Tuesday, September 8, 2015

I've Gone And Jinxed Myself

     Awesome, right? I am my own worst enemy.
     How did I jinx myself, you ask? In an earlier post I wrote that I've never experienced writer's block. Every writer who read that probably had the urge to strangle me. Well, guess what? You don't have to strangle me. Why? Because I now find myself stuck.
     First I'd like to say that I hate the term writer's block. It's become so overused that it has become a concept that strikes fear in the heart of writers everywhere. We've given it so much power that writer's block has become an entity rather than a problem inside the writer's head, which it is. It's become a disease with a very elusive cure.
     There isn't any one definition for writer's block. It means something different for every writer, and can even present itself in different forms at different times to the same writer. Its causes are many, and those causes vary for each writer. Because it is such a variable concept, the solutions also vary for every writer. What works for one person doesn't work at all for another.
     Currently, I'm not blocked in the sense that I am incapable of writing. I'm writing right now, and I wrote a blog the other day. I'm simply having a difficult time making progress on my WIP. I've been on a writing roll this entire year. It's been great. Now that I've reached the climax in my WIP I'm having a very hard time knowing how to move forward. I know what the outcome of my story is going to be, I even have a rough idea of how that outcome is going to come to pass, I just don't quite know how to write out the details.
     One reason I'm having difficulty is that my story has a mystery that needs solved, and I'm not entirely sure how that's going to happen. I do have one idea, which I'm rolling with for now, but I'm having serious doubts about it. Every time I sit down to write it out, this little voice in my head tells me it's a lame idea. So I find myself staring off into space or hopping onto Twitter to distract myself.
     Another reason behind my difficulty is that action and fighting scenes are not one of my strong suits.  I've improved in this area quite a bit after writing the war scene for my first first novel, but it's still something I struggle with. So once again, I'm staring at a cursor and hopping over to Twitter. Sigh.
     Here's the thing: this is a first draft. So it should be easy, right? Even if I write something bad, it's a rough draft. Rough drafts are supposed to be bad, and they're supposed to change. I just need to get something on paper so I can have something to improve. I can't improve something that doesn't exist.
     My solution (for now) is to take a break for a couple of days, blog, and then just sit down and force myself to write even if I hate every single word. I'm hoping that blogging about it will help. Maybe writing through my feelings can help me overcome them. I'm very excited to get this rough draft finished because I have so many good ideas for the next draft. Hopefully I can work through the block in my brain.
     Alrighty folks, there you have it.
     I am not immune to writer's block. Apparently, I am human.
     Wish me luck! (I might need it.)

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