Writer's Block

I haven't had a case of writer's block recently. Although the last case I had lasted from mid-2006 to mid-2007, almost a year's worth of being unable to write anything of any satisfactory quality. Every writer, no matter how talented, has to deal with this at one point or another. It is just the way the writing world works. However, I doubt that you can find two writers that will agree on how to break a block, or what causes the block in the first place. With that in mind, I'll admit that what I've found out about my writer's block, as well as my cures for it, may not work for everyone. Hell, it may not even work for anyone out there but me. Still, the slight possibility that it might is probably enough reason for me to tell people about it. If nothing else, the writing community should help each other through this common creative malady.

For me, saying that you can't write because of life is just an excuse, not writer's block. Your imagination doesn't stop just because you're busy with homework or the job. Your mind is constantly working and creating and crafting, so lack of time isn't writer's block. Lack of time merely prohibits you from putting your ideas down to the written word. By my definition, that isn't writer's block, as I define writer's block as the complete inability to make any satisfactory creative output on the written word. Even if you don't have the time, you might still have a good idea.

In my case, writer's block comes after completing a personal project. The longer the project and the higher the quality of it, the longer I go without being able to produce worthwhile fiction afterwards. I think the drain I place on my mind causes the block, such that something in my head needs to take the time to recuperate and not produce any ideas.

So far, the only way I've found around this is to start a new project as I'm finishing up an old project. Outlines, no matter how detailed, have never really worked for me. Outlines tend to make me feel restricted and, while I appreciate having some sort of backbone to work with when I write and forget where I am, I'd rather be given enough freedom to work out the ideas as they come to me.

Of course, there is a danger to this approach. You might burn yourself out creatively at critical points by writing two projects at the same time. In my case, this happened near the end of the second project. By then, I was digging the bottom of the barrel and was desperate to finish the story. The fact is, doing two projects at the same time helps delay writer's block, not prevent it entirely. At one point, you're going to burn your mind out and, worst-case scenario, you're stuck in the middle of a story that you feel you need to actually finish.

Another cause of writer's block for me comes when I distract myself. This is generally an event that occurs when I get my hands on a good, long book. I honestly can't write anything worth dirt when I'm reading a book. The most recent culprit of this is Douglas Adams' The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide, which is a compilation of all the books in the Hitchhiker's "trilogy." I guess this has something to do with my mind too busy processing and digesting the contents of the book to really be able to come up with original content.

The solution to this is not to stop reading. Thankfully for me, this sort of writer's block doesn't last long. At least, as long as I don't read books consecutively. If I do, that causes some problems. This one involves more of waiting the storm out than anything else, really.

As of now, I don't have much along the lines of writer's block. Sure, I don't have as much time as I did before, but my mind is more active than ever. I feel confident that I can finish Darkness & Stars without too much trouble aside from the sheer amount of time needed.

We'll see.