Writer's Block

[vickiconner]

I've heard that writer's block is a serious malady for a lot of writers, infecting and crippling the creative process. I've also heard that some of these writers go to the extreme, hoping to cure it. (You say you stood on your head to increase the blood flow to your brain? And when that didn't work you ate WHAT?)

Fortunately, this is a condition I have never suffered. It could be that I have luck on my side. (Maybe I carry the antibody that protects me.) Or maybe, as I have mentioned before, it's the fact that my brain runs full blast 24/7--yes, even those rare moments when I sleep. At times, it can be difficult to slow the gears down enough to pluck a worthwhile tidbit from the spinning wheel in my head, but the ideas are always there.

Don't hate me; I come baring gifts. For those of you worrying that the spokes in you wheel may have become rusty, I have a suggestion.

Ever play the "what if" game?

What if I woke up tomorrow and discovered my best friend had posted my darkest secret on her Facebook page? Yikes!

What if the hunkiest guy in the world walked past me with his nose in the air, and despite trying really, really hard, I lost the battle with my self-control, and stuck my foot out just in time to topple him? What if his prosthesis slipped off and he flailed around on the cement until he found his cell phone and called his brother for help, his brother who had to leave his best friend's funeral, in a wheelchair, to help him up? (Um, did I do that?)

What if I won the lottery? What if the owner of the store where I bought the ticket called to congratulate me and fell madly in love with me, offering me his hand in marriage? What if I had a last fling with the stripper at my bachelorette party, only to discover a week later he's my new brother-in-law? What if one month later I find out I'm pregnant? (oops)

What if I gave birth to a warewolf? (miraculous conception, of course)

What if I gave birth to Edward's son (no miraculous conception here!). What if he grew up to help me remind his sister everyday that their mother had the hots for his father? (BRAHAHAHAHA)

So if you ever find youself suffering writer's block, give this game a try. I can't gaurantee it will cure what ails you, but I can gaurantee, that if you do it right, you'll have a little fun.

And that may be all it takes to oil the wheel in your head.



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[Falls Apart]

I don't think you're talking about writer's block here. Writer's block (as I know it) is when you have an idea but the words just aren't coming. Generally, the problem behind it is that there's a serious problem with the story (e.g. a character doing something that (s)he really wouldn't, a plot hole, a lack of detailed comprehension on the part of the author on the world of the story, etc.) and the solution is almost always to go back and fix it. If somebody's writing a (fictitious) book, then they already have played the "What If" game, or they wouldn't have an idea in the first place.

[Mike R]

What Fallsapart said.

My wife told me in an agonizing moment of blockage, "If you are stuck, you're probably going in the wrong direction."

So, now, when I get stuck, I back up a ways and take another run at it. Usually works.

[vickiconner]

Having never experienced it, I guess it's hard for me to distinquish the two apart. Thank you for the clarification. And the advice.

[Nigel Haberdash]

I just drink Jack Daniels.