Writer's Corner - Blog Post #1 (Patreon)

Welcome  to my series of blog posts on writing and creativity, available for you, my lovely Elves. I’m aiming to  keep them fairly short and un-ramble (around 1000 words or so)… We’ll see how that goes, though, eh? 

Ok,  this first one is entitled ‘Creative Hibernation’ because ‘Writer’s  Block’ sounds like (and is) actually a rather negative term. Block  implies concrete barriers across the road, inaccessibility, finality,  and an end. Writer’s ‘block’ is not finite. And it’s relatively easy to  get around, with a few tricks.  

I’m one of those writers/creators who can be either on or off.  There’s very little in between. I’m either writing four stories in as  many days, or I’m staring at Tumblr and wondering how the hell to make  the words go… You know?  

Writer’s  block is one of those age-old and immensely frustrating problems;  frustrating on a number of different levels. I’ve spoken about it before  on Tumblr when people have asked me how to deal with it, but it  honestly often feels like you’re just a wrung out  sponge, and nothing else is going to come out. Ever again. It’s  crushing, demoralising, and, even though you’re already empty, it’s  utterly draining!  

For some people it’s caused by fear – fear  of not being good enough to pull off the project, fear of not living up  to your own or others’ expectations, fear of inadequacy beside other  creators etc. etc. –  while for other’s it’s simply an energy drain thing. You get too empty,  you’re running on fumes for a bit, and then suddenly the tank is dry  and you’ve broken down, and now what?  

Here  are Ghosti’s Auto-Recovery Hot-Tips for those who have broken down on the road to project completion.  

Procrastination  can be a huge part of it. It definitely is for me. I have the worst  executive dysfunction, meaning that if something needs to be done, my  brain says ‘Nope. Not starting that. No way. Lets… I don’t know… do literally anything else. Or nothing! Nothing is good too.’  

Nothing is not ‘good too’.  

It’s super stressful to be putting off doing The Writing™ all the time, and it’s confusing as hell. I mean, I want to write, but it’s almost as if the more I want to write, the less likely I am to sit down and do the aforementioned The Writing… And then the stress kicks in, the anxiety, and the general feelings of hopelessness and misery.  

Sometimes,  however, the procrastination comes in handy, allowing me to get Other  Stuff™ done, sometimes even other creative stuff or even a lil drabble or something, though admittedly, those last two are rare cases. Mostly its, like, cleaning the bathroom or something… 

Those  who strive for the pinnacle of perfectionism can also come crashing  down into the vast pit of Writer’s Block. The adage ‘better done than  perfect’ is definitely a good one to bear in mind when creating. Even if  you hate it when it’s done, it’s out there. Chances are, it’s not as  bad as you think, and you won’t hate it tomorrow when you can put some  distance between you and the words. You can always edit later (you  really shouldn’t edit and write at the same time anyway). Or you could  use it as a template for something else, rework it, whatever. You did it, and it’s probably not even half as bad as you think it is.  

So, all this ‘um-ing’ and ‘ah-ing’  and not actually being able to start the work for whatever reason  (there are more than I mentioned above, for sure!) either finds you at  the bottom of a very deep and dark, self-dug hole, or drifting across  the endless plains of social media or other distractions, neither of  which produces the end goal of completing The Writing™.  

The  ways I’ve found helpful in smashing through this rut in the road are  applicable not just to writing. As I mentioned, I have executive  dysfunction, so there are a lot of things that I find utterly daunting  which someone else might just get on with, so I use these kinds of  practices there too.  

Ask yourself what’s the roadblock?  It sounds obvious, but you may not actually be as clear as you think.  Really sit down, perhaps with a pen and paper, and write something like  ‘what’s stopping me writing this story?’. Do a flow chart, spider  diagram, list, bullet points, random phrases, whatever to get your brain  going. Once you’ve done that, ask yourself how you can get  around/through the real issues. I did it fairly recently for my novel,  Weaver of Threads. I stopped writing it and didn’t quite know why, just  that I did not want to work on it.  

Here’s  what I did… Don’t’ worry about making it pretty/perfect (and don’t use  your favourite notebook for it because it will look like the ravings of a  lunatic, I promise you).  

Other things which I’ve touched on before in my blog include: 

Write in different places and in different media.  I read once about an author (can’t remember who it was, sadly!) who  wrote the stages of their work in different places. They planned it on  the ground floor, in pen on paper, then moved to the first floor to type  up a first draft, and did the final work in the attic. Obviously  we don’t all have multiple floors, but try shifting around and starting  by planning it on paper. Not only with that make you feel like An  Author™, but it helps to have the mechanical connection to the words/shape of the story.  

Be comfortable. Have  a pee, wear your favourite clothes, be fresh, be the right temperature,  have a bottle of water nearby to keep hydrated (plus it means you’ll  have to take some breaks later on which is also a good thing, either to  refill the bottle or to empty yourself!). Whatever you need to do; if  you’re thinking about yourself or your environment, your head’s not in  the story. Being comfortable should help you to write. Just get the  words down; at this stage don’t worry about whether it reads well. A  first draft doesn’t have to be perfect - a first draft just has to be  written.  

Read.  Read other people’s work that you admire, whether it’s fanfiction or  classic literature. Read stuff that’s not related to the genre that  you’re writing. Good writing is good, no matter the subject. Work out  why it’s so good:  what makes your heart pound or your eyes water? It’s not copying if you  start writing in that style, but it’ll help you to be a better writer  if you know why something is good writing. It also helps you not to  exist in a vacuum. 

So,  having felt a lot of negativity, and having referred to it as Writer’s  Block for so long, I took up the advice of someone I saw on Tumblr, and  called it Creative Hibernation. The danger with doing this, however, is that you run the risk of excusing it. There’s no excuse for it.  

Find a way to trick your brain into wanting to do The Writing (or The Thing).  

Work  it out, make the time to write, and just… do it. No excuses. Take care  of yourself, take it slower, do it in chunks, change your style, change  your medium, but keep. writing. 

And finally, some advice for life, not just writing, from Mark Twain: 

“The  secret to getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks  into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.”