Block.

[TheWorldBuilder]

Like insomnia, I know it gets worse if you worry about it.

My collaborator is great and she doesn't put any external pressure on, it's all my internal self-criticism.

Any tips or tricks that you (collectively) have found to help over the years?

 

[Obuzeti]

First, try going back and writing your character in outside snippets, unrelated to the current situation in the thread. That helps refresh your memory of what kind of person they are, and what characteristics you define them by.

Second, storyboarding the current plotline can help if you're unsure of what needs to happen or what the current scene is building towards. Draw your cause / effect lines all the way back to the start of the thread if you have to; remember your character's motivations and driving impulses. If they don't have those, then what motivations from other people are pressing on them and pushing them into motion?

Third, grab a writing prompt and write something unrelated to the current thread, so long as it gets your fingers moving. If you have a vicious internal editor, sometimes the best thing to do is distract it with something you don't care about, so you can get back to producing a rough draft on what matters to you. Once you shake off the rust and get the throat clearing of your writing onto a page, your prose will flow much better. It's just getting the faucet unstopped, so to speak.

If none of that works and even picking up the pen is repugnant, go do some reading - this is mostly down to having some kind of personal library, preferably something related to the genre you're writing in. Reference yourself as to what you're aiming for.

Everyone fights the block when it comes to writing. Hang tough, and hack through it.

 

[TheWorldBuilder]

Thanks for your thoughts.



My character and his motivation are fully formed, the relationship between the primary protagonists is creating dynamic tension, the long-term story arc is agreed and established, the immediate scenario is in place.....

All I needed to do was set up some plausible actions and dialogue for the six or so hours of the next scene and suddenly, halfway through what seemed a workable draft, I froze. Everything I come up with seems 'contrived' or unreal.

Distraction seems the best option for now.

 

[TheWorldBuilder]

A massive great "THANK YOU" to Nouh_Bdee, justspitballing, Obuzeti, Bankbabe13 and, of course, the ever patient and delightful AndreaSubbie. The drain out of the cesspit that is my mind is unblocked.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Congrats WB! That’s great news!