Writer's block. When your muse abandons you in favour of a long vacation to Holiday Isle. When you end up staring at a blank page or a Word document, thinking...getting frustrated...and finally practicing those shooting techniques you picked up from Death the Kid. Just me? Psh, you guys are no fun.
There is no instant cure for writer's block, sadly. Here are the different types of writer's block, and what might cure them.
Type 1: "Go bald, Kurosaki!"
Okay, so you've been really busy because life just demands your constant attention. When you finally get some time to travel to your own world, you find that you can't write anything. As a result, you've gone and ripped your hair out. (The title's from a manga called Dengeki Daisy.)
- Brain fart. Don't criticize yourself. Write whatever comes to mind and delete the document right after. No one has to see it. It's just to get the creative juices flowing.
- Writing exercises. Go to the mall and people watch. Yes, it sounds a little creepy, but you'll find people that pique your interest. Write stories for them. Go on the Internet and search for writing prompts. You might come out of this with a couple of nice short stories.
- Take a break. Learn something new, like making amigurumi (I`ll show you guys my unfinished Link doll in another post). Draw your characters, if you can. Walk your dog, cat or fish. (=^x^=) Just focus on something else for a while. Playing Minecraft might help.
- Wait it out. Nothing works better than this one. It might take weeks, maybe a few months, but you'll come back with a fresh mind and new ideas. If you're like me, you'll return and start writing a chapter a day.
Sorry, that's a Minecraft joke. Anyway, you're stuck on one part of your story. You can't figure out what you want to happen next. Here's what you can do:
- Skip it. Write another scene and come back later. Who knows, you might come up with something mind-blowing.
- Play the What If? game. What if this character died? (Use death by prose with caution.) What if this character did something that goes completely against their personality? What if two main guys hooked up? Go crazy. (Don't actually add the craziest stuff in your story...unless it works with it.)
- Write a short story expanding on your novel. If you're familiar with Bakuman, the two main characters went back on their work and created a standalone that's not really a standalone. What that means is that the short story takes a seemingly insignificant thing from the novel and expands on it. Watch Durarara episodes 12 and 12.5 for an example. You probably don't need to watch the previous episodes to understand it.
- Find quotes online. Maybe all you need is a prompt to get you going. Go on pinterest.com and search for quotes. Search on Google. Just find that perfect prompt and use it.
We all have those days where we can't stop criticizing everything we write. Some have it every time they sit down to write. How do you turn it off?
- Edit and revise. Go back to your earlier chapters and use that critic in your brain to better your story. Whatever you do, don't give in to the urge to completely rewrite! You'll never finish a story if you keep doing this. Just keep the new idea somewhere safe.
- Critique. Be a helpful inkie and free read or swap. Others could use a critical eye on their work. Critiquing others' work will help you pick up mistakes and errors in your own work, so this helps you as well.
- Focus on other writing-related things. Fill out a character profile. Talk to your characters. Draw them like one of your French girls! (I'm just kidding, but if you feel up to the challenge, I'm not stopping you.) Plan out your story. Write outlines. Anything you can think of that's related to writing.
I'll say good night now, since it's 3:17 AM here. Night night, and I hope this helped!
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