Writer's Block
Silhouette Man
The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
Writer's Block - have you ever had it?
Do you believe it exists or is it just a feeble excuse for inability to write?
How do you try to overcome it?
I write non-fiction articles, mainly on James Bond and I have had writer's block for a while now. I have plenty of ideas but it's getting them down on paper that is much more difficult than thinking them up initially.
It's usually applied to writers of fiction, but in reality any kind of writer can get it.
Let's discuss it in this worryingly blank space.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Comments
Don't worry too much about the quality of the language or even the content. You can fix that later.
Absynthe also works!
Like meaning to clean your room, but you don't get round to it.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Yes, that is largely the situation but I think with time I will be able to overcome it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnLqh3tLXW0
Way round this? Remember that often as you write new stuff comes to you, so when you get it down chances are all sorts of new goodies will occur to you in transit, so your draft version in your mind is just that.
b) Life has got on top of you. Putting stuff off is a way of exerting control, just as a messy room is your way of telling the world you can do as you please, just as anorexia feels to the victim like taking control of your body in a world where generally you just don't feel in control at all, just as morbid obesity comes from someone having their cake and eating it, really 'owning' their food, it's a feeling of control. Of course, you wind up with a messy room and not the means or wherewithal to sort it, stick thin and dying, or carrying around a few extra stone of weight each day year in year out; what started as a desire to assert control only ends up as an outward manifestation of your lack of it.
c) You have put off the deed it is now in the part of your mind called 'on the backburner' as separate as fact and fiction, past and present. Also, let's face it, if you didn't do it last month, you surely don't need to do it this month and if you didn't get round to it last year, surely the chances are slim you will get around to it this year.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrXVaytvJtQ
I thought that I'd include this video here as it's somewhat related to the topic at hand. It's very interesting to listen to, on making writing sound "not written"! Lee is my favourite stand-up comedian, by the way.
Most of my writing is composing music, rather than writing prose (I have two albums available on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, etc, with the third being almost ready) which is comparable if not exactly the same. I do get writer's block regarding lyrics but never have with the music- either a melody comes to mind unbidden or one appears while playing piano or guitar.
Writing lyrics strikes me as Lee discusses in the above video: saying something in a way that hasn't been done before. I find myself dismissing a line if it resembles one I recall from elsewhere, and this leads to block. Sometimes all it takes is a spark of inspiration from a casual remark, but that can't be relied on.
I'm writing about the 1973 film Carry On Girls right now, which took its inspiration from the real life protests of the 1970 Miss World pageant by Womens Liberation protestors. The research can be absolutely fascinating - presenter Bob Hope's act was so confrontationally sexist that the protest began early to disrupt his act.
https://youtu.be/reCX3_OAkv8
And here's one of the protestors looking back at the events she was involved with:
https://youtu.be/RO9rPZ7Y_Vw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcKtcXbjwD4
I think this is the only way around it and I've started writing a bit again as a result. Getting something down on the page is much better than a blank screen; you can always edit it later to better say what you want it to say.
Get in to the habit of writing something every day. Even if
It's crap.
Yes, professional writers (i.e. not me!) must write every day. And even then, it can be years before they make a breakthrough! Then, when they do, they're called "an overnight success" after they've been writing every day for 10 years!
For yourself. For exercise or sport if you want or to do an hour's
Writing. Even if It's only ideas for further writing projects.
Getting a deck of cards and write a word on the back ( obviously
Bond related ) of each. Then with 52 cards, you have a subject to
Muse over each week.
I get it when I'm putting the end to a story, usually an action sequence, which needs momentum, but can easily be lost through distractions like family and promotion work. Then tiredness. I find it best to disconnect from social media, tv and pretty much everything else. Re-reading a proportion of the work usually unlocks it as well.
http://apbateman.com
Here's a cartoon the former Bond author Raymond Benson shared on Instagram yesterday.
Interesting thread. I don't ever have a 'block' I just have days when I can't or won't write. I am easily distracted. It does bother me. Like most writers, if my subject interests me, the act of writing it ceases to be a chore and becomes a joy. That, I believe, is the secret.
Our own Kingsley Amis once famously said, “The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of one's trousers to the seat of one's chair.”
Not a bad way of putting it. Sometimes you really need to force yourself to be present at your PC, typewriter or with your pen and piece of paper.
I've seen interviews with authors who say they have decided on "office hours". They can't just walk around waiting for inspiration to strike. They force themselves to sit by the work station and work. The result may not be good every time, but if it isn't you can change it the next day.
As a student of Creative Writing, I can attest that the advice offered above by @Number24 is frequently cited, most authors use a version of this. We are advised to write every day, even if it is just a mind map or a short 200 word description of something. It keeps the juices oiled, as it were, so when inspiration come sit comes quickly
arent you supposed to spend the morning writing a chapter as you have your first several drinks of the day, then spend the afternoon scubadiving?
I got a good introduction written today to an article I've been planning for years. I applied Kingsley Amis's advice about the necessity of sitting down to write and it seems to be working. It was a bit over 400 words so it's a start but there's a long way to go yet. Some days it just flows better than others and the thing almost starts to write itself as you get going.
I will get my new James Bond blog article finished. I will! I will!
😊
Perfectionism is often a component of writer's block so this interview with the late David Foster Wallace is connected to this topic: