Writer's Block

I love reading Dave Farland's Daily Kick in the Pants. I read and try to digest all his ideas and writing helps. If I can retell them in my own words,  then I have them better in my head.

The one I read today was about writer's block. We, as writers, get stuck sometimes in our writing and don't know where to go next. Dave says that's because we don't know our plot or our characters or our premise well enough. When this happens to him, he takes time out to get better acquainted with his characters and their backgrounds. He studies his setting and maybe does a little more research on his theme.

Sometimes our ideas are not fleshed out enough. We don't have a complete view of our plot. If we only have an image of our character in mind, that's not good enough. We need to know his or her background.

I love writing historical fiction. So I like to do the research first and then find a way to fit the characters of the time and place I'm writing about into the historical event or events. It's like putting a puzzle together, and I find it lots of fun.

I'm still a beginner in writing and my skills are not nearly as practiced as they should be, but I'm working on it--practicing every day and hopefully getting better and better.

Check the characters and plot of the book you are writing. Make sure you've fleshed out the characters and the plot. Check every scene to make sure it all fits together well. Keep working. That's what I'm doing.

You'll get through your writer's block if you just take a little more time to study your characters and your plot in depth.

 I am grateful for good teachers like Dave Farland who shares his abilities and knowledge with the rest of us. Happy writing and happy studying.