I've realized the source of my crippling writer's block

[medjay]

I've been attempting to write a book for over a year now. After numerous false starts and re-writes I still have only 40 or so pages done (by my estimation it will clock in at about 400+). I know exactly what I want to do, where I want the story to go, the themes and such I want to address. But I just can't seem to get it on paper.

Finally, it occured to me what was going on. I'm afraid to write the book because I'm not sure I'll be able to make it as good as it can be. The idea is so good that I'm nervous about trying to write it down for fear I won't be able to do the idea justice.

It's probably an irrational fear (helped along by my tendency to be overly self-critical), but it's still keeping me from making good forward progress. Does anyone else experience this and how do you deal with it?

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Somewhat, yes. I overcome such things by limiting myself to only write one scene here and there, like a test-writing, to see if that scene turns out OK. Then another, at a completely different part of the story's timeline. And another. Sometimes I don't like the scene, so I have to re-write it from scratch, to REALLY get to the depth of it, to make the people talk with more compassion, to show more body language, etc. I have these three scenes that I've written atleast 20 times each. They just don't seem to want to cooperate with me.

Long time, no see, medjay. Nice to see you again.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Medjay! Long time no see, and now I know why.

As dumb as it sounds, I was crippled for a long time by the inability to write as good as I thought I should, and to be perfectly honest, the things that finally saved me were porn and anti-depressants.

All my attempts to write Great Stuff were dismal and depressing failures, and I can see now that they deserved to be: I was taking myself way too seriously. It wasn't till I found Literotica and started writing porn and taking medication that I could cut myself the slack to just worry about telling a story and leave the cosmic themes alone. I found then that I might not be able to write as well as I thought I should, but I could write well enough to tell a story.

My philosophy now for dealing with block is to not worry about how good it is and just force myself to write through it. It's harder for me to write than it is to revise, so if I can just get the words down on paper, no matter how bad they are, I can often save it in the revisions. The worst thing in the world is get to the point where you put three words down on the PC and decide it's crap and so give up and go do something else. I spent years doing that.

---dr.M.

 

[NoJo]

Medjay, sympathies. I have a pretty similar experience to the Doctor.

When I stopped taking my stuff too seriously, I wrote much more easily, and my stuff was better too.

Maybe you feel, deep down, that the story idea is neither great nor terrible -- the only way to find out is to finish the fucker.

 

[KarenAM]

I think everyone deals with writer's block diefferently, and learning what works best for you is part of the process of maturiong as a writer.

I agree with the good Dr. that getting something down -- anything -- is better than not. But be aware that you may have to chuck a lot of stuff in the revision phase, and that can be painful. It's also true that the more you write, the better you'll get at it.

And I also agree that setting your goal too high at the outset will only get you into trouble. The same is true of the expectations of any editors / proofreaders / writing groups you may have. My best work came after I quit the writing group that kept telling me I was "breaking rules" by writing the way I wanted to write instead of the way everyone else wrote.

Never, ever quit.

 

[oggbashan]

One way to get away from the fear of writing something not up to your standards is to write something REALLY BAD.

Try writing an episode of The Worst Chain Story Ever - I'll bump the thread. Dump all your cliches, bad synonyms, excruciating plot ideas and all the junk in one chapter. Then you can return to proper writing.

Og

 

[medjay]

Might be time for me to churn out some pulpy potboilers. Good advice everyone.

 

[Omni]

Somethings are worth thinking about, others are better to ignore. I have never written a story yet that I think I have done justice to the plot line.

Every now and then, the thought pops in my head how a certain story turned out compared to my inner visions of it and I quickly banish the thought!

But then again, given time, when I do go back and read one I oft times feel that humming inside that says I did ok, even if it did not end up the Pulitzer Prize plot my imagination said it could be.

I have a huge amount of tension when I write. It makes me want to squirm and get up and flee after a few sentences or paragraphs while writing. Three things help. I tell myself I can get up and go do something for a short time, but I (must) come back and try one or two more sentences. A lot of times I will find a paragraph or whole page and I keep doing this during my writing period. Or, another one is to writing two different stories at the same time. For some reason I can lose the tension of creating the next sentence by moving between the stories.

And, the last one is write it through, even through the mistakes you feel are there and all, then go back at then end.

Omni

 

[NoJo]

Might be time for me to churn out some pulpy potboilers. Good advice everyone.

They're just as hard to write as "serious" stuff -- it's like writing a "trashy" pop song. Takes a special talent. I wish I had it; I'm trying to make a living from writing these days.