Finding Your Creative Process, Confronting Writer’s Block
Last week, I was working through my upcoming thriller fantasy when I stumbled into the dreaded writer’s block. Don’t let people tell you that writer’s block isn’t a thing: it very much is. Writer’s block can indicate a few things. For me, it means I either need a break, or I took a bad step in my story. Running into this block allowed me to finally figure out my writing process, and I was back at work in a few hours.
Finding your writing process doesn’t have to be an arduous task. In fact, it’s critical to develop your process so you know how to handle obstacles when they come up. Bear in mind your process may be fluid and subject to change, and that’s okay. Willing things from your head into the real world is one of the most difficult undertakings on the planet. The strange alchemy of creativity is supposed to be fluid.
1). What Do You Love Most About The Writing Process?
For me, it’s backstory. I have to know where my characters came from, and how they came to be who they are, in order to write them plausibly. When I got stuck in my book, I realized it was because I didn’t have a clear image of who the players in the scene were. I took a step back, outlined the characters, and came away with ten more pages that didn’t make me want to swallow cyanide. Figure out what you love most about what you do. The answer to your process is always in the heart of your passion.
2). What Is Your Story’s Central Theme?
This can usually be summed up in one word. What’s at the heart of the story you’re trying to tell? Write this down, and put it somewhere you can see it all the time. Know the story you’re trying to tell, and the odds of you moving away from that go way down.
3). How Do You Deal With Interesting Side Characters?
You will almost certainly fall in love with some side character that has very little to do with your central theme. That’s okay. That happens. When it happens to me, I’ll make a note in Google Keep or something and come back to it later. Sometimes, I have to get the other idea out of my head in order to stay focused on the primary one. I’ll make another post on staying on your main story next week.
Hope this helps. Thanks for reading. Good luck with your writing.
