"Take This Job and Shove It" is a Country Song NOT a Best Practice
Some people who are dissatisfied with their jobs might think it would be liberating to just quit and tell the boss that they can take the job and shove it. But in reality, this is not a good idea, and here's why.
If you've ever been afflicted with writer's block, you'll know it's no laughing matter — it can impede your writing for days, weeks, or even months. And while it's tempting to just ignore the problem and hope that it goes away, writer's block is one of those pests that requires active extermination.
This is why I have a system for dealing with writer's block. For those of you who don't know it, here's what my method looks like (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: The "System" For Dealing With Writer's Block.
If you find yourself suffering from writer's block, go through this process:
Step 1: Get Outside Yourself — Find Somebody Else!
Psychologist and behaviorist B.F. Skinner was the first to identify this strategy as an effective way to overcome writer's block (Skinner, 1973). He later called it "dancing.
How does it work? Quite simply, if you're suffering from writer's block, get outside of your usual viewpoints and try to put yourself in somebody else's shoes. Maybe you've been writing inside the viewpoint of a scientist who believes that all of reality is made up of tiny subatomic particles. Well, then switch to writing in the viewpoint of a rock star who believes that reality is actually made up of tiny subatomic particles. Now try again.
Figure 2: An Example of Why Switching Perspectives Helps You Overcome Writer's Block.
In the example in Figure 2, I've written about a rock star who believes that reality is made up of tiny subatomic particles, but my main character is a kid. So what's she thinking about? Well, if you don't already know the answer, it's "her guitar." In fact, she's thinking so often about her guitar that she feels as if her guitar is actually talking to her.
Dancing Your Way Out Of Writer's Block. Notice how switching viewpoints made everything easier for me to write? So try it! You'll find that as soon–as you're no longer writing inside yourself — or inside somebody else — the ability to write your story returns.
Step 2: Write In A Pseudo-Scientific Manner
Psychologist Carl Jung began to advocate this method because he found that scientists are often interested in exploring the "inner" world of the human mind. As such, they're often interested in exploring what their imagination is capable of — how we all tend to think, feel and know things. And since writing is essentially about creating stories, writers can also use their minds' inner worlds as a tool for creating new stories.
The idea is simple: By writing fiction in a scientific manner, you're simply telling your story from the viewpoint of a scientist who believes that all reality is actually made up of tiny particles.
Figure 3: An Example of "Writing In A Pseudo-Scientific Manner."
In the example in Figure 3, I've written about a scientist who believes that all reality is actually made up of tiny particles, but my main character is a kid. So what's he thinking about? Well, as a scientist who believes that all reality is actually made up of tiny particles, my main character thinks a lot about his experiment — his science experiment — in which he's investigating the possibility that everything might actually be made up of tiny particles.
Dancing Your Way Out Of Writer's Block. You can see that switching to writing in a pseudo-scientific manner made everything easier for me to write. So give it a try!
Step 3: Write About Something That Doesn't Exist
Psychologist Carl Jung was interested in exploring the inner world of the human psyche because he believed that we tend to think, feel and know things that don't exist in the physical world (see Figure 4). And since writers create stories, they can use their own imaginative minds' inner worlds as a tool for creating new stories.
The idea is simple: By creating stories about things that don't exist, you're simply telling a story from the viewpoint of a person who believes that everything might actually be made up of tiny particles.
Figure 4: An Example of "Writing About Something That Doesn't Exist."
In the example in Figure 4, I've written about something that doesn't exist, but my main character is a kid. So what's she thinking about? Well if you don't already know the answer, it's her dream. In fact, as you can see here (see Figure 5), my main character has been dreaming about something that doesn't exist — this thing called "ghosts," for example.
Dancing Your Way Out Of Writer's Block. When you write in a non-existent manner, you're telling a story from the viewpoint of somebody who believes that everything might actually be made up of tiny particles. This is where we get back to my three-step method for dealing with writer's block — just begin to switch viewpoints, write pseudo-scientific stories, and finally use something that doesn't exist as the basis for your story. Before long you'll experience writer's block becoming like a bad case of fleas.
Figure 5: An Example of Writing About Something That Doesn't Exist.
And remember, even if you can't find an existing object that works for you, the invention of your own imaginary object — like the "ghost" in the example above — can help you overcome writer's block.
Step 4: Dance Your Way Out Of Writer's Block
Finally, it is important to remember that simply finding a character that runs with your idea is not enough. In order to fully dance your way out of writer's block, you need to integrate this idea into every portion of your writing life — everything from figuring out who all of your main characters are (chapter 2) to actually writing the story itself (chapter 3). But don't worry, the more you work on integrating this idea into your own writing life, the easier it will become to dance your way out of writer's block.
Writing Fiction Is About Changing Perspectives
We've just covered some of the several different kinds of ways in which writers can go about creating new stories. We've looked at things like switching viewpoints, using pseudo-scientific writing and things that don't exist.
But there are an infinite number of perspectives and ways to change them — everything from switching perspectives to dancing instead — and it's my hope that by explaining these various other techniques in detail, you'll be able to choose one or two of them as the best choice for pursuing during writer's block.
Conclusion
Writing fiction is not an easy process.
However, the process of writing fiction is made much easier when you change your perspective.
By changing your perspective to one of the several techniques we've just covered in this chapter, you'll be able to create new stories more easily and more quickly. And before long, these same techniques will also help you avoid writer's block altogether.
So just pick one or two of the ideas presented here, and then begin dancing your way out of writer's block! (See? Here I am doing it again.)
CHAPTER 5:
How Language Can Help You Tell Stories
The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.