This crazy little thing called Writer's Block

I rarely get writer's block nowadays.

But it's an event that occurs in a writer's mind that causes them to stumble and seize up their writing.

Was I always this way?  Oh, no.  What did I do to remedy it?  Let's explore . . .

In the infancy of my writing career--we're talking in elementary school years now--I used to write the first few pages of a new novel, and for whatever reason I'd quit.  I never really understood it.  In seventh grade, my parents bought me an old black typewriter (yes, you heard right, a typewriter) that had to weigh close to fifty pounds.  (Watch the Stephen King movie Misery to get an idea on what it looked like).  I wrote about thirty or more pages, single-spaced, of a ninja trilogy.  The weird part is I had the entire trilogy all laid out in my head but I stopped at those thirty-plus pages.  I never did anything else with it, and it had nothing to do with writer's block.  I just didn't think the story was worth writing.  I didn't think anyone but me would want to read it.  But who knows what the distant future will bring . . .

My earliest recollection of writer's block was in college.  I was working on a deer hunting horror story--the first novel I ever completed (see a previous blog on how I celebrated this milestone)--when in one of the first few chapters I didn't know how to go on.  At one in the morning, I was getting pretty tired even though I still didn't go to bed.  I continued to write for a few more minutes, not really paying attention to what I was writing, when all of a sudden I wrote something I never intended to write.  It was like someone else's hands were on the keyboard.  I stopped.  I had no idea where to go from here.  Yawning and finally feeling the affects of sleepiness, I went to bed, the story rolling around and around in my head like tumblers on a safe.

In a flash, I awoke and the rest of the chapter appeared before my eyes.  Could I wait to write this until morning?  Not a chance.  I spent the next hour (it must've been after two in the morning at this point) writing the rest of the chapter.

How else can one handle writer's block?  Start with a different viewpoint.  In my first novel, I actually wrote one chapter from the point of view of a white-tailed deer.  What else?  In the thriller I'm currently editing, right in the middle of the book, when I was going to bridge the gap between the murder investigation with a plot-twist that upped the stakes on a more personal level, I had the main character be involved in a traffic accident that landed him in the hospital.  I didn't really plan this either.  It just happened.

Writer's block may also be solved by simply writing something else, starting a new project, or even reading a book--I know we're all reading, but how much is a topic for another blog.

What are your writer's block stories?

"What if I can't think of a good ending?"

In light of the previous post about creating dramatic endings, one question that could be asked is: what if you can't think of a good ending?

That could be what was in Bram Stoker's mind when he ended Dracula how he did, even though I seriously doubt he didn't really know how to end it.

One answer that comes to mind is: it doesn't have to end . . . with that one novel.  Could it be a sequel or a trilogy or even a long series?  Then your monster wouldn't have to die or end, it could live and grow stronger.  Need an example?  Lord Voldemort in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter is one.  He keeps growing more powerful with each book.

Another answer would be to write three or four alternative endings, have a group of trusted friends read them (ones that can give you an honest opinion, not a sure-this-is-good-but-only-because-we're-friends-and-I-can't-tell-you-the-truth).  You need the truth here.

If you can't even do that, skip the ending (for now) and go on to something else.  Then, after a week or a month, come back to it.  If you still can't think of one, then maybe your story isn't as good as it should be.  And if that's the case, write another story.

A final word of advice on this could be: what books or movies are similar to your story?  How did they end?

Why I hate Bram Stoker's "Dracula"

Hate is such a strong word, but it grabs your attention.  I could've said dislike or any number of words taken from the thesaurus.  The one that I chose was hate.

Why, in the world, would I hate (or dislike or am hostile towards or resentful or about three dozen other words Roget's recommends that don't have quite the punch hate does) such a classic as Bram Stoker's Dracula?

Simple.  The ending sucked.

There you go again with the strong words, Mark.  Did it really "suck" that bad?

Let me clarify: Dracula is beautifully-written, from varying journal entries and letters, gaining multiple viewpoints of this frightening tale.  Much is built on setting up this elusive monster, one that slithers through the forever night, sucking blood and transforming victims into his minions.  Even the race back to Transylvania, with Van Helsing on his heels, is a nail-biting thrill-ride.  And how does Mr. Stoker end this masterful tale?  (Spoiler-alert: if you've never read this tale and intend to do so, STOP READING RIGHT NOW . . . okay, the rest of you can march forward with me)  The death of Dracula is reduced to a few sentences that ended so quick, I had to backtrack to find out what in the hell happened.  When I read again how Dracula's death was brought out, I nearly threw the book in the garbage.  But I didn't.  I plowed through to the end, resentful of Stroker's cop-out for a dramatic ending.

This is advice for mostly horror writers, and possibly thriller writers too.  When you've created such a dangerous creature and, in the end, that creature dies (or is captured), make that as explosive and dramatic as possible.  Your readers will thank you for it, for joining you on the journey you created for them.  What if George Lucas, when he created Star Wars, decided to not blow up the Death Star but simply have it slowly disintegrate?  Star Wars never would've been such a spectacular hit that it was.  For your endings, make them worth it.  Your reader just spent hours and hours and hours on end, following your tale.  End it right.  Don't cop-out like Stoker did.

Becoming a list-making freak

In the previous blog, I confessed that I'm a Post-It freak.  But I'm much more than that.  I freakishly love to make lists.

Earl Nightingale taught in his Lead The Field audio program that one should start a list of things you want to accomplish the day before you do it.  He said to write down the five things that you want to accomplish, prioritize them in the order of their importance, and the next day start with number one.  Once number one is complete, go on to number two.  And so on.  At the end of the day, create a list for the next day.

If one does this, commits to doing this, you'll accomplish more than you've ever dreamed of.  Will there be some days that you only get one thing done?  Of course.  But it doesn't matter because you worked on the most important thing.  Motivation author Brian Tracy taught in his book Eat That Frog that the best way to start your day is to do the biggest, ugliest task--the one you've been dreading or procrastinating on.  He calls it "eating the frog" with the frog being that dreaded task.  Once it's done and out of the way, you can move on to other tasks.

What's your frog?  It could be the start of your novel.  You just don't know how to start it (blog idea topic - yippee, something to write on my Post-It!) and you're just procrastinating.  Just get up tomorrow morning and jump right to it.  Before too long, it won't be that ugly frog anymore and you'll enjoy doing it--if, in fact, you love writing.  It's possible you'll discover that writing is not your thing and really it's your love of working on Harley Davidson motorcycles.

Start it today, right now, and make tomorrow's list.  Then, tomorrow, look at that list . . . and do it.

Truly amazed by the generosity of others

This past year, I have witnessed something phenomenal.  Something that I read about but never experienced first-hand.

Until now.

It's called generosity.

Such a simple word, yet powerful.  Ever since my wife was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in April 2011 (where she doctored at the grand Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, and where she's still residing while she recovers from her bone marrow transplant on September 1st), I have witnessed the generosity others like I've never known it.

And tonight proved it once again.  And again.  And again.  (and again, for near-infinity . . . )

And one day, through the will of God, I will pay it forward.

Okay, now I think I'm gonna cry.

I am a Post-It freak!

3M must love me because I love Post-Its.  Stickies, in other words.  Whenever I get a flash of inspiration or I need to jot a few ideas down for a story or a blog or even make a small list of things I need at the store, I usually write on a Post-It.

Post-Its are like temporary lists, because when I complete my list, I can throw it away and start fresh.

Sometimes my "office" is filled with various notes to myself or small lists of goals I want to accomplish in the next week or month.

Can "to-do" lists be too lengthy though and one can never accomplish everything on it?  Oh, sure.  I've been accused many times of creating "to-do" lists that could never be completed because I've got three kids to raise and other jobs to get to.  But that doesn't mean I still don't create lists.  I create lists to organize and prioritize my goals, something I learned from Earl Nightingale.

And that, my friend, is for another day, another blog.

Brain, we're here to . . . pump you up!

When marathon runners train for an upcoming race, do they run the twenty-six miles right away?  No, they train for weeks, months ahead of time, running shorter distances, thereby training their body for the ultimate test.

Do bodybuilders just do bench presses and that's it?  Nope.  They train various muscle groups, even switching those muscle groups so one set doesn't get overused.

Do farmers plant the same crop over and over again?  Not a chance.  They may plant a certain crop for a few summers or winters in a row, but they rotate after each harvest so give the soil the chance to replenish its nutrients.

Your brain is also a muscle, one that needs to be worked, challenged, and even rotated among various tasks.  Ever been in an endless array of meetings?  Afterwards, if you're not used to it, your brain feels stained, and can even have a "fried" feeling.  But once you've been doing it awhile, that strained feeling grows less and less.

When I work for long hours on a novel--whether editing or writing the first draft--and I finally complete whatever stage the book is in, I always take a break from writing and read.  Sometimes I don't even write anything for a few weeks.  I call it "recharging my batteries."  Brain batteries, in other words.

As you complete the first draft of your book or feel like your brain is strained from hours of writing, step back and do something else--exercise another part of your brain.  Even work on a short story or another story in a different genre or a new set of characters.  Take a break and read a little more than usual.  Then, once you feel recharged . . . go forth and conquer!