| Written by Lisa Hood,
on 02-14-2008 21:02
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Views : 1621  |
Favoured : 60 |
Published in : , Writing |
Tags : nervous twitches, painstaking labor, personal narrative, rsquo, attentive care, self doubt, new perspective, blank page, reassurance, hesitation, drip, smog, short story, couple of days, expectation, pats, remedy, anxiety, novel, passion |
I don’t suffer Writer’s Block so much as cold sweats, nervous twitches and a debilitating brain smog thicker then the air in LA, whenever I’m confronted with a blank page and a deadline. If my condition had a name, it would probably be Writing Associative Disorder and the only cure would be round the clock pats on the back, an IV drip of praise and the attentive care of specialists offering constant reassurance.
I struggle to write when I don’t believe in myself. I question the value of what I have to say and my ability to say it. I’m a writer, so I have to work my way through the self doubt and fear that holds me back. The best remedy I’ve found is to take a break from whatever has me stuck and write something totally different. Once the words start flowing I may be able to shift back to my original piece with no hesitation. Usually I find that I need a day or two to think about what I want to say.
I take a break from a piece, not a break from writing, to give myself time to contemplate my options without jeopardizing my confidence. The work I do off project may not develop into anything more than a personal narrative or it may be the beginning of a short story or novel.
That’s a nice side effect but I don’t plan for it, so I won’t be disappointed. My only expectation is to write until I can get back to writing. If I can’t get back on track in a couple of days, I need to uncover the cause of my anxiety. Here are some questions I’ll ask:
1. Do I care about my story, characters or message? If I don’t care about what I’m writing, why would anyone care to read it? I have taken on projects that I had no passion for and it was painstaking labor. The results were painful too. If I can’t avoid these projects altogether, I look for a new perspective to incorporate subjects I am interested in.
2. Am I trying to be perfect? I’ll set the bar so high I know it’s impossible to reach and I won’t even try. Instead of holding myself to an unreasonable standard, I expect my personal best. I have read brilliant, imaginative, life altering books, but I probably won’t write one. That’s ok, as long as it’s brilliant. Nah, I’ll settle for entertaining and worth reading.
3. Do I know enough to write about this subject? This is one of the easy fixes, because someone is an expert. I just have to find the information or the person who has the information and learn enough to move forward.
4. Am I afraid of what people will think or say about my work? If you’re not comfortable with your message, you may censure yourself to the point of silence. I had this problem with a character who was a bigot. I knew he would use derogatory terms, but I just didn’t feel comfortable going there. I worked around it by giving him a politician’s polish and hidden agenda. In public he was smooth and charismatic, hiding his evil behind a thin veneer.
If you’re struggling with writer’s block, take a breather, look a little deeper and keep trying. You’ll get through it. If not, there’s always therapy.
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