For All You 'Undiscovered Wattpaders'

Writer Diseases

Dedicated to the person whose name is on the newest file of my Stalker Diary. 

Writer's Block

This is something we ALL suffer from. It's just this unexplainable feeling- uninspired, slightly depressed, extremely frustrated.

You put your pen down to paper or finger down to keyboard (My Lamp: BAD JOKES WITH RUKAAA) and nothing seems to come out. You don't know what to write... On the rare occasions that you do, you don't know how to write it.

Horrible feelings, if I may say so myself. It's like a stomach ache or a hangover, nothing you do seems to get rid of it.

The main cause is:

Lack of Inspiration

This is the most easy as well as the most hard to solve.

As you grow older and your work load just keeps on piling up, you become slightly depressed. I'm only 16 but my country's education system can be very pressurising and sometimes, it's like I have a bucket load of cotton wool clogging the nerves of my brain.

BUT you can always transform lack of inspiration into inspiration.  I started Nathaniel that way, during my pre-first-day-of-school depression. And I really enjoyed writing it, though it’s just 2 chapters in currently. But I have a lot planned out for it, and call me a geek but I’m completely and utterly excited about it. And I’m glad for those few lack-of-inspiration days that lead to it. Whatever goes up, comes down. ‘Up’ being uninspired in this case.

Also you can’t exactly say “I’m going to write a trilogy today!” and expect to get further than two pages. That’s just a burst of inspiration. And it’s this burst of inspiration that’s going to trigger your block later on. The more you write, the more accustomed you are to it, the more you’re unconsciously looking for inspiration all the time, and the less you suffer from Writer’s Block.

Also, in the case of Wattpad, if you update very slowly, then you’re in for it. You’ll lose the few readers you have because it’s not very fun waiting that long. You’re not writing Harry Potter for people willing to wait that long. I speak as a reader now. I read plenty of stories on Wattpad. Everyday. And when I realize that one of my favorite stories have been updated, I’m first very excited but it’s almost always followed by disappointment, because I have no clue what’s going on. And like I said, how much ever I may like that person’s story, I don’t love it. I’m not always willing to read up here and there and figure out what I’m doing wrong.

I know, I know. You have lives. I do too. I have piles and piles of homework and exams to study for, and sometimes, it leaves me so depressed that I can’t find it in me to update. But some way or the other, you have to update atleast once a week most of the time. And I might as well throw this in, try and start your story with short chapters with a limit of three pages... 5 chapters in, you can settle with your usual story length.

Anyway, Writer’s Block is easy enough to overcome. You don’t always have to write a story with it, you could just write down your feelings. It’s a Freudian technique and helps me overcome a lot of my troubles as well the feelings that lead to Writer’s Block

Mary Sue

Personally, I think this is the worst of the lot. I cannot give you an exact definition but it’s basically a character who’s unbelievable. Based on a person you would like to be, or a guy you would like to have.

http://www.katfeete.net/writing/marysue.html

Copy-paste the above link into the address bar of a new window and see your results. Or just click on the external link.

Now be honest with yourself. I’m not going to give you a reward for having the best Main Character, so as you read on be completely honest with yourself.

Mary Sue’s creep into fan fiction more than anything else.

If your character is excessively popular, or beautiful but doesn’t realize it OR beautiful and knows it... Then your character is a potential Mary Sue. Usually (I HOPE) people under 16 write fan fiction. They tend to project their fantasies into their story. They wish they were beautiful, the center of attention. They wish One Direction were actually vampires and werewolves and one of them were their mates... (I kid not.) And it’s almost impossible to avert Mary Sues in fan fiction. For goodness sake, the word fan says enough. If you’re someone who’s writing a fan fiction and yet got a low score on the Mary Sue test, I bow down to you and beg you to send me the link of your story even if it’s about alpha werewolves, bad boys, players, high school romances and everything else that I hate because I have to see how you managed it.

If you got a very low score on your test, and this has exceptions, I’d say your MC (Main Character) isn’t developed enough. Of course, this has a lot of exceptions.

If you got a score above 50, again with exceptions, I would reccomend you revise your entire plot. And if you got above 75... I’m going to be harsh with you and tell you a 75+ may have only one exception in a hundred- But I reccomend you start over again.

Writing is a release for everyone. Whether you're bullied at school, abused at home, extremely popular or ANYTHING. We’re all stuck in disastrous cycles. I suggest you read The Postmaster by Rabindranath Tagore to understand what I mean. I warn you, if you’re feeling empty and/or bawling at the end, don’t chase me with forks and torches.

My character, Nathaniel, bagged a whopping 35 in the test. The results also said that a very, very small part of me wishes I were like him. Uh, if that’s true, someone better lock me up in a sponge room, because Nathaniel is crazy. Heck, Hitler is one of my inspirations for him... Are you scared of me now? That makes two of us.

All I mean is, don’t let that test results offend you. It’s not always correct (I hope). In other aspects, like how I’ve distanced myself from Nathaniel and made him imperfect, the test was correct. I trust you can figure out what’s right and wrong by yourself.

Mary Sues are pathetic. Gary Stews are pathetic. Use writing as a release, not a way to share your fantasies with the world. Create something new, not something you dream about.

A character is an entire personality. He or she has to have flaws. He or she has to be more imperfect than perfect. You get my drift....

So trust me, take this VERY seriously if you want to get anywhere with your story.

If you have any other ideas and complaints about Writer Diseases, so tell me. I'll ramble on because I love the sound of my own voice... the look of my own words- (My Lamp: JESUS, STOP WITH THE LAME JOKES ALREADY.)

A/N: Another short update, I apologise. I have a lot of personal issues going on and argh, I’m so busy. You guys should read Nathaniel or In the Depths of the Lake and make me happy. Who knows? Maybe if you do my Lamp will be so happy, he’ll be a guest in the next chapter... Heck, I should be in a sponge room.

Send me your stories to read, I’m always happy to give my worthless reviews.