Timewaster's Guide Archive
Local Authors => Writing Group => Topic started by: Gemm: Rock & Roll Star; Born to Rock on May 27, 2004, 02:28:15 AM
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So I've been trying to work on this story. But I hit the proverbial cow herd roadblock. How do you, as writers find yourself getting yourself out of these situations?
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uh I ussually give morgane a muffin and dont let her give it back to me until I'm done writing(that always makes me work harder and inspires) so you should give someone something you really want and then tell them not to let you have it until you get inspired and finish whatever you are working on. kinda like that thing where you have an animal pulling a sled and you put some food just out of their reach so that they will keep running.
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the problem isn't usually motivation for most people, they want to get it done.
Gemm, i'd just write. Keep writing. Write about how you're stuck. Write about what the question is you haven't answered, keep typing so you're in the groove. Don't take a break to get he mail, to play a game, to go get something, just keep typing. Eventually the words will come back to where you need them to be.
That's why God gave us computers, so we could delete all that extra stuff.
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I'd do the opposite. Stop, and sleep on it. In a day or three, come back, and just start witing and see if it's gone.
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A few days seems like a little much. I would read a book for about an hour or so, and come back to it. Then plow through like SE said. You need to get your mind off it first, I think, to get ideas that you would have never thought of before.
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I think it depends on what kind of writing you're talking about. Something short with a quick deadline--yes, come back to it after an hour or so. But if you're stuck on something in a larger work, I'd let it rest a few days and come back to it. But in theory I'd be working on something else in the meantime, that might get me flowing back onto the blocked part.
In reality, I've only been writing every couple of days anyway.
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What works for me may not work for everyone. I no longer need the "Write and keep writing!" advice, since I have proven that I can consistently produce.
If I hit a road block, Gemm, it's generally because something in my story isn't working--and I know it. It could be as simple as 'I'm tired and don't quite have the vision of this chapter right now.' Or, it could be 'This character really doesn't feel right to me.'
In the first case, I usually do what JP suggested--I let it go and start on the chapter again (usually throwing away what I wrote that 'didn't work' the night before.) In the second case, I usually have to excise a large portion of what I've been working on and try again. Generally, I catch this pretty quickly--first three chapters or so--and therefore may have a false start or two on the book. However, it's for the best in the end.