving something each day and the mini goals soon mount up!

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    1. Hi Jennifer, thanks for visiting! Small goals work well for me too and if I haven't written for ages, sometimes I set a timer for ten minutes and increase time every day until I'm back into it again.

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  13. Just allowing myself to write something, anything, just to get words down on paper, not expecting quality. That helps me. sD

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