writer's block
Tips to Get You Through NaNoWriMo
November 16, 2011
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by Carly Willsie
You’ve probably heard. It’s National Novel Writing Month—an annual writing marathon that challenges its participants to write a complete novel consisting of at least 50,000 words in only thirty days. Known affectionately by its practitioners as NaNoWriMo, hundreds of thousands of wordsmiths around the globe take part—last year’s event inspired 2.8 billion words. Rumor has it some people are even freezing a month’s worth of food so they can scribble uninterrupted, literary-style.
We’re at the halfway mark of NaNoWriMo, and you may be feeling fatigued, run down, and just plain sick of writing. If you’re not quite willing to give up your Thursday spaghetti night but are finding yourself a bit behind, we’ve collected our favorite tips to get you out of your writing slump.
Read!
You may be sick of words by now but believe us, reading is a great way to stimulate the writing process. All of us have an author or two who makes us just want to write. Not into being inspired by an author you look up to? Read a book in your same space and be motivated by competition—take this month to write a better book.
Write.
You heard it here first, people—you need to write in order to be a successful NaNoWriMo participant. But what if you’re at the point where the idea of putting your fingers to the keyboard is physically repulsive? Try typing out your favorite passage or chapter from a book, copying it word for word. This act can get you in the rhythm of writing and also give you an idea of how other authors structure their narrative details.
Mix It Up.
Don’t stress about writing your novel in order. Write whatever pleases you at the moment. Have a funny joke? Skip a few lines or open up a new document and write that thing down! Feeling lousy? Write the sappiest scene in your book, regardless of where it’s supposed to be. In a prolific phase? Might as well write the first and last paragraphs. This will help you feel more positive toward your book; maybe you’ll even stop shooting those threatening glances at your keyboard.
Gettin’ Social With It.
No, we didn’t just write this tip because we wanted to include a Will Smith reference. (OK, that was part of it—but only a small part!) Blogging and tweeting about your experience can reenergize your dedication to your project. Knowing that others are going through the same struggles and triumphs you are will be refreshing. It will also hold you accountable to finishing the project.
Embrace the Slump.
Try not to get too worried about your laziness. Writing motivation ebbs and flows. Have confidence that you will feel the urge to write again, and you will finish your project. Indulge yourself with an afternoon of television, a long nap, the local Chinese buffet—whatever you want to do.
Go Outside.
Fresh air stimulates thinking and ideas. It allows more oxygen to reach the brain, making your mind more alert. So take your computer outside or take a break to take the kids to the park. Even Einstein recognized the value of thinking outdoors. He was known to systematically take a walk or ride his bike to encourage his inventive thinking.
Don’t Think Beyond NaNoWriMo.
Eventually you’re going to need to consider all the things beyond your manuscript—the marketability of the book, the way it fits in with your brand, its cover, not to mention securing a publisher and a distributor. This goes against our standard advice of avoiding shotgun publishing, but given the goal of NaNoWriMo, now’s not the time to get bogged down with all those worries. All you need to think about is finishing.
If none of these tips get you motivated, check out GalleyCat, mediabistro.com’s publishing blog—they’re listing a tip each day for the whole thirty days of NaNoWriMo. And they did it last year, too. That’s, what, sixty tips? Should get you to the end of next week. If not, you can always remind yourself that Sara Gruen wrote Water for Elephants during NaNoWriMo—since then, the book has made the New York Times bestseller list, sold hundreds of thousands of copies, and been made into a movie. Sounds good, right? Now get to your keyboard!
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Elisabeth Vanness
from Elisabeth Vanness on Fri, 2012-01-06 05:38Thanks-a-mundo for the blog.Really looking forward to read more. Want more.
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Seven Major Types of Stories: Writing the "High Concept" Idea
March 12, 2009
by Auburn Rutledge
Fingers poised with painful precision above the keyboard. Eyes squinting, lines furrowing between arched eyebrows. Mouth pursed. Head cocked. The occasional twitch, fingers buried in hair and the frustrated sigh.
It’s not that I don’t have ideas, because Lord knows I have ideas. A plethora of squirming ideas wriggling about, waiting to be plucked and put to the hook, bait for a story to swallow it whole. (Gruesome but truthful.) The problem is their lack of substance. I might have a few scribbles in my notebook after an hour of brainstorming and they all mostly come down to a story about a so-and-so, who faces so-and-so challenge to reach so-and-so goal. It’s formulaic, stale, overdone, and about as gripping as watching a dying earthworm crawl along the sidewalk. I want to cultivate my ideas because they’re precious to me, but in truth, so few of them move beyond that first, stagnant concept.
A professor of mine once said that when you are writing, you should jot down the first four ideas that come into your head for your story. And then you should immediately cross out the first three, because they’re clichéd, hackneyed crap. What you want to create is beyond the surface. You don’t want a “concept,” you want a high concept. Something universal but fresh, an interesting twist, a compelling new confection. Which some might argue is difficult, given that many scholars, critics etc. have decided there are only seven story ideas in the whole world.
Except that there are fourteen. Depending on whose side you’re on…
Here are the seven (via the Internet Public Library):
- [wo]man vs. nature
- [wo]man vs. man
- [wo]man vs. the environment
- [wo]man vs. machines/technology
- [wo]man vs. the supernatural
- [wo]man vs. self
- [wo]man vs. god/religion
Or, alternatively, here are the seven (as found on suite101):
- the quest
- voyage and return
- rebirth
- comedy
- tragedy
- overcoming the monster
- rags to riches
I’ve found that melding the two is best: From the first list you choose your theme, from the second list you decide your plot. And when you combine both together, you create your high concept.
Examples:
- During the Great Depression, a young man leaves school and becomes a member of a traveling circus, falls in love with a star performer, and takes care of an eccentric elephant. (Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants)
o Theme: man vs. the environment
o Plot: voyage and return
- A family narrative of sex, love and secrets as recounted by the youngest generation’s child, an intersexual who metamorphoses over the course of the story from woman into man. (Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex)
o Theme: [wo]man vs. self
o Plot: rebirth
- When a teenage girl is displaced to a dreary town, she becomes fascinated with a local boy who seems almost supernatural, only to discover that she is falling in love with a vampire and putting both of their lives at stake. No pun intended. (Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight).
o Theme: woman vs. the supernatural
o Plot: overcoming the monster
Brenda Janowitz’s article in PW toys with the notion of the “high concept” idea—stories like Good versus evil, man plays God, New York fashion—and its significance in today’s market. Janowitz notes, “It's hard to describe what exactly makes an idea high concept—it's almost the opposite of what it sounds. But simply put, it's an idea that is easily explainable and can be sold in one sentence.” But as her agent friend said, it may seem simple, but if you don’t have a high concept, you won’t get your book published. But publishers don’t want a formula, they want chemistry. And though I’m not a science professor, I can offer this thought: high concepts may hold untold depth, but they all begin with simple formulas that, through your own creativity and inspiration, become said chemistry. Your idea + theme + plot = your story.
Brenda’s final conclusion is to keep writing, and the high concept will emerge.
But remember, scratch out the first few ideas.
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Chipping Away at Writer's Block
February 15, 2008
by Aaron Hierholzer
When I first found out that I was expected to write a piece for the Big Bad Book Blog, I was stumped. As I sat staring at the blinking cursor on my computer screen I realized I could use this to my advantage. I decided to write about writer's block. We’ve all had it dozens of times: the feeling of blank impossibility in the face of a writing project.
Writer’s block is generally defined as a temporary condition that prevents a writer from finishing–or beginning–a piece of work. It’s a phenomenon that almost every writer (of any genre) has experienced, and when it hits, it often seems insurmountable, as if the writer will never again be able to access his or her creativity and move the work where it needs to go. Luckily, there are some things you can do to overcome it.
1) Free Write
One of the best ways to get your creative juices moving again is to write–about anything. It doesn’t even have to be good. Just sit down, pen in hand, and let the ideas flow. A great way to do this is by using “free association.” Psychologists sometimes use this exercise with their patients to determine the subconscious cause of a problem. It can be similarly used by writers to understand the basis of their writer’s block or just to generate ideas.
2) Writer’s Exercises
We all know how important it is for athletes to warm up before a competition. Writers need to do the same, especially when the right words just aren’t coming. There are many sources for writer’s exercises; you can buy a book or “toolkit” meant to help writers overcome writer’s block in creative and fun ways. Some of these include:
• The Writer’s Toolbox: Creative Games and Exercises for Inspiring the “Write” Side of Your Brain by Jamie Cat Callan
• The Write Brain Workbook: 366 Ways to Liberate Your Writing by Bonnie Neubauer
• Creative Block: Over 500 Ideas to Ignite Your Imagination by Lou Harry
Or, you can browse websites offering exercises and advice. Some great sites are:
• Writing Resource Directory – offers links to writing exercises, writing forums, and samples of flash fiction, a format well-suited to jump-starting creativity
• Quotes for Writers – a huge compilation of quotes from literary heroes that will make you eager to put pen to paper (or, more likely, finger to keyboard). Sample: "Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else." –Gloria Steinem
• Get Writing – This site from the BBC offers some great resources, among them writing minicourses and a word cut-up tool
3) Get Out and Do Something
The easiest thing to do when you’re out of ideas and frustrated is to step away from what you’re working on and do something else. You’ll be surprised what taking a walk or going to the park or local coffee shop will do for your writing. You might see an interaction between people in a crowded place that sparks an idea. Or you might, during a moment of quiet contemplation, think of just what’s missing in your writing. Whatever you choose to do, it’s important to distance yourself from your work if you’re having trouble moving it where you want it to go.
Don't forget that writer’s block is a temporary problem. It might go away after the first few exercises you try or before you round the block for the second time during a walk. Or it might stick around through hours of free association and dozens of visits to the coffee shop. But if you keep trying, you’re sure to have a breakthrough and get your writing back where it needs to be.
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