A Different Approach to Writer’s Block

            Writer’s block is a curse. On the inside your heart hammers with inspiration, your fingers itch to craft words into sentences into paragraphs into chapters into books. But the pages before you remain blank. Thus, you have been cursed.

A writer who can’t write.

An author who can’t create. 

A magician who can’t enchant.

            I’m being dramatic of course, however any writer who has been gripped by writer’s block has felt that sinking feeling of doom and glum. The most common advice to cure this terrible disease is to just keep writing. “Just keep writing. Just keep writing. Just keep writing.” It becomes a mantra like a witch’s spell to cast away evil. Eventually you will break the curse. You will find your voice again, and the words will flow once more. All is well in the universe, until it happens again.

            Then you must turn toward the sister advice, which is “Just let it simmer.” You tell yourself you’ve had a fair run, but now it’s time to step back, put a lid on things, and let the story simmer on its own for a bit. Undisturbed. Untouched. Works wonderfully for pasta sauce, and for writer’s block. The mind does get tired, especially when you have a whole new world existing up there. Taking the time to recharge and relax is effective.

            And thus the writing cycle has been crafted:

Inspiration à  writing à writer’s block à writing à inspiration à writer’s block à inspiration

            And so forth. First drafts can meet their finish line with this cycle, slugging and pushing forward like a baby in a delivery room.

            The purpose of this article is provide another widget in the cycle that could revolutionize the way you think about writer’s block and what means.

            A while ago I started working on a YA fantasy novel, I had many grand ideas and plot points so interconnected I felt like a spider weaving an intricate web. Everything was going swimmingly, until writer’s block pulled me under. “Just keep swimming,” and, “Just let it simmer,” kept me afloat and I was able to tread slightly above writer’s block. However, I knew there was something wrong. It felt as if I had an anchor strapped to my ankle weighing me down, preventing my story from soaring up into the endless horizon.

            The problem wasn’t writer’s block, the problem was my story.

            More accurately the individual elements of my story and how they were meant to come together in 80,000 words.  I had one plot point, and then another, and then another. I had one primary character, and then another, and then another. It was too much, but it felt fine because I was a master web weaver. 

*cough* *cough*

            It seems obvious now, but at the time not so much, that all these plots, and sub-plots, and elements, and ideas, and characters, and motivations, and plot-twists, were my kryptonite – and surprise surprise the cause of my writer’s block, the anchor around my ankle.

            It was not only impossible to juggle (especially as an inexperienced writer), but it was utterly unnecessary. I would have needed fourteen separate elevator pitches to get the concept of my book across. For more context, the book was originally a western romance, set in the future, combining sci-fi (spaceships) and fantasy (magic, magic, and more magic), contemporary political thesis showcasing the dangers of war, morally ambiguous characters with detailed tortured pasts, an uprising, a revolution, a secret city, demons, angels, and a lord of the rings style journey across unknown lands.

            A handful of concepts that when laid out sound epic, but in actuality were a complete mess. My problem was not that I had been cursed with the inability to write, it was that my story wasn’t actually a story… it was just a collection of really cool ideas.

I wasn’t writing a story, I was writing transition sentences between all my ideas in a desperate attempt to link them. And no matter how effectively I implemented “Just keep writing”, and “Just let it simmer,” I still struggled.

            What I needed to do was straightforward. Lighten the load and focus my story. My writer’s block stemmed from my characters, plot, setting, purpose being a jumbled mess. You obviously can’t scratch out all of your ideas, and you also can’t just blindly erase a handful that you feel you could do without. There is a process to this.

Step 1: Create your elements list

            Create a list of every single element in your book. EVERY. SINGLE. ELEMENT. Everything. This includes setting, plot, characters, character traits, character conflict, plot twists, scenes, magical powers, transportation, structure, POV, prose, word count, genre, audience, moral lesson etc etc etc. Also, be specific.

            (I made a very mini-list above)

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Step 2: Figure out what story you want to tell

            Why are you writing this particular story? The answer is simple, although sometimes it might be buried underneath piles of plot. Turn to the list you just created and circle your stories one defining factor. There may be a lot of important factors to your story, but there should only be one defining purpose.

            (For my story, it was to showcase the dangers of war involving nuclear weapons)

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Step 3: Create the link

            Every element of your story has to link to your defining purpose – a direct and tangible link. Of course some elements, such as characters, might have dual purposes, but regardless of how many links an element has, one of those must be connected to the defining purpose.

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Step 4: Throw out the rest

            Very simple. If there is no link to the defining purpose, toss it. You don’t need it. It adds nothing to your story. No matter how cool and interesting the concept seems all it will do is anchor you to a never ending cycle of writers block.

            For example, if you have a side character that links to your protagonist (childhood friend to show that protagonist was once soft-hearted) but this side character does not serve your defining purpose in any way, I say scrap them. Or, of course, replace/revamp them with a more effective side character.

            The main idea is for the purpose to be the focal point of your story, and anything that draws attention away from the focal point is simply a pesky distraction.

            (For my story the biggest erasure was the magic. The entire magic system, all the character’s supernatural abilities, the demons. Everything gone. Not just remodified, but completely exterminated. In effect changing the genre of the story. There were other erasures as well, the western setting, two side characters, the uprising, and the secret city).   

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            When I removed the distractions I felt freer, I felt focused, and I felt as if I had found a trail in a dense forest. My path was clear and my path was focused, therefore I could write with confidence. I could maneuver through my story knowing I was going in the right direction.

            Make your purpose the focal point and then everything else will follow.