BLOCK talk

Status
Not open for further replies.

mr mistook

Does it count as writer's block if you're working out issues for the story in your mind?... in other words - mentally writing and revising new chapters before typing them out?

Twice this year I've hit the wall at certain critical points in the story and had to sit around for a few weeks just pondering the next step.

In my mind I liken it to planning out battles or something. All charater's and their motivations must be taken into account. All angles must be examined before comitting to the next move. And then new possibilities spring up, and new inspirations filter in and ask for admittance and then suddenly, I'm writing again.

To me thats different from the writer's block I get when I sit down to write a jaunty column and simply nothing comes.
 

reph

I'd call the thought process a part of writing. Otherwise, you'd have to say that writing is what you do when you're not thinking!
 

maestrowork

I have to agree with Reph. Lori, Barb and I had a similar discussion just a few days ago and we agreed that "thinking" about your story/plot/characters would be considered part of writing process. That's why I jokingly told them "I wrote 8000 words last week, then."
 

Jamesaritchie

thinking

Thinking is definitely part of writing, IF you get around to actually doing the writing.

This is one reason I like to have several writing projects going on at the same time. If I stall on one, I just switch to another while the stalled one simmers in my mind.
 

Writing Again

Re: thinking

To me thinking IS writing. Typing it out is the last step. What you do when you know the story, and have all the major issues and problems solved, and now what you have to do is get the words right.

Even when you know the story, and what will happen, you can discover a major problem. in my WIP I spent two weeks trying to get one chapter right.

Then I suddenly realized that the obvious POV for the chapter, that of the protag, was not the right POV for the chapter. Soon as I gave the POV to one of the minor characters, a guard, the chapter almost wrote itself.

Writing is ninety per cent thinking, ten percent typing.

In truth I do not believe in writer's block. I have never seen a day that I could not sit down and write one story or another. I think writer's block is when you try to force a story on to the page before it has been fully thought out and ready.
 

Jamesaritchie

thinking

I suppose think is writing for me, as well, but it works better for me if I do the thinking as I write the story. I have to see the story, read through it, watch the changes taking place, or I can't make it work.

When I'm away from writing, I try not to think about it. I spend a lot of time reading, and that helps. But sometimes not thinking about writing on a conscious level seems to mean my subconscious is working overtime. Answers jump out at me when I sit back down to write.

I don't believe in writer's block, either. I think the old definition of writer's block "Noun: An excuse to avoid hard work" is accurate.
 

zerohour21

Re: thinking

I've never had writer's block; just short periods of time where I feel uninspired, and then that changes and I get more ideas. I'm constantly thinking about whatever story I am currently working on. I don't do any outlines; I don't have to because its all in my head how I want it to happen. I know how its going to end, and usualy have somewhat of a rough idea of how I want to get there even if I don't know every single detail. It's just a matter of finding the words to put it on paper, since I have generally a more visual imagination and think about my stories more in terms of mental pictures and such. This isn't to say that I can't change course on my way throughout the story, as I have done so in the past. Case in point is the story I am working on now, where I had it planned out how I want it ot go, but then I thought of an entirely different direction and new ending, and decided I liked it better that way, so am going to take the story in that new direction as it flows better and seems like it would make a better story.

Does writer's block exist? I can't say for sure. Maybe its an issue for some people, but I've never had any serious problems with it. Just on some points of time I have lots of ideas whereas others I'm not coming up with much that's very good or very workable. All I know is that (at least for me) forcing ideas just doesn't work, just as forcing myself to write when I am not in the proper writing frame of mind wouldn't work either. I have to be in a serene frame of mind and know what it is I want to do with the story I am currently working on for it to be enjoyable and for it to be effective.
 

cleoauthor

After long and hard thought, I have decided, at least for myself, that "writers block" is simply an excuse not to write. I fear it also might be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Certainly, there are times when I'm stuck on a plot point, but I'm constantly thinking about the story -- and that is every bit as much a part of writing as the sitting-down-at-the-computer and typing your little heart out.

And then there are days when I'd rather be outside flying a kite or lying in the grass and trying to determine if that cloud up in the sky looks like a dancing elephant or a map of Albania. Those activities sure don't look like writing, but I'd bet there's a tiny portion of my brain that's still working away on that story!

Cleo
 

vstrauss

I'm reading a fascinating book about writer's block (and its opposite, hypergraphia, where you literally can't stop writing) called The Midnight Disease by Alice Weaver Flaherty. It's an attempt to come to grips with creativity from a neurological perspective (Flaherty is a neurologist who suffered an episode of hypergraphia)--a look at creativity by looking at its disorders. She posits block as a neurochemical state, and there appears to be science to back this up.

I don't doubt that writer's block exists--whether you define it as a long dry spell or a temporary stuckness. I get stuck quite frequently for a day, two days, three days--often when I've gone wrong somewhere, but there are also days when the words won't come out, or I can't engage with the story. I suppose sometimes it's laziness, but there really are days when I just can't make the sentences. The standard advice to "write something even if it's crap" does not work for me, because then I've got crap and it depresses me. I find it more productive just to pay attention to the rhythm of my writing brain, and take the day off or work on a different project.

I never think about block, though, because I agree that it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy if obsessed about. Even if you believe in block, it's best to proceed as if you don't. If I'm stuck, I'm just stuck, and I trust that at some point I will unstick myself, as I have before.

- Victoria
 

cluelessspicycinnamon

I can plan out scenes from the book I'm trying to work on, but I have the biggest trouble writing it out, so I know what you mean,.
 

Writing Again

Well, Victoria, I've been viewing the way the medical profession, the mental profession, and the educational profession, react to anyone who is the slightest bit different and to people who are creative.

I fully expect that anyone who is obsessed with any creative activity such a writing, painting, photography, etc to be declared to have a chemical imbalance and have them given drugs so as to normalize them into a stable, content life that the rest of society finds it easy to accept.
 

Jamesaritchie

writer's block

I think it's quite possible that with some people at some time there is such a thing as writer's block. I do, however, think this is extremely rare, and almost never falls into the same category as what we normally call writer's block.

The thing is, writer's block can be traced, and the growth pattern of writer's block is well known. It can be pretty accurately tracke dthrough history, back to what seems the first instance. For many years, writer's block was almost exclusively an American phenomenon.

In fact, until someone coined the term "writer's block," it pretty much didn't exist, except in a very few isolated instances of true mental illness.

Most of what we call writer's block is laziness, but there also seems to be a connection with "cabin fever," and with health. Cabin fever hits many writers, and getting away from writing and the house is a good thing. Health is an issue for many reasons, but one of the most common is fatigue. I've never thought writing is hard work, but it does take a lot of energy, and fatigue can make writing extremely difficult. The three most common causes of fatigue seem to be overwork, undersleep, and lack of exercise. These things do not cause writer's block, but they do make writing more work than it should be, and many simply aren't up to it. I understand this well.

I'm not a big believer in brain chemistry. Everytime I see a study that seems to show brain chemistry causes an action, I see another study that says the action causes the brain chemistry. Brain chemistry can cause someone to enjoy running, but running everyday can change brain chemistry until it's exactly the same as someone who had the chemistry before they started running.

So does brain chemistry cause lack of creativity, or does laziness and not trying to be creative cause the brain chemistry to change? I lean toward the latter. I think we make our own brain chemistry by what we choose to do or not do with our time. There's a lot of science to back this up.

There's also something to the "name it and claim it" theory. I remember reading a study that took place back in the late fifties or early sixties where a large group of people were told a new disease had been discovered,and it was strongly supected many of these people had it. The made up symptons were largely ones no one could have, but an amazing percentage of the group started experiencing them anyway. Hypochondria, actually. Writer's block has been show to work just as an imaginary disease. Coin the term, and suddenly the hypchondriacs of the literary world start experiencing the symptoms.

There's also a lot of science behind the study of habit. It takes the average person just three weeks of doing something everyday to form a habit. . .a habit of writng, and a habit of creativity. Downtown from this can be essential, a chanceto recharge the batteries, refill the well, however you want to look at it, but only if it's spaced in a way that doesn't interfere with the habit. If you show up at the keyboard everyday, it won't be long before the muse is there waiting for you.

I don't think getting stuck usually has anything to do with writer's block. I suspect we all get stuck. I know I do. Sometimes it's because I did something wrong earlier in the story, took off it the wrong direction, and wrote myself in a corner. This rarely happens, but it has.

I also get stuck because I'm writing a story I don't care about. If there's no buzz, no excitement in the story for me, I'll probably get stuck.

But the biggest reason I get stuck is a form of cabin fever. I've simply been in my office writing for too many weeks on end, and I need to go do something else. Just getting away in the evening is enough, as long as I go do something to burn off the excess energy and get rid of the cabin fever.

I don't believe in writing crap, either, but I'm not sure a good writer really ever does write crap. I know there are days when the writing is a struggle, when everything I write seems like crap, but if I later show the finished story to someone, they can't begin to tell the sections that were written on these days, and the other sections that were written on days when everything came easily and seemed wonderful.

But, yes, writer's block does probably exist. But I think if someone has real writer's block, they know it. Real writer's block doesn't make someone not write, not show up at the keyboard. It doesn't make them play computer games. Real writer's block means that person can't write, crap or anything else, no matter how hard they try. Real writer's block, if it does exist, is a form of mental illness that needs treatment.
 

reph

Re: writer's block

I've had real writer's block a few times. It was horrible. I really couldn't work. Only later did I realize that, each time, it was caused by a particular kind of life situation. The impending loss of an important personal relationship was inevitable, through death or a necessary breakup, and I was avoiding it emotionally. I don't know that this should be called mental illness, exactly, but I consider it a kind of psychiatric symptom.
 

SRHowen

Re: writer's block

Someone, and I don't remember who, said the only writers to get writer's block were those who had some other form of support.

I don't get writer's block--but there are days I hit what I call the "wall." :head

Most times it has been because I needed to back up and fix where I went wrong, I stopped listening to the characters and tried to make them do what I wanted instead of what they wanted.

But life can interfere, big time.

Shawn
 

mr mistook

Re: writer's block

As to issues of fatigue, I can certainly say this has been playing a role in my writing persuits. At present, I'm working a joe-job 40 hours a week doing apartment manintenance (thanks president Bush) which includes everything from changing a faucet aerator to crouching in a spider-infested crawl-space all day fixing water-pipes.

It's a taxing job, but for 10 months now, I've found the energy to write after work until 1 or 2AM. Now I find that the lack of sleep is catching up with me. I'm bleary eyed and inattentive at work. I yawn all day long, and by night I simply can't find the enthusiasm necessary to write well.

I think about my novel all day, and plot out what chapters I'll tackle next, but when I finally sit down to the computer, I'm so exhausted that I can barely finish a page. Meanwhile, I've gained 30 pounds!
 

Writing Again

Re: writer's block

I never met a plumber with plumber's block, or a programmar with programmar's block, or politician with liar's block.

Other professions don't suffer these things, why should we?
 

maestrowork

Re: writer's block

As a former programmer... yes, there's such thing as programmer's block. I've seen programmers stuck at a piece of code for days, if not weeks. Then suddenly a "muse" speaks to them and they start coding like a maniac.

It does happen.

I'd say any time of creative work (yes, programming can be creative) may see blocks -- you just can't be creative and filled with inspiration all the time.
 

Flawed Creation

politicians

it wouldn't surprise me if politicians got liar's block from time to time. but a political figure has advisors and assistants to write lies for them.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.