Avoiding the Writer's Wall

by Stephen L. Duncan

In my fairly limited existence as an author, there have been many truisms that I’ve run across while trying to get the words onto the page. More often than not, these little bits of advice on the dos and the don’ts of being a writer get stuck somewhere in the back of my mind, only to be quickly forgotten. I'm just stupid like that. One, though, rings truer than others and I try to keep it in mind whenever a distraction attempts to call me away from the work.

Writing a novel is all about momentum.

You stick a word down, then another. Soon you have a sentence, and a paragraph follows until a page is filled. You do this over and over, and eventually you'll have all the pages your little spark of an idea needs to be a story.

That’s fairly simple, isn’t it?

Indeed. Yet there are always obstacles in our way. You’ve heard of one, no doubt. The dreaded Writer’s Block. I’ve never suffered from it, but it sounds horrible—a sort of frozen paralyzed state where words just don’t exist in the mind. Momentum can help prevent this little hiccup, because words are like water and a book, after all, is merely the result of a broken dam. The faster the flow, the harder it is to stop.

What I have experienced recently with the novel I just tuned in to my agent is the Writer’s Wall. If Writer’s Block is this leaded state of being that weighs you down, immobilizing you, Writer’s Wall is something you crash into.

In a way, it’s the opposite of Writer’s Block. You have too much going on in your writing life, too much spilling out of your head onto the page. And then, like something out of NASCAR, you hit the wall. (Hey, I’m from Alabama. I can only go so long in a day without a racing metaphor.) Your words are broken, not working, and your story seems futile. Worse, you're no longer certain you should be writing it.

The symptoms are these: From an abnormally confident valuation of your own work, often joined by a heightened productivity, you will experience a sudden onset of fear of publication characterized by a consuming doubt in your own taste and talent. Every word choice will be in question, every sentence’s worth made suspect. You will begin to negatively compare yourself to notable successful writers. While ideas and stories may flourish, you will encounter a paralyzing lack of esteem that prevents these ideas and stories from being realized.

A lot can steer you into a Writer’s Wall. Rejection. Negative feedback. Too much momentum. The list could go on and on. But the trick to pulling out of the crash is to take some time away from your work. Let it marinate in your head a little. Slow down. Live some of your life away from your computer.

Of course, if you’re like me, you might read this and then quickly store it in some recessed part of your mind, ready to be forgotten.

Write hard, y’all.

Stephen L. Duncan writes young adult fiction, including his debut, the first book in The Revelation Saga, due in 2014 from Medallion Press. You can find him blogging on INKROCK.com and on Twitter.

It's Here! The Writewell Academy for Wayward Writers

by Lucy Marsden

If you liked the March post on Anchor Scenes for Story Structure, then have I got an announcement for you.

New York Times bestselling authors Jennifer Crusie and Lani Diane Rich, who separately are powerhouses of story craft awesomeness, have come together to offer the Writewell Academy for Wayward Writers, an online series of video-lectures, .mp3 downloads, and printable workbooks for anyone excited about the possibility of developing a really strong foundation for writing Craft “In Your Own Time, In Your Own Home, In Your Pajamas (Or Whatever).”

What a motto. And here’s a clip from Writewell:



The free introductory lecture, which provides an overview of the Academy in a Kenote slideshow download, also allows people to download an .mp3 audio file, and a .pdf Notebook, thereby previewing the course information, the delivery style of Crusie and Rich, and the formats in which the content will be delivered. After that, each 30-minute course (organized at the 100-Level, 200-Level, and 300-Level) is available for $10.

I downloaded both Rich’s Introduction to Discovery, and Crusie’s Introduction to Conflict. The links were available immediately after payment, and all of the downloads went without a hitch. The .pdf workbook includes copies of all of the slides, as well as space in which to take additional notes and record in-the-moment epiphanies, which I appreciated, because it meant that I could just relax and absorb the content from the slideshow.

As for the information itself, it was superb. I’m biased, of course, but I believe that writers at every level will appreciate the clarity and the incisiveness with which the concepts are presented, as well as the detailed examples that are given to illustrate how the concepts play out in story development. At times, it’s like watching Penn and Teller break down one of their illusions so that you can see, step-by-step, how the magic comes together: It’s entertaining, inspiring, and if you’re determined to make magic as a story-teller, empowering as all hell. You’re given concrete tools to use in working with your story, and whether you’re a plotter who will want to use the tools early on in the writing process, or a pantser who will find them helpful as part of the revision process, the techniques are there for you. The fact that the information is available visually, aurally, and in print means that you can access the content in whatever way is most useful to you at the time—at home, in the car, Or Whatever.

For myself, I’m hoping to talk my writing circle into coming to play at Writewell, too. The only thing that would make this experience better for me is the chance to bounce some of the ideas around with other folks, using our own stories to explore the course content. My critique partner and I have a long and enjoyable tradition of getting together to argue about Craft concepts that neither of us totally has a handle on, so Writewell promises to provide hours of fun in that respect, if nothing else.

In closing, I’d love to use this post as a jumping-off point for you wise, wonderful FTWA readers to share links and general suggestions for writing courses of any kind that you’ve found powerful. After all, no one option is going to be a fit for every writer, and the more options we have to play with, the stronger and more enjoyable our development as writers can be. See you in the Comments!

Lucy Marsden is a romance writer living in New England. When she’s not backstage at a magic show or crashing a physics picnic, she can be found knee-deep in the occult collection of some old library, or arguing hotly about Story.