Vaporizing Writers' Block

[S.W.A.T.K.]

I figured it could be helpful to offer some tips based on my experience in/my approach to writing. This deals primarily with novel-writing, but I'll probably include some non-fiction/school-type writing tips later.

Feel free to add to this list any tips you might have.



"Proper" Writing

First, your English teachers' word is not final. Yes, you have to follow their rules in class, but outside of school, the English language is completely up to you. It's exactly like Art; while your Art teacher wants you to create images via conventional, boring methods in class, it is only to help you establish a solid understanding of what is proper, and, outside of class, you are free to make abstract paintings to your heart's content. See, basic grammar and composition are hurdles you must o'er leap, but once you have proven that you understand the brush you paint with, you can frolic through fields of free verse. The rigidity and dullness of "perfect English" is not mandatory. The goal of the writer is to take his thoughts and put them into the readers' imaginations. If you must use a sentence fragment, use one. If you must forsake realism for the sake of entertainment, we will forgive you. After all, readers read to be entertained, and we don't much care if you step over a boundary or two to achieve that.

With this in mind, write in peace. And most of all, remember that you are writing to please an audience of one. If you thoroughly enjoy reading your own work, your readers will likely follow suit.

Related topics from the future:
The Rule of Cool
The Rule of Funny


Timing

Timing is highly important, no matter which angle you approach it from. In fact, there are several angles to this, but I'll tackle just one for now.

You need to know when and for how long you are going to write, when you begin. You will get nowhere fast as long as you write only when you can't think of something else to do, or when the notion of fulfilling your dream of writing a bestseller strikes you as immediately urgent. The truth is, you won't get anywhere unless you set aside a certain amount of time for writing. For instance, you might say, "I am going to write for two hours today," or, "I am going to write for four hours today." It all depends on how much free time you really have. My schedule is highly variable right now due to my impending transition from living at home to living in a college dorm room with a student who, given my luck, will inevitably prove loud and annoying in the superlative degree.

This leads me to my next topic.


Silence

Silence is the writer's friend. Obnoxious television dialogue, too-audible-to-be-healthy music blasting from the earphones of the guy sitting next to you, and conversations carrying through the paper-thin walls of your house clutter the mind and seep through your brain until something unwanted finds itself on page 28. Especially if you have sensitive hearing and are easily distracted. The last thing you need when you're composing the climax of your novel is a loud knocking on your bedroom door, followed by a shrill, "Come out here and spend some time with the family!" Not that family time is bad. It's just bad right now.

So, in order to effectively rid yourself of all distractions for just a few hours, it is best to try one of the following.

• Find a quiet spot somewhere, be it outside, or in a closet in the basement of your house. You might try a friend's house, though only if it feels comfortable enough to you to let your thoughts flow freely.
  
• Find a quiet time. Though I am no morning person, I find that it is best to get up and write in the silence of my kitchen as the sun rises over the horizon. Not only does this habit provide both an escape from the outside world and inspiring visual stimulus, but it also eliminates the presence of all the clutter that accumulates in your brain throughout the day (the stuff that overrides the imagination in your dreams).*
  
• Replace noise with music, if silence is not an option. No, I don't mean the kind of music that has lyrics. I mean instrumental stuff. Music that fills your mind without interrupting your word flow. Trust me, if you write while listening to a singer, your words will soon begin to sound like those of the lyricist. And you don't want that. Nobody likes a traced picture; your writing must be made of you.
  

* I must again stress the early morning. Noise, colors, and various advertisements float through your brain at night as you sleep. The outside world fights hard for your attention every single day, and by sunset, your imagination will be essentially dominated by the flashing colors, annoying noises, catchy jingles, and blaring words (which are usually in ALL CAPS, by the way). It actually affects your dreams by contaminating your imagination. And if they can infiltrate even your dreams, which are pure imaginative constructions (the time when our creative processes are at their strongest), how much more, then, can they infiltrate your forced constructions of imagination -- your conscious creative works? But in the morning, your mind begins afresh and can be put to its best and purest work. If you want pure originality, pure you-ness incorporated into every ounce of your story, do your thinking in the morning. Write your best thoughts down lest ye forget.


Your Muse

It is the thing that keeps you interested in whatever it is you're writing. It is ever-so-elusive and ever-so-difficult to keep a firm grasp on. Why? Because we get distracted. To combat this disinterest, you simply need to think. Start from the beginning. Ask questions. Develop the story, the characters, the setting, the dialogue. What you are essentially doing is piecing together the world you have created and attempting to make sense of whatever is going on inside it. When possible, think over your story. Even things you already went over. Pieces will come together where you thought none belonged.

I can't stress this enough. Muse, muse, muse. Roll your ideas over and over; swish them about in your head until it is ripe. Move the parts around, add some new elements, fix the weak spots. Once your mental oven-timer has sounded, you'll know the story has baked into a light golden-brown and is ready to be put to words. Trust me. You'll know when the time is right.


Imagination

The purest form of all entertainment. Fiction, music, dancing, art, humor, even sports. It is our reaction to being created in the image of the Creator. We love to create. Imagination is the most unlimited forms of creation if it is never brought into the physical realm. You must exercise your imagination daily. If it is creating imaginary worlds, composing imaginary music, or daydreaming about blowing up your mathematics classroom, your imagination must be put to use. The more you use it, the better it gets. Your imagination, like your muscles, grows as you put it to use. As you work your imagination, it will start creating pure and original ideas more frequently, it will incorporate small details faster, and it will analyze and synthesize larger and larger pieces of your imaginative creations. Eventually, you will be able to explore entire worlds that you created in mere minutes, making up the details as you go along with ease. It is more fun than any video game I've ever played, more fascinating than any book I have ever read, and more satisfying than any music I have ever listened to. Highly addictive.

Arthur: Cobb said you'd be back.
Ariadne: I tried not to come, but...
Arthur: But there's nothing quite like it.
Ariadne: It's just... pure creation.
-Inception

[Griffin2448]

Ambient Noises


Sometimes when you are writing it helps to have a little background noise that isn't just music. Something that's quite and makes you feel happy . For instance, if you opened a window in your office to hear the birds chirp, the wind blow, or sometimes even a car going by. All of these noises could depend on what you find comforting.

You could also turn the TV on a low volume, and turn the channel to some monotone, don't need to pay attention shows. Like 'How its Made'. That show is very easy to watch, with a nice narration in the background.

[S.W.A.T.K.]

The Rule of Cool

Good writers will run into all sorts of criticism. Usually, critics (especially English majors) will want you to avoid every single cliche. I myself have a tendency to be a little too harsh in this area too, but I've learned there are certain rules that trump any warning against falling for certain tropes.

Rule Number One is the Rule of Cool. The Rule of Cool says that you can do whatever you want in your story, realistic and original or not, so long as it's cool. In other words, it doesn't matter if Bruce Willis steps out of a careening car without being rolled halfway down the street by the car's momentum, because frankly, it just looks cool. ;D

You see, writing is more than following proper English mechanics. Writing is entertainment, and what makes a piece entertaining is not perfect grammar. It is the quality of the story and how well the writer tells it.

The Rule of Funny

Now, this is, personally, my most frequently cited rule. Sometimes, the laws of physics don't have to apply when you're trying to be funny. I'm sure a Redwall character wouldn't know anything about pop culture, but I had such a funny line planned. So, I ignored the reality of the situation and breached the fourth wall.

Breaching the Fourth Wall is a way some writers like to take advantage of the Rule of Funny. You see, stories have their own realities, realities that are often not connected to ours. A character in the context of Middle Earth does not know who Bruce Willis is. But there is always the option of breaching the fourth wall, which basically involves the character displaying knowledge of facts outside of his assumed scope of knowledge. Basically, it's like when a comic book character acknowledges he's in a comic, or when a movie character acknowledges he's in a movie, so on, and so forth.

The city would be saved from its ignoble present by its glorious past. He had the means, and he had the end. ... He could think in italics. Such people need watching. Preferably from a safe distance.
— Men at Arms, Terry Pratchett.