Finally Overcoming the Inability to Write

John Guillen12 Comments

Photo Credit: Peecho

This is my third post about writer’s block in as many weeks. BUT this time around it’s a tale of victory rather than defeat.

That’s right! I told you guys in the last writer’s block post that my manuscript hadn’t been touched in weeks. Actually, I came to find out that it was more than a month. Which made me sad. Last Saturday night I actually got some writing done! The funny part is that the chapter ended up going in a direction that I hadn’t even thought of until I sat down to write. Maybe that’s all I needed to do?

Anyway, I wish I had something interesting to tell you all about why that day was different from so many before it. I don’t. Honestly, this is what happened. Saturdays are definitely my laziest day of the week. I typically get off work and go home and sleep for several hours because I’m so tired. I did that last week, but this time around I spent hours thinking about my beloved manuscript that was getting dusty from lack of use. I thought about it all day long. I watched the hours tick by and thought it would be another day of nothing. Then I simply opened my manuscript about 10:30 that night and sat there staring at it. Then I wrote.

You see, this experience was far more than not having any creative ideas for my story; I was fighting a fight within myself. All along I knew I needed to write, but I dreaded starting. I knew it would be difficult. I knew it might not be what I originally planned. I knew a lot of things except for what I wanted to write, until I did so.

So don’t sit there and think about why you DON’T want to write, think about why you do. Then do it.

12 thoughts on “Finally Overcoming the Inability to Write”

  1. I suffer with this problem too. It’s that first word that is often the hardest to get down. Then, after days or weeks of procrastinating I can sit down and write for hours… if I can get myself to simply try! If I’m afraid of starting because I feel I don’t know what direction to take, I will often start with something inconsequential. I will “warm up” by describing a tree or a building that is a part of the scene, but has nothing to do with the story itself. This helps bring me back into my fictional world, and helps to break down those initial feelings of anxiety. Good luck with you manuscript!

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    • That’s a great idea! Warming up. I’ve never done that. I always just jump right in. But at the start of this particular chapter I wrote a mini flashback that kinda was about 50-50 for the story and for me to get something written. So maybe I did a little of what you said. And thank you!

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      • You know, your cover doesn’t do justice to your novel. It doesn’t convey the tone or what it’s about. I look at your cover and I see scary and ghosts. But that’s not what your book is about…at least not what I’ve read and I’m half way through.
        You might want to change your cover at some point for something that’s more like Andrew Banks cool style. You’re building a brand right now so you might want to think about how you want to portray him. I find your book more character driven and Banks is the focus. You’re writing a series, right? So Banks is very important and so is Sydney. There’s that neat relationship that they have. Use that to your advantage.They’re a team. And I love reading their interactions with each other. By the way I really, really like the name Andrew Banks. It’s a great name. 🙂

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      • Really? No one has ever told me that. Even the few people I ran the cover by before making it. It’s an interesting point. I might have to.

        AND I think you’re psychic. Cause tomorrow’s post is about naming characters. Crazy. I’m glad you’re reading it! I wish everyone had your interest.

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