The Devil and Writer's Block

Here to help fight writer's block.

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Silver hilted kandshar, India, 19th century.

from Czerny’s International Auction House

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midding

v. intr. feeling the tranquil pleasure of being near a gathering but not quite in it—hovering on the perimeter of a campfire, chatting outside a party while others dance inside, resting your head in the backseat of a car listening to your friends chatting up front—feeling blissfully invisible yet still fully included, safe in the knowledge that everyone is together and everyone is okay, with all the thrill of being there without the burden of having to be.

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lilo

n. a friendship that can lie dormant for years only to pick right back up instantly, as if no time had passed since you last saw each other.

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Are you out there writing tonight? Let me know how it’s going. Are you stuck? Is it flowing freely?

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Marshfield News-Herald, Wisconsin, February 2, 1928

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Reblog this with some of your favourite writing tropes, please.

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Cathexis

Noun, Psychoanalysis

[kuh-thek-sis] 

1. the investment of emotional significance in an activity, object, or idea.

2. the charge of psychic energy so invested.

Origin:

1920-25; < New Latin < Greek káthexis a keeping, equivalent to kathek- (variant stem of katéchein to keep, hold on to, equivalent to kat- cat- + échein to have, hold) + -sis -sis, as translation of German Besetzung a taking possession of (Freud’s term).

“In a narcissistic cathexis, you invest more energy into your ideas about another person than in the actual, objective, external person. So the man who falls in love with beauty is quite different from the man who loves a girl and feels she is beautiful and can see what is beautiful about her.” ― Alison Bechdel, Are You My Mother?

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Quotidian

Adjective

[kwoh-tid-ee-uh n] 

1. daily:     a quotidian report.

2. usual or customary; everyday:     quotidian needs.

3. ordinary; commonplace:     paintings of no more than quotidian artistry.

4. (of a fever, ague, etc.) characterized by paroxysms that recur daily.

Noun

5. something recurring daily.

6. a quotidian fever or ague.

Origin: 1300-50; < Latin quotīdiānus, cottīdiānus daily, equivalent to cottīdi(ē) every day (adv.) ( *quot(t)ī a locative form akin to quot however many occur, every + diē, ablative of diēs day; cf. meridian ) + -ānus -an; replacing Middle English cotidien < Old French < Latin, as above

“For our quotidian difficulties his example promises no solution.“ - Otto Heller, Prophets of Dissent

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Links to Writing Aids

Through my many years of writing, I have come across a few good sites to help with the writing process. Let me share them. I will reblog this now and then with more links as I come across them.

Behind the Name - A good site for name research, for a name generator, for anything to do with naming a character.

Behind the Surname - Another affiliated site with BtN, this site helps with surnames and may aid your character development.

Zodiac Signs - Don’t laugh yet, hear me out. This site can help you by giving you some positive and negative traits to begin to build a character with. When I first started writing, I would figure out which sign of the zodiac I wanted to make my character, then use this site to build both positive and negative traits for them. It seems silly, but it can be a good beginning for a complex and full bodied character.

Random Appearance Generator - This site does just that. Randomly gives you the appearance of a character.

Random Celebrity Generator - Wait! Don’t leave! Hear me out! Sometimes you want a very good and clear description to use for a character, be they minor or major, so oftentimes I use this site to generate a random celebrity to get an idea of finer physical characteristics. The downside to using this for a major character, is that you can’t fine tune the generator much. But it works well for minor characters.

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How many times do we get so distracted by planning that we forget to take action and write? Forget little details for a while and just write something. Sometimes creation can be found in the aftermath of chaos.

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My ask box is always open for some advice. Please, don’t be afraid to ask.

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Writing Tip

Go to a cafe, restaurant, fast food joint, anyplace there are people and just sit and listen to a conversation. Get the feel for how others may speak or how they use language to tell a story.

Now try to emulate this in a short story with little to no descriptive paragraphs, use only conversation.

Are there two farmers discussing the crops? Is it a mother talking to her children? Business people on an outing talking about work?

Whatever it is, it’s different from how you’re used to speech, because everyone is different. Try thinking about how others may speak, where they came from, what form of schooling they had. Try to think about what slang or accent they may have, words they use or overuse.

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Friendly Reminder

You don’t have to share your writing with anyone.

Or

You don’t have to worry about oversharing your writing with everyone.

It’s your writing and you make it what you want it to be. If you’re excited and want to tell the world, don’t let anyone ruin that excitement for you. If you like the idea of holding on to it as a secret, then be silent as the grave about it. There is no right or wrong way to be a writer.