Getting over writer's block

A commenter wrote:
I've been writing for a while. I have the common potential novel problem (At least it seems common to me) where I have no difficulty writing the short story and enjoy it. However, when I try to write anything over a few thousand words, I lose my pace. My story seems to slow down and stop going anywhere.

So I started a new project to see if I could just get over that hurdle. (My own blog.) And I've hit it again. Now I look back and wonder if I had a strong enough of a hook in the start. Or is it strong enough, but comes too late. Are the character motivations real? Is anyone other then me going to care about them?

Then, what should I do when I know where the story needs to go, but don't know how to point the character in that direction? Is a new catalyst point needed?

Do you have any advice on how to get over this hump of self-doubt and writer's block?

Well, I've certainly written myself into some blind alleys. About 40 years ago I was on fire to write an SF novel. I bashed out about 100 pages and stopped dead. It took me almost a decade to get a grip and finish the novel, which was published in 1978.

Sometimes it helps to get serious, perceptive, constructive criticism. Such critics are rare. We are almost never married to them, or otherwise emotionally entangled with them.

I finally got through to the end of that novel (The Empire of Time) while teaching courses, helping raise two little girls, doing a master's thesis, writing another novel, writing a nonfiction book, and walking a black Lab named Max. Maximilian Kilian offered not a word of advice, but he dragged me out on night-time walks where I had to think a lot. That helped.

It also helped when I started writing letters to myself, and discovered that this was a good way to free my inner editor. That editor had watched my inner writer get into awful trouble, but hadn't had a way to say so.

Stories often stall when our inner editor can't stand the crap our inner writer is cranking out. We don't know why, but the story suddenly looks dumb.

But let your inner editor explain what's wrong, and something strange happens. You're listing all the awful problems and errors in the story, just like the most brutal reviewer, and suddenly you begin to see solutions to the problems. So you write them down too.

Turn that letter to yourself into a journal, which you add to every day or every week--whenever you feel the need--and you have your own editor, blasting your goofs and praising your successes and pointing out where to go next. I don't create a journal for every novel, but it's a huge help when I do feel I've run into trouble.

That's not the only way to fight writer's block. If your novel seems to run out of content, you haven't been cruel enough to your characters. The key to a long, interesting story is a four-word phrase: Not only, but also.

Whatever the main problem your characters face, they need more misery. Something has to complicate their lives, which are already at risk. It's the combination of "not only but also" that will really show us what your characters are all about, and make us interested in their fate.

A student of mine once showed me the start of a novel about a legal secretary having a hot affair with a rock star. (She was a legal secretary.) She couldn't figure out where to go with the story once her lovers staggered out of bed.

OK: Not only are they having an affair, but also the secretary's boss is running out of work and money, so they may both be looking for new jobs soon. Not only is the secretary's job in danger, but also her new sweetie's band has a rotten contract that's going to take him on a months-long tour for almost no money.

Now we've got ourselves a story! Secretary saves her job by introducing her sweetie to her boss. Boss saves his business by getting sweetie a tough new contract. Other rock musicians hear about this and come pounding on his door, asking for new contracts too.

Not only is secretary happy, but also her boss now looks at her in a different light and wants to steal her away from her rock-star sweetie...

So the key to getting a manuscript to novel length is to keep inventing "but also's" that will show us more and more about the characters and their predicament.

So there are two ways to fight writer's block: Be mean to yourself by writing down all the problems in your story, and be mean to your characters by giving them even more problems than you have!

Maxmilian Kilian is long gone, but I now have two Australian shepherds. They drag me out for even more walks than Max ever dreamed of, and I do a lot of thinking about the current novel. Now that I'm just retired from teaching, I hope to finish the novel before too long.

Comments

[JT]

Thank you for this post. I hope I can find the motivation to actually apply it to my own writer's block.

[Myric]

I talk out all of my stories - ideas, issues, conflicts, storylines, characters, you name it - with my German Shepherd, Thor. His usually undivided attention (except when the neighborhood squirrels catch his eye) and repertoire of quizzical looks let me know he's listening to me yap, and I end up simplifying my thoughts for him, as if I'm talking to an eight-year-old.
I find that speaking the core elements of my writing out loud, especially when I'm trying to sort out a problem I'm having, works wonders. If something sounds stupid or confusing, it usually ends up that way on paper. When I ramble about my ideas to him I end up coming up with more ideas and can often expand upon story elements I found wanting when sitting and staring at my computer.

Thanks, Thor, you're a good listener!

[Jamie Grove - How Not To Write]

I tend to take the punishment route. First I beat the crap out of myself and then I turn that rage against my characters and let them wade through the mess. At some point, they start talking to me and begging for mercy. That's the point where I really turn up the heat and make them earn their crusts.

Great, great post!!

[minun]

My method of getting over writer's block, is to start another book, then, come back to the first another day.If that doesn't work, i spend time with my dog or my interesting fish, Shark, also try putting yourself in your character's situation.Are they in pain? Are they happy? Did they just loose a dear friend? Act it out using your head, as if watching a movie.Base your character's personality on people you know.

thanks for making the post!