5 Tips for Fighting Writer's Block

 It happens to all of us who are writers.  Sooner or later we hit the wall with our writing and we suffer through that old , well-known, feared syndrome called “writer’s block.”  We fear it, we try to hide from it, we fight it, but more often we give in to it.

So what do you do when it hits you?  Do you fight it? Do you give in to it? Lots of people say they know when it hits them and they try to shrug it off and get back to their writing.  For others those blank, empty days of staring at the computer screen or playing games or just ignoring the latest work can start to pile up until they fear they will never write again.

When writer’s block visits me, I try not to give in, but with each passing day I don’t write I find the fear that I’ll never write again. That in itself can drive me back to the keyboard to prove that I can still tell a story, whether it’s a fiction work, or just a blog on not being able to write.

Here are some ideas for coping with writer’s block:

1. Write something – anything – this is something I usually try first. If I find myself unable to face my characters and my latest stories, then I do work on a blog or try writing a lecture for one of my writing classes.  Sometimes by doing that I find new inspiration for the fiction story I am working on. Often when teaching a writing class I find that reading over what some of those other students are doing makes me want to work on my own writing. 


2. Look over old stories – this is always a good way to get something finished. By reading an old story that I started several months ago, I find myself with new ideas that I hadn’t thought of before – maybe even something that had given me writer’s block and stopped me back when I was working on this story. If there is something that was stopping me in my current story, I can just set it aside and work on those old things and maybe get something done. Usually finishing a work will propel into the next book or story.
3. Get away from your desk – a change of scenery can be like a breath of fresh air so try writing in some other location. Sometimes just sitting at your desk every day can seem like drudge work. I am a big fan of going to a restaurant or coffee shop with a note book and writing long hand for a while. Then when I go back to my computer and transcribe the pages it spurs me on. Of course I have also been known to take my computer to a library or coffee shop to write. Sometimes the change in scenery and just getting away from the house can spur creativity. 


4. Try a plotting brainstorming session – I love to do this with friends or a writing group. We will sit and toss story ideas around and I either jot them down or put them into the notes feature of my iphone. That way I have the ideas to refer back to later. I use this especially if I run into a knotty plotting problem that needs extra help. People love to play with story ideas when they don’t have anything invested other than offering their opinion.


5. Have a dialogue with characters – sometimes I realize that my characters are either not fully formed or I don’t know them as well as I thought I did so they are refusing to take those next plot steps. That can lead to a dead stop to the plot. I just can get that next scene written. Often a little conversation with those characters can pull out a new idea or make  me realize just what is ailing that character. Then after a while I find myself getting back on track.
    
   Sometimes it just takes getting away from things for a while. I will put something down and let it sit. Sooner or later those characters will start yelling and I’ll have to come back and finish their stories.  I’m never sure what stops me from writing, but I know any or all of these things can pull me back. Sooner or later that will lead to THE END getting written!

5 Tips for Starting a New Project

Writers always seem to be starting a new project.  We don't always finish them, but new projects or stories can be exhilarating. sometimes they are just what we need to get us out of our writing doldrums or excited simply because they are new.


Okay, you have a new idea.  What should you do about it?


1. Develop a concept.  That means what are you going to do with it?  Do you want it to be an adventure story about a girl lost in time?  How about a story about a woman who learns she is more capable than she realized? Or a man who finds he really does have something to live for. Think about your characters and what they want or what you want to do with the story.


2. Develop your people.  That can mean your main character, of course, but it might also mean something fun like developing an evil villain. Or maybe you want to feature the old lady next door with a secret she's hiding? (bodies in the basement?)


3. Give yourself a location.  Writing a setting can be fun, but don't get too bogged down with it so that you forget the story itself.  Try using your setting as another character. It can be a hindrance to your story -- like a blizzard that keeps your heroine in all day and prevents her from starting her mission or makes her do more research before she sets out so that it later saves her life. Or it can be the catalyst because she desperately needs to get to her brother to save his life with needed medicine.


4. Think about the ending.  Notice I said think. You don't need to know it to start. Just having a vague concept can help, but that doesn't mean you need to think everything out before you get going. Give yourself permission to change the ending before you ever get there and write with that idea in mind.


5. Start writing!  I don't care if it's a scene, a description, a dialogue. Get started so that your book is no longer just a concept. Put something into your computer, tablet phone, or wow...write it in a notebook or type it up.  Just get started.


Yesterday, I came up with this great idea and sat around thinking about a new story.  I thought about it and thought about it, and this morning I was still thinking.  Well, no more thinking. I am going to start it!


You can do that too! Don't just think or talk. Write.

5 Tips to Writing Dialogue

 As writers we all know we will need to write dialogue sooner or later. We can't avoid it. People are going to speak in your books and that is what dialogue is--the characters having a conversation. Writing dialogue should be simple for writers. We all have to do it ourselves on a dialy basis and we have all read it. Dialogue should be simple to write, but when you get right down to it, there are certain rules and guidelines you need to follow.  Here are five easy tips to consider as you write dialogue.

1. Make your characters sound different. Nothing is worse in a book than having all the characters sound alike. First of all, it is not realistic. Listen to the people around you. No one talks or sounds just the same. So how do you do that? How can you make them sound different? Again, listen to the people around you. Notice the different ways they speak and then use that in your story. Just as an educated teacher is going to sound very different from a high school student, a duchess or duke in the past would have spoken very differently than the kitchen maid.
2. Keep in mind your character’s sex.  There has been a lot of talk about the differences in how men and women speak. Many writers I know say men are much more blunt in their language than women. They’re more used to giving orders or just expecting their wishes to be carried out. I’m not sure that works anymore. Many women can be just as blunt as men and are just as forceful. But pay attention to some of those small differences as you write and keep in mind possible differences in how men and women sound.
3. Don’t get too carried away with dialects.  This is one I have had to watch myself. Overusing dialect can sometimes make it difficult to follow a story. Look for ways around the overuse of dialect. You don’t want to completely get away from it, especially when setting stories in certain times and places, but don’t over use it to the point of turning off the reader.
4. Don’t forget your tags.  Tags come in several ways. They are the simple – she said that follows the line spoken. They can also be used to tell how the sentence is spoken. She shouted is definitely going to be different that a simple said.  But you can also over use the tag too. Watch out for falling into the trap of using said on every tag. Sometimes you can do without any tag at all. And at times you can use an action tag that tells how she said something. 

“Don’t go in there!” The use of the exclamation point and even the warning can tell you she is probably sounding anxious or perhaps shouting. You might not need a tag here.

5. Don’t lose sight of who is speaking. Sometimes in a group of characters speaking you do need tags after many lines to indicate who is speaking. If you have three or more people you need to make certain that the reader knows who is saying what. Again, this can be handled with an action tag at times, but don’t let your readers get lost in long periods of dialogue without making certain they know who is talking.

If you are uncertain about whether your dialogue is working, read the passages aloud. See how your characters sound and then let them keep on talking.