On the third Wednesday of each month, members of this blog hop (now 43 strong!) gather to share tips and tricks about the writing life. Check out the wealth of knowledge here, and join us to share your own writerly wisdom!
I’ve been chatting with someone working on her first full-length novel. Her ideas are sound, her planning impeccable, her characters complex, and her story concept has lots of reader appeal in her genre. But she’s struggling with motivation–not her characters’, her own. Some days, she just doesn’t want to write.
I don’t suffer from writer’s block, so I had little to offer my mentee. Sure, there are days when the words ooze slowly and days when they gush forth, but I always want to write. So I turned to my Olympia RWA writing friends for advice. A lively discussion ensued, and I’ve condensed their advice here:
Explore the why of your writer’s block. Why don’t you feel like writing? Journal about this until you reach clarity.
Let the story play out in your head as you go about your day. Take a walk and think about your story. This counts as writing.
Write about your story in your journal. Knowing these words are just for you takes away some of the pressure of writing for an audience.
Commit to writing 100 words per day. Do that for a few weeks, and when that becomes comfortable, raise your daily goal to 250 words per day, and so on. Don’t raise the bar too quickly.
Have 2 stories cooking at once. When you feel blocked on Story 1, “procrastinate” by working on Story 2. Repeat as needed.
Grant yourself some downtime. Not all writers write every day. Many successful authors write in bursts.
Don’t let yourself get caught up in preparations, like the cowboy who spends all his time saddling up and never rides.
Reading in your genre can spark ideas.
Carry a digital recorder while walking. Noodle aloud about your story. It’s sometimes easier to transcribe dictation than to write at your keyboard.
Find an accountability partner. Check in on each other daily, weekly, however much nudging you need.
Remember that plotting/pantsing is not an either/or proposition. It’s okay to start writing with a partial outline. Even the strictest plotter will sometimes have to adjust the outline as new ideas pop up during the writing process.
My own tip: Marketing and building your platform is part of the process. Do that for a day or two and see if your urge to write returns. Mine always does.
And another: Take a break from writing to read a craft book. Take lots of notes. Inevitably, I see something that sparks an idea about my story in progress.
So there you go. If you’re feeling blocked, I hope you find something here to nudge you back toward productivity. Below you’ll find links to the writers who contributed tips to this discussion. Give them a visit!
Cari Davis writes historical romantic suspense.
Theresa Scott writes historical romance.
Laurie Ryan writes fantasy and contemporary romance—with horses!
Debby Lee writes Christian romance.
Marie Tuhart writes erotic romance.
Kathy L. Wheeler writes contemporary and historical romance.
Janette Harjo writes supernatural romance.
Great suggestions here.
There are some great suggestions here. I’m glad for this blog (and the mention…thank you!) I was there and didn’t take notes and loved the ideas. I’ve got them now!
Good suggestions, although the idea of having more than one going at once gives me a panic attack 🙂 🙂
Excellent suggestions. Sometimes you just need to take a day off! I do it once a week, regardless of how the writing’s going, and remove myself from my computer – and my brain’s always fizzing with ideas the next day.
I love reading about how writers get through difficult periods, not matter what they are. Makes me feel I’m not alone. Which I’m not, of course.
As I’ve moved to increase my writing tempo (thank you corona for taking away my social life), I’ve learned I need to write an outline. If I don’t write an outline, I stress about what I’m going to write tomorrow – causing me sometimes to freeze. Now, I stress about writing the outline. But I give myself a full day to work on it. Knowing the day is going to be tough but it will make the next 3 weeks flow with words (flow may be an exaggeration)
Great tips! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I love that someone said that thinking about our story counts as writing! YES!!! Thanks to everyone who contributed tips. Lots of wisdom here.
That last tip is a really good one!
So many good tips, thank you for gathering them. I especially like hearing that daydreaming out my current plot counts as writing, because I tend to to that a LOT. lol
I find three things that help me with writer’s block.
1. Write every day. Keep a journal of words written. It may be 17, it may be 1,700.
2. Have an accountability partner. If I don’t email my word count to my AP, I’ve failed them and myself.
3. Do something else creative. Step away from the keyboard and do something fun. Paint. Quilt. Sculpt. Do arts & crafts with your kids. Sometimes, you need to recharge your batteries.