A little while
ago, I participated in a live webinar with Jerry Jenkins and David
Loy (Two experienced published authors).
Jenkins gave
seven things to help you finish your book. I won't list them all,
because I don't want to steal his thunder or anything... Like
that would ever happen.
But the thing that stood out to me mostly, wasn't one of the seven
points. It was actually just in his introduction. He said “There's
no such thing as writer's block. It's all just laziness. It's an
excuse all of us writers use when we're scared."
If you were a secretary, and you called into work one day, and
said, “I'm sorry, I can't come to work today because I have Secretary's
Block.” you'd probably be laughed off the phone and told to come
into work regardless.
It's no different with writers. There is no
reason that
we should not be writing. Even if you can't think about what should
come next in your story, keep writing. Write anything. You can edit
later.
One thing I've learned from
writing, is that whatever you write, good or bad, it is always
beneficial.
There have been times when I've sat down to write, stared at the
words that I left off at, and didn't know what to write. So I left
it. The same thing happened the next time, and the next time. The
only way I got out of that rut, is by adding something, even if it
was stupid and didn't make sense.
He also said that this so-called
“writer's block” comes from fear. Yes. It does. Fear of whoever
reads it. Fear of your editor. Fear of your potential publisher. Fear
of your family reading it and judging you. Fear of yourself...
The best way to get rid of that
fear is to just think of one person that you trust. One single
person. (Not as in someone who isn't dating... but like... oh, nevermind.)
Write the story for them. Think about how they would react to each page. Think
about what criticism they might have while you write. If you narrow
down the focus to one person, the writing doesn't seem so
nerve-wracking.
Are you struggling with writer's
block
fear? What are your methods of getting out of your “Writing Ruts”?
Stay writerly!
-The Bandit
