I can honestly admit I rarely run into what most consider the typical “writer’s block.” Pattern matching and string ideas together is pretty much second nature to me. I have lots of concepts written down in my database of notes (If you don’t have one of these then you need to start. It doesn’t need to be anything in electronic form. Douglas Adams used a drawer in his desk to stash notes). However, I do suffer from writer’s block. It comes as depression, lack of energy, and the inability to focus long enough to let the words congeal enough to put on paper.
For those doing NaNoWriMo and are searching for advice how to survive it. The best answer is “Eat the Elephant One Bite at a Time.”
Only reason I bring this up is because I know folks that are currently way behind (like I am), and the more behind you get the more the word count piles up and you get scared. You start asking why you are doing this, and how you got yourself into it. Even worse you start to doubt that you can do it.
Well, STOP IT! The way you get through a month of writing (or any project for that matter) is to look keep your eye on the closest check point, and it’s your goal to make it to the checkpoint come hell or high water.
There are many things that many beginning writers don’t consider, but they are things that should be thought about. I’m not talking about the hours away from family, the strain on love ones, and the sleepless nights not understanding where you are heading in your plot line. However, these are tools that may lessing some of the above issues.
The standard things I tend to consider before writing a novel in thirty days in November are simple.
- Do I have character sheets for important characters?
- Do I have a description of the location in which I’m writing in?
- Do I have an outline or time line of events?
- Do I have a genre in mind?
When writing there is times you can make shit up (What’s her hair color? How about eye color?), and there are times where you need to research facts so your reader doesn’t throttle you when you meet them. Today, we’ll focus on the two types of research, broad and targeted.
Broad research is, as its name implies, looking at a subject, event, or time period from a 10,000 ft view. You don’t care about what color Ulysses S. Grant’s horse was or if he rode into battle bear back. You are only interested in the fact he existed and that he leaded a massive volunteer army into multiple battles. This can also be the hardest research because you don’t always know how deep you should go. I recommend setting a time limit and sticking by it. In my case, I decided an hour was enough time to refresh my memory on the basics of where General Grant was and who his competition consisted of.
I’ve finished my version of the Jathia’s Wager. The more I read the script the more I realize I have no interest in the character Jathia in any version I’ve seen so far. The character that peeks my interest is the teacher/guide (the guy in the “bowler hat” as a few have refered to him as).
That being said I may look at a story based on him in the future. However, I just don’t see enough of a plot arc to be inspired to write about him at this moment. I suspect it will take a while to flesh him out in the way that I think is best.
Anyways, the public forums is where I suspect to see commentaries since I don’t offer such ability
on my site (yet).