To Suck or Not To Suck? [Writing Tips]

|29| Writer's Block

Requested by: @Its___Mia

Thanks for requesting!

You've all heard this term before. If you haven't, let me educate you. Writer's block is used when referring to the reason you can't write. It means you're stuck with nowhere to go, like a donkey in quicksand. I've got weird metaphors.

I'm going to tell you my opinion on writer's block first before going through ways it can be avoided. There was a time when I would chalk my inability to write a chapter up to writer's block. I would sit down with my laptop or phone, trying to come up with something to write but nothing came to mind. The feeling is one of the absolute worst, honestly. You want to publish a chapter for your lovely and loyal readers, yet you got nothing.

Yeah, I used to blame all of that on writer's block. But things have since changed. The way I see it now, if you can't write for a story the chances are you've lost passion for it. Now, before you come at my throat saying that that's impossible and you love your story, hear me out.

A football player in the NFL plays football, and he goes out there every Sunday, Thursday, or Monday to tackle people or do whatever it is his position does. He has dedicated a good portion of his life to football, but now he's getting to this point where he doesn't want to get out of bed in the morning for practice or a game. He thinks it'll go away with time, though it doesn't really. It sits in the back of his mind taunting him each time the ball is in his hand. He ignores it.

Then one day, this football player goes to a game he seriously does not want to play in. The very thought of lacing up his shoes is awfully draining to him, but, once again, he does it anyway. He goes out there to play that game, and right before the 2 minute warning in the third quarter he's tackled hard as heck. So hard his helmet falls off and the wind gets knocked out of him. He has to be escorted off the field and to the trainer's room. Later on, it's announced that he's got a broken rib and a possible concussion. If he had only listened to his gut that told him he wasn't feeling the sport anymore, none of this would've happened.

The moral of the story is obviously that you'll get a broken rib if you force yourself to write. No, it's not. That would suck. It's that sometimes what you love or think you love isn't what loves you back. Think about it. If you love and really enjoy writing for a story, why would you get a creative block when sitting down in front of it? If a story is your pride and joy, why do you stress yourself out trying to force words onto a page? You shouldn't.

I said I was going to address ways of how to overcome writer's block, but since I don't believe in it anymore, I'm going to list them secondly for people who do. Firstly, I'm going to list reasons why you might find yourself not wanting to write for a story.

1. You've lost passion for your characters. It is definitely possible. Especially if you're writing a WWE fanfic. Say you're nailing your heel Seth Rollins in your story, and you've got him cutting the best promos. When he became a face, you were convinced his character could still inspire you because he had traces of his heelish ways, right? But as the weeks progressed, the character you once knew starts to fade off into the distance, leaving you wondering what happened to that slime-ball Seth you knew and loved. He's gone and you realize that it's hard to write for a heel who's lately playing a watered down face. So you blame it on writer's block, but the truth is that Seth's character has lost its charm for you. If a character undergoes a change that doesn't fit, they won't be the same character you fell in love with. Therefore, your Rollins story sits there, having not been updated for the past 5 months. Never let current WWE programming strip you of your passion for a character. Watch old shows and events, if you have to.