GOD, I hate writer's block!
It's like the flu...like AIDS...it keeps coming back and coming back, each time in some different form...
I want to write so badly, but I can't. Have I been analyzing to the point that I've paralyzed myself? Have I been working too hard with too little rest? Have I been beating myself up too much? I think it's a combination of the three...
I want Dust to have this overwhelming realization that God has always loved him, no matter what he's done, but I don't want it to be like some cheesy, Southern-Baptist 'you-must-be-born-again' crap! And I don't want it to be underdramatic either! It's a big deal in his life! But at the same time, I don't want this big thing of 'Once Saved, Always Saved' to get tied to it even if it's never in the book (or true, for that matter)! But at the same time...why can't I write about Dust telling Salvos Cryptman of his childhood years in conjunction with his quest for power? Why can't I get Salvos to speak with Dust in the way his character should? He seems like some butler, or something! Some old, mutilated man that seems to like showing off how much he knows...and why can't I get either of them to have a meal in which they don't seem to be eating like pigs?! It's never been a problem before!
And what the Hell's with Palkazz?! Why can't I get that train moving?!
He doesn't even know his own name! How do I get the dying old man on the island to give him one without seeming like the old man's hallucinating, or something? And as for his daughter, what will she do when her father's finally died? Will she go out into the jungle alone, or will she stick around at the Tower and keep an eye on Palkazz? And how am I gonna make it so a priest just happens to wash up on Bone Beach and marry the two of them later?! Kinda random, don't you think?!
And don't even get me started on Tholbius! How is he going to maintain power over Ghosts if that power resides in Vlad alone?! How many ghosts are protecting him, and when does he learn of that? Who's the statue-girl, and when/how does she come to life?! How many ruins are there? What technology does he use, harnessing the electrical reserves of the Ruin's crystals? Where does he get food?
How the Hell does Dust learn Necromancy? How does the issue of the Nox Novum come up? Are there Sand Jackals or not?! Does he actually fall in love with Anne, or does she even EXIST?! GOD! HOW I HATE WRITER'S BLOCK!!!!
I can't even continue with Vlad's meeting with Grendel and Nasgreal in the Udholme Ruins! I don't know HOW he and that possessed Warlock are going to fight, whether or not he gets poisoned, and how he's going to excorsize Scorpio of the Demons and save his soul! I don't even know WHAT THAT STUPID ORACLE IS GOING TO TELL HIM!!!!!!!
God! I hate writer's block...
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ReplyDeleteWrite a stream-of-consciousness piece from the point of view of one of your characters. In fact, you might even create a blog for each of your characters. Whenever you have writer's block, that doesn't necessarily mean your characters have writer's block. Inhabit your characters and write from their perspective. Have them write letters to one another. Or to you. Keep it fresh--
Excellent thougts from Mr.Maddox, and I'd reinforce two things--writing is primarily about listening, i.e., hearing your characters tell you their lives, rather than trying to create them. Secondly, having so many lives to write and weave would daunt anybody! Don't mistake feeling daunted with feeling blocked. Feeling blocked probably suggests "performance anxiety" and putting too much pressure on yourself... Which you're more likely to do, when you're not doing the thing that comes most naturally. I'd encourage you to discern what comes most naturally, in any of your creative moments. If it is writing--who is tugging at you hardest to tell their story or move them along? If it is photography, even tho you'd planned that time for writing, follow the spirit and take your camera on a walk. You'll be led, I promise. Life is about listening, following, and opening yourself to the natural affections that draw you and demand your attention! Sorry school has to %$#&ing interfere with that so much...
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