Advice to Young Writers

Part Five: On Writer's Block

So he's had to work on practicing writing under pressure and on planning his essay points quickly because 25-30 minutes isn't much time to write, especially when one's college career is on the line.

(NO pressure, though....)

But even when he's not writing timed essays and has the opportunity to write multiple drafts, he still insists on trying to write a perfect first draft.

And then he wonders why he struggles so much with writer's block.

I keep telling him that if Ernest Hemingway, perhaps the best writer of the 20th century, wrote 39 drafts of his masterful short story “A Clean, Well Lighted Place,” then writing more than one draft is entirely necessary.

After teaching writing for twenty years to students from first grade through university and publishing several books myself, I'm convinced that good writing really happens in the revision stage when we're re-seeing and re-writing our previous draft(s).

So, to sum up the main point here: Be willing to write badly so that you can write brilliantly. (You may quote me on that! <grin>)

Now let's look at some other practical ways to avoid writer's block and complete a long story....

Tips to Avoiding Writer's Block

For me personally, I haven't yet run into writer's block on long stories, but I do have several unfinished one-shots or shorter stories that I've put aside for now and hope to return to and finish, some on account of time, but others because I got myself good and stuck. However, I have completed a 56-chapter story (re-edited to 60 chapters) of 140,000 words, and my current story is at 43 chapters and 120,000 words, and I'm about 3/4 done. So I do have some experience of writing and completing longer fan fiction stories/books.

One way that helps me keep writing is to have a firm posting schedule. I post a new fan fiction chapter each weekend; each chapter is 2500-3000 words, sometimes longer. Keeping to a schedule helps me to keep pushing forward because my readers get very impatient when I'm late in posting. Some readers have stayed up all night on the East Coast while I post by 2AM on the West Coast, just to read a new chapter of my stories. That's dedication! Knowing that I have readers depending on me helps me to keep writing.

Another way that helps me to keep writing is to end each chapter with a cliffhanger—an unknown situation of some sort that creates a feeling of anticipation in the readers (and also in the writer!). I'm always excited to start writing again in order to figure out what's going to happen next. So writing cliffhangers (called “cliffies” in fan fiction circles) keeps readers and writers interested. Readers sometimes complain when they have to wait a week for the next installment to find out what happens, but they do enjoy a good story!

Let's see some other methods for keeping writer's block at bay and being able to finish long stories.

Roald Dahl, author of James and the Giant Peach and other novels, advises writers to stop writing in the middle of a sentence. Then when you come back to write the next day or whenever, you can pick up where you left off and have something to write about immediately. You can finish the sentence and often just keep on writing.

Several other methods from a variety of websites are as follows:

Create an “ideas file” (mine are on Post-Its I've stuck on blank pages in a notebook) so that you can always find a new idea to work with. I do this both for new story ideas and for plot ideas for longer projects I'm in the middle of.

Work on more than one story at a time, so when you get stuck on one, you can work on another (I do this, too).

Don't try to write perfectly—just get it down on the page in any old way, then revise it. Conquer the blank page, even if you think it's garbage. Write the way you talk—just get words on the page, any words! You can come back later and revise it into better writing. Don't be too hard on yourself or expect too much of yourself—just write!

If you're stuck, then re-read what you wrote most recently. Quite often, you'll get yourself back into the writing mindset and/or ideas will occur to you to help you start writing again.

Try writing somewhere else. If you write on your bed, try the kitchen table. For me, I try writing in a Starbucks or at the library if I'm having problems concentrating or am just coming up empty. Or try writing at the park or anywhere outside for a change.

Try some writing exercises (freewriting, photos as writing prompts, quotations as writing prompts, etc.). Or write about not being able to write! Just write something...anything! Then you should be able to return to whatever you're trying to write and keep the ideas flowing.

I sometimes go back and re-read encouragement from my readers. I keep a file on my computer where I've saved my favorite reviews and comments from FanFiction.net and Wattpad.com, and re-reading those gives me the courage to start writing again. :) Encouragement really helps!! :)

I hope that you've found these tips on identifying and avoiding writer's block helpful. It's no fun when it happens, but I hope that you now have some decent tools in your arsenal to help you overcome the despised malady of writer's block. :)

Happy Writing!!