Breaking Techniques: Chopping through Writer’s Block

Writer’s block. You’ve all heard of it. In some circles it is spoken of like the boogey man. You don’t know if it’s real, and then it happens to you! You’re paralyzed, unable to move or defend yourself as the horrible creature advances…okay, I guess this metaphor is applying less and less to writer’s block specifically. A quick online search will yield tons of articles and opinion on it. Whether it’s a complete inability to write, not knowing where to take a scene or just not feeling the mojo, here are my thoughts on how to smash through it.

Like the Hulk. Whenever you smash, always follow his example. (photo credit)

So sometimes you’re just in a bit of a funk. Maybe you can’t seem to get any momentum, the words aren’t coming together or you’re drawing an absolute blank. This is what most people think of when they hear the term. Sometimes it’s your creative brain telling you it needs a rest. While not a muscle in the traditional sense you can definitely burn out creatively (for another great blog post on the subject click here). Take the rest of the day off from writing. Go for a jog, meditate, drink some tea, blow something up in a video game. Whatever helps you recharge.

When that doesn’t work I suggest trying to do something to get your mind into the groove of the story without necessarily writing the next scene.These are two of my favorites. I’ll set my iTunes on shuffle and try to imagine my characters doing something that fits the mood of the song. Write out a paragraph or two. Repeat with new songs as needed. It helps me get into the heads of my characters. Try thinking about the last exciting, surprising, frustrating or exhilarating thing that happened to you. How would your main character react in that situation? I have personally found this exercise helpful whether I’m drawing a blank or stuck in a particular spot, which happens to be my next point.

Sometimes it isn’t a complete blockage. Sometimes the plot is to blame. The plot is a fickle beast; absolutely vital and all powerful at times, yet subtle and elusive at others. Like an ox crossed with a house cat…okay, nothing like that thing I just described but my point stands. Sometimes it feels impossible to figure out what needs to happen next. Even if you’ve outlined or planned ahead it can be difficult to set up or start that scene. This was the position I found myself in a few weeks ago. It was right after a big mission that had major implications for my MC and his crew back at home base. I knew what those implications were, but not how to show them. After agonizing over it for a few days I just started writing one possible version of the scene. Then I started another. All told I started three stubs for the next scene just to try them out. Within a few hundred words I could tell which one felt right. It fit the story and it fit the characters.

Something that I’ve heard suggested is to skip the spot that has you stumped and write a few scenes ahead. What’s going on after the dust settled? Where does that path lead the character? Did they really regret that last slice of pizza? (One of those questions may be slightly less relevant than the other two) If that fails (and you’re really desperate) just write anything. Have ninjas burst in through the window. Reveal the MC has been replaced by his evil twin. Force the action hero to pet-sit someone’s cat. Write something that would absolutely never happen in your work.

“But what’s the point?”

Well I’m getting to that!

In all that random absurdity you just wrote, I’ll bet something will stick. It might be just a moment, a mood or a line. Something that just feels genuine for your character or your story. Your creative brain works in mysterious ways, I assure you. Like a batch of spaghetti, throw it at the wall and see what sticks (note; I will not be held responsible for any pasta-related damage to your walls if you take this literally). See what sparks a connection or an idea. When thinking logically leads you to a dead end, go all chaotic neutral and see what happens. What’s the worst that could happen? You’ve written something you don’t want in your work. Look at the first half of that sentence. You’ve written something. That’s how you get through the writer’s block.

 

Flash Fiction: The Tinkerer

I locked the door and rolled the heavy meal shutters down across the front of my shop. I patted my pants pockets, the pouches on my belt and the vest beneath my jacket to ensure I had everything I needed. I couldn’t remember the last time I had forgotten something, but I also couldn’t fight thirty years worth of habit. Especially when there were plenty of new things to get used to. Like the respirator I was supposed to wear whenever I step outside or the goggles whenever it’s windy. Or the standard issue flashlight that pulled down the left side of my belt. I clipped on the respirator and decided against the goggles. The smog blocked out enough sunlight already.

The walk home was only a few blocks, past the grocery store, post office and the sheriff’s place. I nodded to a familiar face at the bus stop, wrapped in a blanket against the rising wind. Only a handful of people on the street most days. Long-forgotten cars lined the sidewalks, a reminder of the days before the emission restrictions. Most of them were covered in that damn dust that was everywhere, blown in from who knows where on that cursed wind. My leg started to ache and my eyes were starting to tear. A combination of the wind and the air. I regretted forgoing the goggles, but I was almost home. I pulled the brim of my hat down and trudged the last stretch as quickly as my legs would carry me. I unhooked the latch of the wrought iron gate and creaked it open wide enough to slip through. The whining metal clanged shut behind me.

The house loomed over me, all shades of gray and jagged peaks against the darkening sky. I stepped inside and pulled the door shut behind me attaching the chain and clicking both deadbolts back into place. Artist, artificer, junk collector, tinkerer. I go by many names, given by many people and each one brings a host of images and associations with it. I heaved a sigh and plopped my hat onto the coat rack by the door.

“And we’re home.”

My words triggered a chorus of skittering from the hallway. A gray mass came hurtling around the corner, scrabbling for traction on the hardwood floor. The metallic form skidded to a halt for a second only to launch itself towards me. Steel claws and iron plating sprung from the ground up to my chest.

“Maximus, stay down!”

After his initial hop he listened, although he did prod me with his cold nose as he sniffed me from my belt down to the floor. Eventually the cool round form of his head settled under the palm of my hand.

“Yes, I’m happy to see you too,” I said, patting his domed head. My fingers traced around behind his left ear right where he loved to be scratched. His tail swished in appreciation, his riveted rear end clattering against the wall. “Now that the formal greeting is out of the way, may I remove my jacket?” Maximus bobbed his head and sat back on his haunches while I slid my arms out of the sleeves. I hung it on the coat rack and scooped out a handful of metal bits and bobs from one of the pockets before stepping out of the doorway. Maximus shadowed me through the kitchen and down the steps into my workshop. Really more of a closet lined with drawers and shelves of half empty containers, stacks of this and that and a few dozen books scattered about. The only space with a semblance of order imposed upon it was the desk.

Photo credit: Me

I flopped down into my rickety chair and flicked on the lamp. “Maximus, would you get my…” He was one step ahead of me, with my soldering iron clasped gently in his glinting jaws. A canine construct really is a man’s best friend. I placed the mass of wires onto the desk, reached for my spectacles and got to work. Wire became a frame, bits of plating lent it flesh and bolts bound it together. I could see the Spark as it took shape, the potential to be more than metal. I scooped it into my hands and cupped them gingerly. I closed my eyes to better see the Spark. I drew in air to give it breath. Warmth flowed from my chest, down my arms, from my fingers into the little figurine. For a moment I could feel everything. The warmth of hands wrapped around my body, the glare of the lamp from the desk. Then the connection was broken and my senses snapped back into my own body.

I sat back in my chair, wheezing. Maximus stood next to me and rested his head in my lap. He always got anxious after I taxed myself. “I’m okay boy,” I reassured him. After a few breaths to steady my hands I leaned forward to see the results of my effort.

A pointed snout with round ears perched atop its tiny head. A lithe, supple body flexed and tumbled across my desk with a long slender tail trailing behind.

“Hello there, little one.”

The little scamp scrambled across the desk and up my arm.

“Ow, careful!” Tiny nails pricked through my shirt as it climbed towards my shoulder. Maximus lifted his head and grumbled with the creak of grinding metal.

“It’s okay boy, he didn’t mean it.” He still looked suspicious as the little one perched atop my shoulder, now peering out from behind my ear. “He’ll get used to you soon enough, just like the others,” I assured. After all, a Gift is meant to be shared.

How to become Bat(making)man: The Creation Process

This week I’m switching gears to highlight my crafting efforts (which also gives me an excuse to show off this cute little guy). I spent about three hours last week fiddling with the design and actually assembling this little guy and it got me thinking about how my creative process changes between writing and crafting (you can see the results of said crafting efforts here).

See, I made a bat! I’m a man who makes bats…I’M BATMAN!

First a brief overview of my writing process: I make ideas, then make words. Is that too vague? Fine. I usually start with an outline of the next set of major plot points (battles, conversations, revelations and new locations) with a list of bullet points beneath each one. The bullet points usually cover more specifically what will (or might) happen in that scene, points to get across, pieces that are building up to something that the reader may or may not know about yet, and notes on characterization. It’s a great organizational tool for complicated scenes where I’m afraid I might forget a brilliant addition before I get to writing it. Then there are plenty of times where I write the outline, then largely ignore it.

The biggest difference between my writing and creative approaches is that when I’m creating, I’m using materials and supplies that can’t always be re-used. Once you coil a wire, you can never fully straighten it again. This is especially true for things like the leather scraps I use. You may never get another piece quite like that one, so you’d better make the first one count. As a result of this, as much as half of the creative process involves me sitting or (usually pacing) staring at the raw materials. Transitioning from design to construction can be tricky. In most cases I know how most of a design will fit together, but there is a new element or combination  haven’t tried. And I never start building a piece of something until I know how the whole thing is going to fit together. Part of that is a personal preference but part of it is also practical. If you’re designing two pieces to fit together, you should know what they both look like before you start on either one (or be willing to start over if you change the design after you’ve started part of it).

Like an outline, I usually start a design with a vision (either something new or a variation on something old). Sometimes the images are pretty darn precise. And they are rarely what the final product actually looks like. Plenty of things that look good on paper just don’t work in practice. Sometimes they don’t have the effect you imagined, there was some detail you didn’t account for, or it’s just too darn hard to assemble it the way you planned (and there’s no shame in changing a design that will save hours of head banging and expletives). Sometimes it looks completely different from when I started, many times it looks better.

Case in point: This was intended as a proof of concept, and not only is it my favorite canvas, I still have it on my wall and I have done almost a dozen reproductions for clients.

Sometimes it isn’t at all what I pictured, which can be disheartening. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A client doesn’t see your vision, they only see the finished product. So that comparison only exists in your mind. Every artist has to balance the pursuit of perfection with the sense to know when to step away from a project.

I think that unpredictability is my favorite part of the creative process. It’s a constant reminder that my imagination is often two steps ahead of my conscious plans (and it seems to enjoy flying in the face of those plans too). To me it is a healthy reminder that art is not an exercise in control. Sometimes lots of planning is needed, but in the end I feel as if I am the medium through which inspiration flows. I tap into something and give it life, but it doesn’t jut come from inside of me. Sometimes that spark needs to be nurtured and fed, and other times you just need to get out of the flames’ way and try to keep it from burning down the village. Metaphorically speaking…usually.

Give Me a Break…A Chapter Break

Writing is one of those things with so many little elements that are easy to lose track of. I am a relative novice, but my confidence has been growing (and you know what they say about confidence and falling…I guess it throws off your balance). Still, working with others with more or different experiences than myself, I find myself catching details I had never paid much attention to, then realized I probably should. The most recent example of this was chapter breaks, and since it has been on my mind you all get to read about it. Lucky you!

I’ll be honest, in the beginning I really considered chapters to be more of an artificial division than anything else. When I first started my WIP I wrote my chapters roughly aiming for a target word count of 5k. I aimed high, thinking a good chunk of it would be trimmed or cut out during editing anyway. Part of this ties back into my implicit love of outlining (even when I largely ignore them once I start writing). I would outline plot points and guesstimate how much would fit into a chapter. If it all fit, great! If not, make room or bump a scene to the next chapter. Problem solved, right?

Well a beta reader recently commented to me that my chapters were on the long side and noted possible scene breaks where a chapter could end. When I looked back over my work I realized the chapters were probably longer than they needed to be (although this is a subjective call influenced in part by genre/audience as well as an author’s style). My more recent chapters began to take on a more organic nature. They ended when it made sense for a chapter to end. Sometimes it’s at the end of a scene, sometimes it is placed as a mental breather for the reader to digest what they have just read, and sometimes I place them at cliffhangers because I’m evil (read: I want them to keep going).

I started thinking about it from the perspective of a reader, and that was a turning point. Many times have I been up later than I should reading and when I get to the end of a chapter I flip ahead to see how long it is. If it’s another forty pages it’s probably time to call it a night, but if it’s less than twenty I’ll think “Well I guess one more couldn’t hurt” (like I’m really fooling myself there). At least some of my readers will probably be in the same position, so word count should not be the final determination (duh).

So now my chapter length varies. I think my shortest one is about 3.5k, but it’s pretty heavy on plot and tension so the reader (and the characters) deserve a break after that stretch. For me I could just tell when it felt like that chapter should end, so much so that I discarded my previous word count goal to let it end there (after some convincing from other authors that it was perfectly okay to do so). So while genre and audience are important, your story and your gut should be the ones to make the call. Not literally with the gut though. If I ended  chapter every time mine said something to me I would have chapters of 300 words and a lot more crumbs on my keyboard.

Liebster Award: Who needs the Oscars anyway?

I am beyond pleased to share that I have been nominated for the Liebster Award! “What’s that?” Well give me a moment and I’ll explain! Hypothetical audience members are so impatient! Before I do that I want to send my most enthusiastic thank you to my friend and former classmate, Paula, who has nominated me for this award. (You can check out her blog over at Beyond the Blue Coat) I have only been blogging for a few months now, so this feels like a rite of passage for me and in keeping with the tradition here is my post to tell you all about it!

The official history of the Liebster can be read here, but in a nutshell it is designed to help welcome new bloggers and build up a sense of community. Bloggers nominate each other and pass it on along with a bit of Q&A, detailed next.

Honorees are asked to share 11 interesting facts about themselves, so here goes:

1. I’m about to receive a Master’s degree in a field I never thought I’d be studying (Counseling Psychology)
2. My boxer-hound mix Starsky is my near constant study buddy (which has nothing to do with the fact that he gets to lay in the sun)
3. I was infamous during my undergraduate studies for organizing lightsaber fights on the quad
4. I have a full length black wool cloak that keeps out wind and gets some of the best reactions from people
5. I earned the nickname of ‘Ninja’ after (accidentally) kicking and breaking a ceiling tile in my dorm room
6. I absolutely adore pet rats
7. When I was about twelve I put on an obnoxious trench coat and offered to sell a lady a watch (in the most creepy manner possible). I have not been allowed back to the Burlington Coat Factory since
8. I grew up on Long Island, New York and now live on a mountain in the Poconos of Pennsylvania
9. I’m still waiting for a Jedi to come pick me up and take me back to the temple for training
10. I have an autograph and picture with a real Shaolin monk
11. When confronted with a new situation, my first reaction is usually to make a bad joke

Next, I will answer the questions of the blogger who nominated me:

What is your favorite quote?

Life is what we make of it. No more and no less.

Why do you write?

I write because I have stories rattling around my head that demand to be told, and I always carry my own little world with me, wherever I go.

Have you ever had an experience that took your breath away?

Seeing the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean on Assateague Island. And the Grand Canyon was pretty grand.

What scent do you associate with a memory?

Usually I associate smells with people or food.

What are your hobbies?

Writing, reading, drawing, crafting, video games and building models

Favorite scientific subject?

Immunology, I find the way the body responds to infection really fascinating

Dogs or cats, and why?

Dogs, because it’s hard to focus on a bad day when you come home and there’s this crazy ball of fur going out of his mind because he’s so happy to see you.

What is your favorite song?

Winterborn by Cruxshadows. Not my usual genre, but the message speaks to me

Abstract or realistic art?

Realistic with an artistic twist

Do you have any tattoos?

I have one on my chest of a howling wolf head over a yin yang surrounded by blue fire

Now, ten questions for all of the bloggers I’m going to nominate:

1. What is your most prized possession?
2. If you could become any animal for a day, what wold you pick?
3. What do you first notice when you meet someone new?
4. What is your favorite thing about yourself?
5. If you were suddenly given an hour of extra time away from your responsibilities, what would you do?
6. If you were challenged to a fight to the death, and you could pick any weapon (real or fictional), what would you take into battle?
7. Is there any place you have always wanted to visit?
8. What made you decide to start a blog?
9. What’s a unique ability or talent you have that most do not?
10. What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received?

And finally I will present my own nominees for the Liebster Award!

https://abpenner.wordpress.com/ A fellow writer who is also new to the scene

https://thealchemyofwords.wordpress.com/ Another author with a great mind, a love for horses and a great sense of humor to boot!

http://klhcreateworks.com/ A wonderful author and editor who spreads wisdom and energy in equal parts!

http://forwhomthegearturns.com/ Another writer who shares my love of all things steampunk!

https://thebetareaderblog.wordpress.com/ Anyone looking for advice on beta reading or polishing your work need look no further!

I have been lucky to meet all of these great bloggers and writers along my writing journey, and I hope they will join me in spreading and strengthening the community!