A Girl & Her Writer’s Block

I’m often asked how I handle writer’s block. It’s easy to answer that question when I’m not currently struggling through a chapter that isn’t quite ready to be written – I usually say that I simply write through a block. Because that’s an easy answer, I figured that right now, in this very moment, while I’m mentally shuffling through the various directions I can write my next scene, I’ll take the time to more thoroughly discuss what I do when I’m blocked.

I will often ignore my block and barrel right through the chapter. I figure that even if I have a crappy scene, I, at the very least, have something to work with. Truth is, when I take a step away from a chapter I’m not loving, I usually brainstorm ways to make it more powerful and end up liking it, sometimes even loving it. The sunflower scene in The Tension of Opposites is a good example of a blocked scene that took me through the stages of hate/dislike/like/love.

But sometimes I’m not ready to force myself into a writing frenzy. So I procrastinate!

I do a thousand other things while I stew over the avenues my current plot and characters can travel. I check emails incessantly, spend time on Facebook and Twitter, look up cool books to add to my TBR pile, blog, and stress over the fact that I should be writing instead. Cleaning is one of the best cures for my writer’s block. Specifically, vacuuming. You see, the noise from said vacuum contains enough power to successfully block out the insanity of my house (dog, kids, TV, phone, etc.). Zoning out on my carpet somehow supplies me with the creative energy to work through the kinks of a chapter or scene, and when I’m through, I’m often ready to write. Laundry, dishes, picking up the toys in the yard – all mindless jobs that allow me to tune out of reality and get lost in the book I am writing. My husband is also great to talk to when I’m blocked. I can bounce a ideas off him and see if they might work. He’s honest. And inspiring. (Love him!)

Unlike a lot of writers I know, cooking and gardening do not work for me. When I partake in either of those activities, the result could be death, so I try to avoid them at all cost. Too much stress involved. (I’m thankful to have my husband for many reasons – the cooking and lawn care are just two.)

The two best things I can do to lose myself in a hide-and-seek chapter are to journal or take a walk in the woods. Something about words flowing from me to a page, and something else about being outside, make both of these activities a magical cure-all for me.

As I use these mindless escapes, I practice a crazy little mental exercise, stretching my brain and the plot like a huge string of taffy. How? I ask myself a zillion questions. (This is really where any book/chapter/scene begins with me. The questions.)

Here’s a little example – based on the scene that’s currently bugging me – a scene that will lead into one of the most pivotal chapters in my current work-in-progress:

Where is the MC? School – for sure. Cafeteria, classroom, hall, office, bathroom . . .
What has to happen that will organically lead to the next chapter? She has to be upset. Like REALLY upset. And she has to be questioning a lot of things.
What will happen to get her that upset? She can see or overhear something that will prompt all the questions.
But what? WHAT? Something with the guy. Something bad but not too bad. Something that makes her want to talk to him & confront him.
Back to setting – where is the best place for her to overhear this information? Hall or office.
Who is the information coming from? A teacher would be cool. Maybe better than a student. But a student would have more scandalous info to pass along.
So, who is it talking? A girl or a guy? Girls are so much more gossipy. So a guy might be better. More reliable and upsetting. Maybe someone from his BB team . . . Oh, yes, I’m thinking yes. (This is always a good sign – when I praise myself and start to get excited. I’m visualizing the scene after just a few minutes of questions. Which is good because I’ve been quite blocked on this one for a few days now.)
The big question: What does she overhear? Something she didn’t know. Something that will cause her to question him. Not another girl. Or, maybe. A lie. She can catch him in a lie. That would lead to good confrontation. Ha! Duh. Why has this been so hard?
What is the lie? What will she confront him about . . . Hmmm

This question is something I need to ponder privately. I can’t give too much away. But the above gives a good example of my process when blocked. And you know what I just realized? Journaling questions is the de-blocker that works best for me. My house is really clean, the yard clear of all toys, emails answered, Twitter updated, yet I still couldn’t figure out this scene. Journaling the above questions in this sweet little blog post was all that I needed. So if I helped no one else today, at least I helped myself.

Before I close, let me clarify one important thing. While I outline and plot quite a bit, trying to get a handle on where a chapter is heading before I write it (because each chapter leads to the next, and I need to steer things in specific directions), I do a lot of flying by the seat of my pants. Life is whipped into the outlined structure of my book as I write, little details that I didn’t ever expect popping up all over the place, making the characters seem real, the story believable. For me, it’s all about balance. I need to know the basic structure, but I also need to have an element of surprise as I move forward with my plot. In every stage of my writing game, questions often propel me closer to my story’s end.

So, maybe I don’t need to figure out exactly what she overhears in that hallway. . . maybe I should go straight to the chapter and write myself through the rest of this block.