Blast You, Mr. Block!

Sorry I can't help you with your block, but if you use Word or even WordPerfect, there should be an option at the top called "tools." Open this and you should see "word count."

If you are using something other than those two WP programs, I can't imagine what it must be. But in case there is no word count anywhere, here's a good rule of thumb. Count the number of words in 5 random lines. Divide by 5. Take that result and multiply by the number of lines on a page. Multiply that by the number of pages for the total number of words (approximate).

There are many reasons why your chapter may have abandoned you. If you like, you could go to http://www.allexperts.com and ask some of us there. At this time, I don't believe anyone's answering but me.

Susan Rand

Things you may already know.

Well I will go ahead and quote the obvious. You probably do not want to hear it. Writing another chapter can get you going. Writing something else entirely can get you going.
I find that solutions will come to me out of the blue, days, sometimes months later. But that is not following butt in chair protocol.
If it is the details that are bedeviling, just write it without the details. Skim over your chapter that has you snagged and go on to the next. Just write that significant part that you know will happen and move on.
If you are an "outline writer" really try and work up a good outline and it will be easier to go on to another chapter.
That is what Uncle Jim will tell you. Get the whole thing written, cover to cover, and you can see the whole scope of the story. That is when you go back in and fill in.
And I would suggest moving your writing time right back to what it was when your mojo was there

Sometimes, when the chapter's done, it's done. If there's nothing more to say in that chapter, then there's no use trying to invent filler material, especially if you have an urge to write the next chapter.

I'd say just go on to the next chapter and keep writing. In the fullness of time, you'll figure out if anything needed to be added to that seven page chapter.

As for the change in your writing mojo, well, as a fellow night owl, I can sympathize. The hours between 1 and 3AM are so much quieter than earlier in the evening. Between 7 and 9 is prime time. Everybody's still awake. Cars are out driving the streets. All the best shows are on the air. Telephones ring. IM's come through.

Even if you can find total seclusion, it's hard to pretend that the world isn't still turning at that time of night. All I can say is, you have to do the best with the schedule you've got. It'll get easier when you get into the new groove.

Yep, the WC should be in the 'tool' section, and if you don't want your total word count, but just the count for what you've recently written, highlight the wanted text and then do the WC and it should tell you how much you've written.

Don't worry about the length of a chapter. It doesn't matter. Usually, if I get stuck, it's either because a problem in my plot is accuring and my subconcious is saying, 'Get your head in the game and stop writing this crap' or because I'm just not inspired at the time. If your chapter has done what you wanted, end it and move on. If it feels incomplete (and not because of WC) than that little writter in your brain is banging his hammer, telling you that you haven't written it right, not yet at least. If you're really stuck, move on. That's what rewriting is for and don't put too much pressure on yourself to write a brilliant first draft.

Good luck to ya!

Other threads discuss calculating word count. It's actually based on printed pages rather than the absolute number of words as counted by the word processor.

As for inspiration, I'd suggest write whatever section your muse is telling you to write. Personally, I don't write in sequential order. I look at it as creating a quilt. I have to come up with enough patches (i.e. chapters/scenes) to make a complete "blanket" (story), but it doesn't matter in the original draft which ones I write first. Stitching them together and making them flow is part of revision. Eventually I'll end up with a tapestry. If you're forcing yourself to work on a particular section but your muse is jumping up and down wanting you to write something else, go with your inspiration. I don't know how many times I've kicked myself (figuratively speaking) for saying "Oh, I'll work on that part later because I need to finish this bit" and when later comes I can't recover the same excitement.

Good luck!

Excellent advice, IT.

cattywampus said:

Sorry I can't help you with your block, but if you use Word or even WordPerfect, there should be an option at the top called "tools." Open this and you should see "word count."

If you are using something other than those two WP programs, I can't imagine what it must be. But in case there is no word count anywhere, here's a good rule of thumb. Count the number of words in 5 random lines. Divide by 5. Take that result and multiply by the number of lines on a page. Multiply that by the number of pages for the total number of words (approximate).

There are many reasons why your chapter may have abandoned you. If you like, you could go to http://www.allexperts.com and ask some of us there. At this time, I don't believe anyone's answering but me.

Susan Rand

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AllExperts is my favorite research site ever! It's so convenient to get information straight from the horses mouth! Two VERY BIG thumbs up to the AllExperts experts!

WVWG

Akuma said:

Grr, I'm out of ideas. Well, not really. I know what's going to happen in my next chapter but the chapter I'm writing just...stopped. I could drop it and go on to the next chapter but something fairly significant happens in the current chapter. Or I could just end it there. There doesn't seem to be anything more to say. But at approximately 7 pages (I can't figure out how to get the computer to check how many words there are, silly lil' me--may become a Luddite), the chapter is shorter than what I usually do.

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When I saw the title of this thread, I thought you were saying something mean about mystery/suspense writer Lawrence Block, and I was ready to defend him.


Actually, that's appropriate because in one of his books on writing, Block wrote about chapter lengths. I don't remember the exact words, but he definitely was not tied to a specific chapter length. I think he may have paraphrased from Abe Lincoln. Somebody asked Lincoln "How long do a man's legs have to be?" And Lincoln replied "Long enough to reach the floor." IIRC In answer to "How long does a chapter have to be?" Block said that Block said chapters should be long enough to get to the beginning of the next chapter.


In fact, he had one chapter that went as follows:
"Chip, I'm pregnant."

And that was it. The entire chapter. (Phew, was that hard to type or what?!) But it got its job done.

I did have a chapter that was bugging me for about a month. I kept trying to go through all sorts of contortions. I knew that the bad guys had to attack the boat the good guys were on and rescue an obnoxious character who would then betray the others. I kept trying to figure out how it would all work out. I had great ideas, too. And finally, the only way around it was when I realized the obnoxious character had outlived his usefulness. He died (ickily) trying to get away, and I no longer had to write the attack. It made more sense that way, and it leaves me room to jump up to a very very important scene -- the shocking death of a good guy.

So sometimes you have to look away from your plot and look at it again and then you might find a new road through it. I remember reading that when Canadian pianist Glenn Gould sight-read music, he said that he saw a sort of "X-ray" of the score -- an analytical focus that not all musicians have. And that allowed him to give new insights to the compositions. I guess sometimes we need the ability to do that to our own work. And sometimes we have to look at the story and realize it's time to kill off someone, or time to let characters fall in love, or in my story, all of the above.


Oh, and in Word, you can figure out a quick word count by selecting just the text you want to check and then clicking the Tools menu and choosing "Word Count." I learned that one at work, and it has been very helpful.

Yep. That's what I told her.

Thank you, writergirl. I'm glad you like the site. There are others: answerpool.com, for questions on over 100 categories; worddistillery.com, for questions about writing, and askJeeves.com, but I hold answerpool to be the best. It has over 2,000 members, I believe, at last count.

Akuma said:

I can't figure out how to get the computer to check how many words there are, silly lil' me

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if using microsoft word, highlight your chapter, go to tools, then word count

Why bother highlighting? Just put your cursor on the first letter or the last.

You would highlight each chapter's words for word count if the entire novel is a single document. At least that's how I read it.

I don't set mine up that way--my computer system slows way, way down after about 60 pages--but people with better computers might.

Maryn, simple peasant woman (hah!)

My favorite saying about writing difficulties:

If writing becomes a pain in the a$$, make sure you can locate your pencil.

LOLOL that's a good one Neuro.

Use a different part of your brain for awhile. I find Algebra helps writer's block. a few equations lets your creative side rest and regroup. It also reminds you why you want to write instead of becoming a banker or a 7th grade math teacher.

Now, since this is the first mention I've seen of "All Experts" so I'm going there now instead of whomping myself with equations.

Oh yes, it is a beautiful day! Hugs to EVERYBODY!!!