Writer's Block

Hi, guys! So, first of all, I got interviewed by the wonderful Patrice Cadwell this week! Check it out here.

So anyway, I have writer's block a lot. Like, seriously. A lot. Usually when a) I'm feeling lazier than usual, b) I'm Twitterpated, or c) I don't understand a character's emotions. So, like, 58.23% of the time.

Writing is about translating emotions into words. And it's hard. Sometimes, you just don't connect with your characters. You don't understand what they're going through. You just have a picture of your main character in your head, standing on a cliff and looking out at an endless sea called Mourning. You can see the wind shoving her hair into her eyes, and you can see the way she digs her fingernails into her palms and pretends that she's okay with being lonely. But the words don't come. Because seriously, what is she really feeling? What is she thinking? Why is she so afraid to cry?

So, when I have writer's block, I play piano. More specifically, I write music for my manuscripts. I think I've mentioned this briefly in other places, but I've always been too lazy/awkward/shy to put anything I've written on the wonderfully wondrous web. I wrote the following YouTube clip while I was revising my newest manuscript, tentatively titled BENEATH THE DISQUIET STAR, and honestly, it helped me me fix like, three plot holes.

So, how about you guys? How do you get over writer's block? 

This Is Why

Writing is hard. It’s harder than math, because there’s no right answer. It’s harder than science, because there are no laws. It’s harder than staying awake during SAT. There are no formulas in writing. There are no foolproof plans. There are no shortcuts.

There is only you, a piece of paper, and a pen.

But writing is also easy. It’s easier than math, because there’s no right answer. It’s easier than science, because there are no laws. There are no boundaries. There are no certainties. There is no such thing as impossible.

Sometimes the words flow. Sometimes the story tells itself, the words fall into place and shift to become your castle walls, your distant, violet mountains, your character’s heartbeat. Sometimes you are so lost in your own head that this world fades into the background, and nothing exists except the endless tapping of your keyboard, the small black symbols appearing in neat rows across your screen, and the world, your world, that breathes between the lines.

Other times, it’s like you’re so insane that even your own insanity won’t talk to you. Sometimes there’s only a blank screen. Sometimes you sit glaring at your laptop until you get a migraine, but no story.

Sometimes, you really wonder why you’re still writing, when you are clearly no good at it.

And then. You get an idea. About a girl raised by spies and a boy who believes that love is a weakness. About a wolf and a sacrifice and a blood-red star. About a party, an impulsive decision, a trip to the emergency room, and the word cancer. About the imaginary friend of a girl who commits suicide.

And you remember.

Why.