Why do I….
2009 July 10
keep running into a wall when it comes to writing? 
I have some of the most amazing ideas running through my head for stories and I can outline them and do my character sketches but when it comes to words or generating more scenes for the story I just balk.
Stuck in the friggin’ mud
Hit the brick wall
Crash and burn
I think you get the point. Sitting here looking at the preliminary work that I’ve done on this piece and I’ve got six scenes laid out but I just can’t seem to go further! Very frustrating.
What do you do to spur yourself on? How do you break past the barrier?
Couple of suggestions:
Writing exercises — Just write stuff. Nothing major, doesn’t have to be good. Just describe something you see, or write about something you’ve done, or try to write a vignette without using adjectives or adverbs, or try and say something in a limited word count, or whatever.
Poetry — Write and read. Poets have a way of saying things which might spark something, give you a new way to look at something, or just give you a description you’d not thought of yourself.
Free-writing — Just start writing. Don’t edit. Nothing’s off limits, nothing’s going to see the light of day. Just you, the editing program and your brain. Write anything and everything that floats through it for a set duration (ten minutes, twenty, five, whatever). Don’t stop to correct, don’t force yourself to stay on topic, don’t do anything which puts a limit of any kind on the exercise. Just writing.
One-page Sentences — Write a sentence which takes up the entire page; no periods, all one long sentence. Sometimes this will break something loose.
Flash Fiction — Force yourself to stay to less than a thousand words and work up a vignette. Very challenging!
Those ideas might help, but honestly, the only way to break through a wall (and Lord knows, I’ve hit one) is to write through it.
Good luck!
How do I spur myself on? Sometimes I’ll use Write or Die on Kamikaze mode. For some reason, the threat of having it erase words I’ve typed seems to kick things free a little.
http://lab.drwicked.com/writeordie.html
Just remember, You can always revise the stupid or boring stuff out later.