Writers Block is Your Brain Telling You to Stop

Riley's 3 rules (so far) for writers block. I also have hare-brained theories about them which I'll blather on about afterwards.

1. If blocked during a session, delete the last sentence/paragraph/section that you've written. Now rewrite it. Change what feels right to change, even if there's only an inkling.

2. If blocked starting a session, look at other stories or projects. Use the salivation technique. That is when you can't decide what you want to order at a restaurant so you look at each menu item and observe which one makes your mouth water. You want that one. Which project grabs you?

3. If blocked on a large story, discover where it is that you keep your store of patience. The story is still simmering and you can make it take longer if you keep lifting the lid and that's if you don't ruin the dish.

I live with an operating philosophy that my brain is far, far, far more intelligent than my concious mind and to be honest with you, that does seem to be the case. I'll bet a lot of people in my life hope it's true as well. ;-) I feel it is likely the case for all of us humans. As a result, I see writers block as a symptom, not a state. A signpost for an unexpected street or perhaps a coming roadblock you hadn't conciously realized.

#1 Here I feel I am blocked due to a subtle bit of cognitive dissonance which would normally rise to a level I'd see but not always. My brain may feel it though. I used to pick through things to try to track it down, now I just delete and rewrite. It's faster, more fulfulling and, the results are almost always better.

#2 is much the same as #1 but in a different place. My concious mind thinks androids and aliens are exciting but my brain is perfectly set for witches and wizards. Stare at the scifi all day and blame writers block but the real problem may be that you didn't order what you actually wanted.

#3 is really just patience. Maybe you just ain't ready for it yet.

I have a book that's almost done. The last section is partially written and I know most of how to finish it. However, something isn't right. There are a great many threads to tie together and I have plans for most of them, certainly enough to finish a rough draft. Still, I feel nothing but discomfort trying to put down even a word. Here I've been blocked in rewrites and edits for the better part of two years. The rest of the book might be close to done. The reason for this post is that I saw it, what was going so disasterously wrong in my mind. I had set up a main character as a growing leader. Never consciously taking charge but always seeming to be at the center, respected and responsible for action even in her mistakes. I had no plans to have her accept, hell, grab that role in the last scenes and become the general that I've been writing her to be all along. This is important. It affects how all related scenes are shown. I likely would have had to throw out the ending and start all over again had I forced it.

My brain had gone so wide to focus on the myriad of threads that I'd overlooked the rope tying it all together. I can't imagine how disasterous this story would have been had I not caught my obvious misstep, not that it won't still be a disaster for entirely unrelated reasons. ;-) Fortunately, I am not in the habit of forcing a story. Patience isn't just a virtue, it's a mantra.