My way of getting through the block

Writer’s Block!

There … I said it … I dared speak the name of the condition that every writer dreads!

Writers fear it the way amorous men fear a failed erection. It can strike at any time, unseen and without warning, like a virus.

On screen, I’ve watched David Duchovny bounce his laptop off the wall in Californication … Jack Nicholson bounce a ball off the walls, rant at his wife and prowl the hotel corridors in The Shining … a manic Nicolas Cage sweat an ocean over his typewriter in Adaptation … Johnny Depp take to the comfort zone of his couch in Secret Window … all because of writer’s block … and that’s just a few examples out of fiction. When it happens for real, it can be just as debilitating. The blank page has suddenly become a seemingly insurmountable obstacle that only gets more difficult with time.

It’s happened to me several times over the years, but my worst period with it came during the writing of God’s Soldiers. I have already written about how that final part of the quartet began as the first part, with large elements of the other three books in the narrative. Writer’s block struck when I was a third of the way through God’s Soldiers. Panic gripped me. This was the final part of the quartet and all of a sudden the story wasn’t gelling the way it should. Something was drastically wrong and it seemed like the house of cards I’d spent so long building was about to come tumbling down around me. I went through long nights, agonizing over it. Eventually, I got all the notes I had on the story and spread them out around the room. The place was a mess of loose papers, covering the furniture and floor space, with barely enough room left for me to walk between them. However, I was then at an advantage of being able to look at the problem in a different way and the answer came to me: I was attempting to write two stories in one. There was a subplot that didn’t fit with the rest of the narrative and it was tearing the story apart. So I got rid of it. At that time, the project was almost 160,000 words long and I ended up deleting just under 70,000 words. That’s a lot of work to dump, but it took an act of destruction to fix the problem. I had to tear it apart to rebuild it again the way it should be. It was what was needed and I'm now thankful for it happening because the story is better because of it.

I don’t often listen to music while working, but I listened to Evanescence almost constantly when I got through the block. Their Fallen album became the soundtrack to God’s Soldiers. Some music can work to clear the mind before beginning work and encourage a certain mood, putting a writer into the zone of their story.

Some writers procrastinate – even if they never admit to it - and look for things to distract them from their project(s), hoping for a knock at the door, a delivery, or a telephone call, even if it is a telemarketer, anything just to give them the excuse to get up out of the chair and walk away from the desk.

At other times, I have found that simply taking a break from it helps. A block can cause anxiety and even depression. Dwelling on the blank page and long, wasted hours can often serve to add to those negative feelings. So take a break. Put the work away and go out for the day. Just make sure you take a notepad and pen with you in the event that inspiration suddenly strikes and you need to scribble furiously. Ideas come from nowhere, so always be ready to catch them when they do. A change can be as good as a rest, so take a walk, get some exercise, read a book, do some word puzzles, watch a movie, have friends around for a meal … it’s better than brooding. You may need to take more than a day. It doesn’t matter. Take however long you need and you will return to the project with a mind that is rested and refreshed.

Another way I beat it was to simply write about how I felt at the time: I wrote about not being able to write. By doing so, the act of writing solved the problem of not being able to write! It sounds like a contradiction but, at the time, it worked. I also moved to the window and wrote about what I saw going on in the street. This is a useful habit to get into, wherever you are, because sometimes you will note down something that later proves useful in a story.

Talking to other writers helps, sharing the pain and comparing notes on how to get through it.
Discipline also works for me. Making the time and creating an environment in which I can both relax into the mindset of writing and know I won’t be distracted.

Staying in good health is a necessity. Eat well, keep a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables and exercise every. I recently took up yoga and I find that practicing my routine for an hour in the morning helps clear my mind and relax me.

The causes of writer’s block can be numerous and complex, but this I know for sure: it’s a temporary lull in the creative process. Sometimes it can even be a necessary part of the arc and can help a project the way it helped me during God’s Soldiers. It's all a matter of how you look at it. I say again: whatever the reason … it’s temporary! Sooner or later, it goes away, the fog lifts, the ideas flow again and productivity regains momentum. Relax. All writers, even the most famous and successful ones, have gone through it.

Breaking through that dreaded block is a problem that many writers have asked me about. I hope that by describing my own struggles and ways of conquering it I've helped others.

You’ll have to excuse me now. I have to end this blog and go back to working on my book.

I’ve just had an idea.