Hi Gaia!!!! Just wanted to drop in and say that YOU ARE AMAZING!!! AND ALL THE BEST FOR YOUR BOOK! Also, I had a tiny bit of a problem, how do you deal with a very chronic writers' block, and resume writing? Thank You already! *sends glitter*
Thank you <3 Your love keeps me going, guys! Finishing the draft of book 5 of #TIS...my favorite yet ^_^
And now down to business!
Overcoming writer’s block
You want to write, you need to write to feel complete, to be yourself. Yet, you find yourself staring at that blank page feeling hatred and frustration. How do you break the impasse?
First of all, what is writer’s block?
Writer’s block is a condition where you would love to write, yet can’t. You stare at a blank page in frustration and only sputter three ugly words at the time before deleting them and cussing like there is no tomorrow.
As for most problems, the solution lies within understanding the causes.
Why do you get writer’s block?
Pressure and anxiety. You have to write. You have a deadline for school, from your publisher, or even from yourself. You feel like you’re falling behind and nothing you write is good enough. Or maybe just general unhappiness and frustration, feeling uninspired.
How do you overcome writers’ block?
Channel it. Write about writer’s block.
Start spewing words about how frustrated you are, what you feel, how ugly is your writing, the darn publisher. I don’t care. Just write. Slowly you’ll see words coming together, your writing will become more acceptable, meaningful. Next thing you know you’re writing again :)
Here is a scene I edited out from Forget Nico, book 3 of #TIS (Yes! It was never published! Unabridged for you ;) ) but it describes exactly what ’m talking about.
A few days later, I stared at the white page that should have been my composition. I normally could write for hours about anything.
Carpe diem. And then? Such was the title of our assignment, following up on our viewing of The Dead Poet Society. I had loved the movie and yet, for the first time in my life, the title floated on a desolate piece of paper.
Normally I couldn’t keep up with all the words flowing through my arm, and I was startled by the silence of the empty lines. Not peaceful, quiet, or serene, more like a frustrated plug-in-your-brain type of deal.
The title kept yelling, Seize the moment, and then? All I could think about was, and then freaking die. Could you be sent home for a broken heart?
I stood up and dragged my feet to the teacher’s desk.“ Prof. Rezzi, I’m sorry. I can’t work with this. Is there another title I could use?” Like bitch and moan about boys?
“No, Leda. Just start writing, it doesn’t matter about what. You can always crop out the first part when you copy your draft into your final version.”
Miffed, I sat back at my desk. I sighed and started writing down whatever passed through my head in my most awful and irritating handwriting ever.“Anger anger fuck writing frustration I’m so pissed this is stupid I feel so lonely why is everyone around me so dumb or so much better than me or both things at once. All that matters is freaking boys. My girlfriend disappeared after a boy, nothing else matters to her. All my friends were males and now they’re chasing after girls or even me, for fuck’s sake, and I don’t like it. That’s even worse. I hate it. I just want a true friend, to share, to be myself for once, screw everyone else. Everybody tells me what I am, not exactly in a kind way, when even I don’t know who I am…”
Before I knew it, sentences started gaining more structure, thoughts coalesced, and I was working on my composition on choices and consequences, on the very hefty price of following my wacky heart against everyone’s advice.
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Who am I to give you advice?
I am a nerd and a writer, the author of the Italian Saga (#TIS): an irreverent series taking place in Italy and speaking of love, sadness, sex, and happiness with a healthy dose of humor <3 You can check out the books pretty much anywhere including Amazon ^_^
Click here to see my books: paperback, audiobook, and e-book. They are so pretty and you won’t be able to put them down! Next thing you know, you’ll find yourself in Italy ^_^
