The Writer's Block Thread

[Homer Potvin]

Sometimes, I get hung up on character motivations.

Overrated in my opinion. Or maybe overcomplicated. They don't have to be complex or grandiose. Not saying that's the case with you, but I see too many writers faceplant on that. Like zombie stories with characters who need to overcome their trauma, prove their worth to their parents, or something, where not getting killed by zombies is plenty of motivation to keep the plot moving. Depends on what you're writing of course, but what Frodo's motivation in LoTR? Destroy the ring and not die. Bing bang boom.

 

[Jay King]

When I am blocked, it is usually because there are things that I must do, should do right now or in the very near future. Sometimes it's something as mundane as getting the the oil changed in the car, getting the lawn mowed, and washing the vinyl siding--- all demanding to be done soon. I can't write unless I have a clear calendar.

 

[alzie]

I suffered from writer's block and its nasty partner in crime, Imposter Syndrome. Early on in my novel (my first, so I didn't know what the hell I was doing) my mind was a blank slate. Everything I put on paper sucked. I didn't know where to go. I couldn't push the story forward. I didn't know where it was going.

Then I had an idea. I had been struggling writing in third person, so I rewrote the scene in first person through my protagonist's eyes. And I realized what the problem was. I was trying to tell the story from a distance. My writing style changed and to this day, that little experiment helped push me through the story. I'm still writing third...but standing over the shoulders of my characters.

 

[Homer Potvin]

I suffered from writer's block and its nasty partner in crime, Imposter Syndrome. Early on in my novel (my first, so I didn't know what the hell I was doing) my mind was a blank slate. Everything I put on paper sucked. I didn't know where to go. I couldn't push the story forward. I didn't know where it was going.

Then I had an idea. I had been struggling writing in third person, so I rewrote the scene in first person through my protagonist's eyes. And I realized what the problem was. I was trying to tell the story from a distance. My writing style changed and to this day, that little experiment helped push me through the story. I'm still writing third...but standing over the shoulders of my characters.

I've said it here before, but POV is hands down the most important technical aspect of writing, in my opinion. Not the 1st vs 3rd thing, but the understanding of how information is vetted from writer to character to reader. Airtight intimacy is great if you know its strengths and weaknesses. So is distance with its own caveats. The key I think is recognizing the spectrum and which parts of the story are most effective at which distance. Sometimes the reader needs to feel like a voyeur and sometimes they need their head held under water.