On Deadline And Your Characters Aren't Talking

by Patricia Bradley

I said I'd never be here again...You know, behind on my deadline. I turned in my last book in July last year and here it is the middle of March and I’m only half finished with the first draft of a book due May 1. Six weeks to write forty thousand words, and then edit all ninety thousand. Oh, and the manuscript has to shine, as well.

I’ll get it done. I have no choice. Well, I could ask for an extension, but I realllllly don’t want to do that. So, I’ll suck it up and do whatever it takes to make the deadline.

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Blinded by the White - Three Ways to Deal With Writers Block

by Jennifer Slattery

The white screen of death—it’s inevitable.

Even the most brilliant writers experience writer’s block on occasion, and often at the most inopportune times. This time period can be shortened, and perhaps even prevented, however, when a writer takes time to refuel, trusts God’s sovereignty, and maintains a posture of surrender.

Take time to refuel

I think it’s fair to say, most writers are idea people. We’re great at hatching—then chasing after—countless dreams. Until our schedule gets out of hand and we begin to feel depleted. Add to this all the other demands writers face each day, from marketing to editing to blogging, and it’s no wonder our brains check out from time to time.

When we’re fighting for words that refuse to come, often the best thing we can do is step away. Rest and take time to refuel—however is most effective for you. Regardless if you feel you have time to do so. In fact, it’s when we feel we’re most feeling squeezed that we need to step away. Even if that means leaving something undone.

I have a group of women I love hanging out with for the simple fact that they make me laugh. When I’m feeling drained or squeezed, I close my computer and give them a call. Laughter is healing and has the capacity to draw out the most stubborn muse. Plus, it relieves stress, and stress is a major creativity killer.

Trust God’s Sovereignty

Last week, staring at the bones of a new story and a calendar full of articles, keynotes, and guest blogs, I felt as if everything writerly in me had completely dried up. And I began to grow anxious, because really, a writer is only as good as their next idea, right? It stands to reason, when one’s creativity dies, their career dies with it.

Right?

Except, God is still in control even when our creativity stalls. Ephesians 2:10 tells me He has a plan for me. A plan He is working out, at this moment. A plan He is lovingly crafting and equipping me to fulfill. Knowing this allows me to rest in Him. As I do, something beautiful happens—I begin to die to myself, to my limited, anxious ways, and His Spirit is given free reign.

If we want to create lasting, intriguing, heart-stirring, beautiful work, we need to connect, deeply, with the Creator. With the God who formed galaxies out of nothing and who created the most colorful, diverse, and unexpected creatures. Because here’s the deal—our gift of creativity (and it is a gift) comes not from within ourselves but from God, the giver of every good and perfect gift. Our ability to create comes directly from Christ.

Creativity is Fed by Surrender

I know this. I know my greatest work, my greatest accomplishments, come from God’s Spirit working in and through me. I know only He can fulfill me, refuel me, and set my heart and mind on fire. And yet, so often, He is the very One I crowd out. I allow all my “have tos” to overshadow what I need most.

But when I pause and put God first, I find He has a way of working everything else out. Although that might result in a bit of redirecting, and yet, because God is a God of perfect wisdom and unfailing love, when He does nudge me right, left, or on a round-about, the result is always good. Better than good. Because He is good.

Writers block, unchecked, can literally lead to the death of a writer. But if God opened a door for us, be it through a contract or assignment, then we can rest assured He will enable us to walk through it. We can help on our end by taking time to refuel, trusting in His sovereignty, and maintaining a posture of surrender. By doing so, we place ourselves in the perfect position to be infused with and empowered by His unfathomably creative Holy Spirit.  

TWEETABLES

Blinded by the White by Jennifer Slattery (Click to Tweet)

Three Ways to Deal With Writers Block by Jennifer Slattery  (Click to Tweet)

Take time to refuel~ Jennifer Slattery (Click to Tweet)

Novelist and speaker Jennifer Slattery has a passion for helping women discover, embrace, and live out who they are in Christ. As the founder of Wholly Loved Ministries, (http://whollyloved.com) she and her team put on events at partnering churches designed to help women rest in their true worth and live with maximum impact. She writes devotions for Internet Café Devotions, Christian living articles for Crosswalk.com, and edits for Firefy, a Southern fiction imprint with Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. When not writing, reading, or editing, Jennifer loves going on mall dates with her adult daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously fun husband.

Visit with Jennifer online at JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud.com and connect with her on Facebook

Restoring Love:

Mitch, a contractor and house-flipper, is restoring a beautiful old house in an idyllic Midwestern neighborhood. Angela, a woman filled with regrets and recently transplanted to his area, is anything but idyllic. She's almost his worst nightmare, and she s also working on restoring something herself. As he struggles to keep his business afloat and she works to overcome mistakes of her past, these two unlikely friends soon discover they have something unexpected in common, a young mom who is fighting to give her children a better life after her husband's incarceration. While both Mitch and Angela are drawn to help this young mother survive, they also find themselves drawn to each other. Will a lifetime of regrets hold them back or unite them and bring redemption along with true love?

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When Writers Block Becomes Writers Talk

From Steve Laube's blog, used with permission:

I came across an old post by Seth Godin where he wrote: 

No one ever gets talker’s block. No one wakes up in the morning, discovers he has nothing to say and sits quietly, for days or weeks, until the muse hits, until the moment is right, until all the craziness in his life has died down.

What a liberating concept! It reminded me of a great book by Joel Saltzman If You Can Talk, You Can Write.

Of course there are times where it feels like the well is dry and that you have “nothing to say.” But that isn’t really true is it? You can sit down with your spouse, your best friend, or your writers group and talk about your lack of inspiration. It is in that expression where you can find the spark of creativity.

The key, of course, is to write something. Anything. Even if it is bad. Kevin J. Anderson suggests you should “dare to be bad and then fix it.”

Still don’t feel like you have anything to say? Just imagine a topic and think of what you would say if asked the question while sitting with a panel of experts. And then write your answer. [Today’s post came from imagining a panel discussion about “writer’s block.”]

I have one client who held himself accountable by pledging to pay two accountability partners $50 each, for every week he did not hit his pre-determined and promised word count. That is motivation! He only missed his deadline once. (I’m impressed that his friends took the money! A sign of a true accountability partner.)

It would be interesting to hear what you do to get past any sort of “blockage” in your writing life. Please post your thoughts below. 

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Help . . . I'm Stuck!

Posted by Michelle Griep for author Sarah Ladd

Author Sarah Ladd

Has this ever happened to you? You are writing a novel. You love the characters. You are excited by the plot. But WHAM! You hit a wall a few chapters in, and you don’t know what to write next.

Some call it “writer’s block,” but whatever you call it, it can be discouraging and frustrating. Every writer struggles with this at some point, but there are certain things you can do to get yourself out of a writing slump. Here a few ideas to help you get “unstuck” and get the words flowing again:

Have fun with backstory

Is a character in you novel causing you to stumble in your story?  Take a few minutes and write a scene about the character’s early life … a scene from their childhood or an interaction with his or her parents. Chances are that this scene will never make it into your final manuscript, but occasionally just getting back to the basics with your character and learning more about his or her motivations can add spark to your story and keep you forging ahead.

     Point of view switch

If you are having trouble getting a scene to flow, why not try switching the POV of that particular scene?  Sometimes, taking a look at a situation from another character’s viewpoint can shift the scene’s momentum and get you back on the right track.

     Get inspired with setting

If you write in a historic time period or specific setting, watch a movie that takes place in a similar setting.  Or, if you are a Pinterest user, consider taking a few minutes to create a visual board for your book. This is a great way to engage other parts of your brain in the creative process.

Make the time to read.

Read, read, read!

Stephen King said, “If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”  And that is so true! If you loose your inspiration or can’t figure out where to go next with your story, read a book by an author you admire. Read a classic. Read a book on the craft of writing. Sometimes, just getting your head out of your own story and spending some with other words with jump-start your creativity.

     Talk it out

Have a good writer friend?  Give them a call. Meet with them for coffee for a quick brainstorming session. Sometimes, just talking about your story out loud can make you think about your novel in a different light. Who knows, you and your brainstorming partner might even come up with a fresh idea or two to get your book moving in the right direction!

     Take a little break

     Tight timelines and busy schedules make us feel like we need to be writing during every free second we have. But often that can be counter-productive. Take a walk. Exercise. Go shopping. Take your mind off of the words. Sometimes, giving yourself a little space from your project can renew your vigor for your story.

Do you have a tip for getting “unstuck” when writing?  Share it with us in the comments section – we’d love to hear it! 

Sarah E. Ladd has always loved the Regency period — the clothes, the music, the literature and the art. A college trip to England and Scotland confirmed her interest in the time period and gave her idea of what life would’ve looked like in that era. It wasn’t until 2010 that Ladd began writing seriously. Shortly after, Ladd released the first book in the Whispers on the Moors series, The Heiress of Winterwood (2013). That title was the recipient of the 2011 ACFW Genesis Award for historical romance and is a finalist in the Debut Author category of the 2014 Carol Awards. The second book in the series, The Headmistress of Rosemere (2013), was on the ECPA best-seller list for several months. Her upcoming release, The Curiosity Keeper, will release in July 2015. Ladd also has more than ten years of marketing experience. She is a graduate of Ball State University and holds degrees in public relations and marketing. Ladd lives in Indiana with her husband, daughter and spunky Golden Retriever.

To keep up with Sarah E. Ladd, visit www.sarahladd.com, become a fan on Facebook (Sarah Ladd Author) or follow her on Twitter (@SarahLaddAuthor). 

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Don't Just Start the Great American Novel... Finish It!

Many people want to write a book but never start. Many others start but never finish.  

            Why?

            One, because it’s hard work. But even those with indomitable spirits can be overwhelmed by the prospect of writing 100,000 cohesive words.

            I have a very simple philosophy to writing and completing projects. To borrow a football analogy, it’s all about moving the ball down the field.

            In other words, simple progress. We all want to get to the finish line, but you can’t treat it as a sprint. If you do, both your enthusiasm and energy will wane. Rather, think of it as a long-distance run and you want to make sure you’re putting yards behind you every day. Here are some tips that should help in your quest.

Choose to ignore the existence of writer’s block.

            Mike Harden, the late columnist of the Columbus Dispatch, put it best when he asked, “How would you react if you hired a plumber at $60 an hour and he sat in front of your clogged sink for a couple hours, doing nothing, because he claimed to have ‘plumber’s block’?”

            You may lock up over a phrase or a scene, but you shouldn’t let that stop you from putting words on paper or in your hard drive. Don’t agonize trying to find the perfect words. Keep moving. The words you put down today might not be the exact ones you want, but they’ll fill the space until the right ones come and enable you to keep moving forward.

Write every day.

            I try to write every day. Sometimes, life gets in the way, but I make an honest effort to do something. It’s part of the aforementioned game of moving the ball down the field. Some days you lock up big yardage. Other days, it’s a game of inches. However, even if you’re inching along, you’re making progress. My daily goal is a minimum of 500 words.

The brain dump.

            During the early stages of a project, I don’t concern myself with chapters, grammar, punctuation or structure. Rather, I focus on ideas and the story. There will be time for structure and tweaking later, but early in the process you need to capture the ideas and create the overarching essence of your book.

           Early on, my books look like a stream of consciousness. It might include dialog, plot ideas, scenes, etc. At some point, I start creating chapters and doing the organizing. For instance, in my recent novel, The Essay, I worked on the brain dump for a good six-eight months. I had 20,000 words of ideas, quotes, scenes, etc. When I was ready to start piecing the book together, I spent two days of going through my brain dump and cutting-and-pasting passages into chapters. By the time I was ready to write, I had all the components for the book, and I was able to start crafting words.

Don’t be afraid to write out of sequence.

            If I’m struggling over a particular scene, I may just leave it for a couple of days and work on other parts of the book. Because I like to lay out the book before I get to heavily into the writing, it doesn’t bother me to jump around. If you’re working on Chapter 3, but the juices are flowing about a scene in Chapter 7, ride the momentum.

            In The Essay, for example, I wanted to create a scene late in the book where the main character, Jimmy Lee Hickam, confronts one of his teachers. It was a difficult scene because I had to juggle his desire to confront the teacher with the realities of the situation - the teacher being the authority figure and Jimmy Lee a student. I was still in the early writing phase when I conceived the idea for the confrontation scene. I spent two days working on it, then went back to work on the beginning of the book. Again, it’s critical to capture those ideas while the juices are flowing.

            If you’re struggling, get out of the house - take a walk or a bike ride. Often, I’ll take along an audio recorder or use Dragon, a voice-to-text app on my iPhone. Getting out of the office is a good way to clear my head and play through difference scenarios, plots and scenes. The recorders will enable you to capture ideas when they are fresh.

            Driving is a great place to think without interruption. Turn off the radio and focus on a part of the book that interests you. Imagine a scene and play it through in your mind like a movie. What are you seeing on the screen that will add depth to your characters or the scene?

Outline your book.

            I don’t follow a strict outline, but I find that having a framework helps me with structure and keeping on task. If I know how a book will end, I can draw the road map to get there. I still have the freedom to change the story along the way, which is perfectly fine. However, without the framework, I tend to wander.

            Somewhere in my computer is an unfinished manuscript that is probably a couple hundred thousand words, the result of a book I tried to write without an outline. The characters refuse to tell me how the book ends. It’s maddening. The main characters are at a cocktail party right now and I’m thinking of having a train full of napalm derail and roll through the living room. The End!

Invite distractions.

            Yes, I realize that sounds counter intuitive, but I find human distraction great for adding depth to my characters. Everyone has a story; listen to them. It’s entertaining and can add fodder to that cache of stories that will one day become a novel.

            A few years back, I was in Detroit on business, walking from Cobo Center to the Renissance Center, when a bum walked up alongside my client and me. “Can I have a dollar?” he asked.

            “No,” my client answered.

            But, he kept walking with us, enumerating the reasons why we should give him a buck, but having no luck with my client. Finally, he said, “You know, I’m Stevie Wonder’s cousin.”

            “Please leave,” my client said.

            “No, wait,” I said, suddenly interested. “Are you really Stevie Wonder’s cousin, or is that just your shtick to get me to give you a dollar?”
            “No, man, me and Stevie are tight.” He went on for several minutes, talking about his boyhood experiences with Stevie Wonder.

            “Did you ever move his chair on him when he was little?”

            “Huh? No, man. Not to Stevie.”

            I pulled out a dollar and handed it to him.

            “My client rolled her eyes at me and asked, “Why do you do things like that? It was a scam.”
            “Maybe,” I said. “But I got more than a buck’s worth of entertainment out of it. And, I’m going to use that in a book some day.”

Robin Yocum is a novelist living in Westerville, Ohio. His recent novel, The Essay, focuses on the life of 17-year-old Jimmy Lee Hickam, who is growing up dirt poor in Appalachian Ohio, and the teacher who risks her job to help him break the cycle of poverty and alcoholism that has defined his family for years. The first chapter can be read at www.robinyocum.com.

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Paralyzing Fear

Writer's block is a tough wall to breach

Paralyzing fear, also known to those of us who scribble as a living as writer’s block. Most writers have experienced this at some point in their career. Traditionally, we define it as a time when the well runs dry in the middle of a project.

I have a different opinion. I’ve talked with (okay, occasionally ambushed) many writers over the years and find the conversation might go something like this.

Me: “Have you ever had to deal with writer’s block?”

Anonymous Writer: “No, never. Once I start a project I just keep going, no matter what I’m feeling.”

Me: “What about before you begin a project? Have you ever postponed it because you doubt your ability to do it justice? Or maybe you needed to think about it some more - just work out the details in your head?"

At this point the person I’m speaking with usually takes a step back and begins to stammer. Most writers don’t include being afraid to start a project, as writer’s block. I would beg to differ—anything that keeps you paralyzed and unable to write is, by definition, writer’s block.

Success can sometimes make us more
afraid of failure

Funny thing is, the people who suffer most from writer’s block are writers who’ve had a modicum of success. Maybe they’ve won a contest or two, or written regularly for a while. Usually they’re afraid they can’t live up to what’s gone before.

I also find it crops up when a writer is trying a new genre. They might be going from fiction to non-fiction, or from writing devotions to writing a column or even romance to science fiction. Let’s face it, trying something new is always a daunting prospect.

Now that we’ve defined it, how do we combat it? 

• First, quit putting it off. Make a commitment to spend a certain amount of time in front of the computer—writing—and do it. Sound hard? Of course it is, otherwise everyone would be a writer.

• Begin by writing what you’re afraid of. Fear of failure? Write why it matters. Fear of inadequacy? Define it. You’ll find it looks small and more than a little silly when you actually write it down.

• Next, remember how you got here. Recognition in the writing world comes (99.9% of the time) from putting in time. It comes from being willing to let others see your work and getting back at it after rejection. Give yourself some credit, you’re obviously not a wimp or you wouldn’t be trying to become a writer.

• Finally, give yourself permission to try and fail. Just because this one project doesn’t work out doesn’t mean you’re not a writer. I would say the contrary is true. If you succeed at everything you’ve tried so far, I suggest that maybe you’re not trying very much. 

Quit procrastinating under the guise of ‘I have to think this through before I start.’ Get out there, and blow a raspberry at writer’s block and hit those keys!

Edie Melson is a freelance writer and editor with years of experience in the publishing industry. She’s a prolific writer, and has a popular writing blog, The Write Conversation. She’s the co-director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, as well as a popular faculty member at numerous others. She’s also the Social Media Coach at My Book Therapy.

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