 The Blank Page.jpg) Posted by Christie Kelley Feb 16 2012, 11:59 pm Sitting down to write this blog, all I had was a blank page and absolutely no idea of a topic. I b It’s terrifying. The clock is ticking and you’re just staring, praying an idea, a snippet of conversation will pop into your brain, or maybe a fabulous new character will arrive to save the book (and you). Some pe Is it? Is that my current problem? Nora Roberts will tell you that it’s far better to write something than nothing because you can’t edit and fix a blank page. I’m currently experiencing this phenomenon in my work in progress. It’s not coming out at the rate I need it to in order to make my deadline. But I’m hacking away. I’m hoping that when I get done, I can fix the mess and get the book to my editor in time. So I’m writing. And writing. Like this blog today, I’m babbling in hopes that at least some part of it will be salvageable. There might be no hope for this blog. I fear the rambling has gone beyond the point of no return. I guess I’m asking the writers of the group, how do you handle writer’s block? For the readers, have you ever read a book by an author and just knew that he/she was suffering writer’s block at some point in the book? TweetComments62 thoughts on “The Blank Page” |
  
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Hi, Christie–
When I feel like I’m struggling on something, I try to get enough if it together to send to a beta reader, then I work on something else while I wait. Stepping away for a while seems to help.
I’ve read books I felt didn’t flow smoothly and have wondered whether the author had to fight through.
Good luck with your deadline. I can’t wait to read the book!
Hey Nancy! Looks like you get the GR at your place today! Got any tortourous plans for him?
Is the rooster in Charlotte today? He is!
Let him be Herself’s slave for the day. Grins. Scratching the dog’s ears shouldn’t be beyond his devilish capacity.
Grins.
Hey, Nancy! Way to snag the feathered beast! Personally, I think he could use a little reminder of what discipline is all about. Helen’s been coddling him with Tim Tams and fun times in Oz. Time for him to shape up!
I think we can trust Herself to make sure there’s no coddling.
I hope you’re getting plenty of coddling, though, Ms. #15 on the NYT list! I thought One Book in the Grave was great.
Nancy
He had a pretty lazy day yesterday playing with Corey and Caitlyn and eating lots of Tim Tams so I would say he needs to work today
Have FUn
Helen
Nancy!
You got the GR!
Make him drive on your trip.
Oh wait. Maybe not.
Congrats on the GR, Nancy. I know there’s something wrong but I don’t have time to give it to a beta reader so I’ll have to push through.
Good luck, Christie!
Thanks, everyone, for the congrats on the rooster!
I left him in custody of the dh and Herself, who trusts the GR about as far as she could toss the QEII. The dh tends to assume nothing bad will happen, but Herself practices constant vigilance. So I’m sure all is well.
Mostly sure, anyway. . .
I’m in Atlanta with a friend to attend tomorrow’s GRW meeting. We browsed the Forum, and I bought new sneakers. I hope they work better than the last ones, which I ended up donating because they just didn’t ever get comfortable. The curse of narrow feet!
Hey Christie!
Yep, the dreaded “BLANK PAGE OF DOOM”!
I saw a saying, which I pinned on my Pinterest page that says, “Writer’s Block: When your imaginary friends won’t talk to you.” Isn’t that the truth?
So, here’s what I do…
1. Move to another part of the house with a sheet of paper and a pen. Put rock music in your ears and write what you think the next 3 scenes should be. THEN start trying to get there.
2. Pick the character not cooperating and let them write you a letter…”Dear Christie, this is why I’m not cooperating. You want me to do this, but my inherent self WON’T DO THAT…..etc.”
3. Stand in the hot shower OR iron. Yes, iron. Anything that isn’t writing, let your mind just focus on scrubbing your hair with shampoo and conditioner OR getting wrinkles out of clothes. I guarantee an idea will come to you. The shower because you have no where to write them down, (happens all the time to me) and ironing because it’s so mundane your Theta brain waves kick in and solve the problem. (ask Kat Baldwin who does a workshop called The Secret Life of Pantsers.)
Gotta say that I’d rather stand in the shower till I was a prune than iron, so I pick CLEAN!
That said, the “doing something else” ususally works for me too.
Jeanne,
Ironing is a genetic thing with me. My mom irons every night in her basement. It’s where she does her “worrying”. She irons and worries about the kids, (moi and my sibs), the grandkids, the great grandkids, the state of the world. I think she prays then too, so God knows she’s helping him work on the problems! hehehe
Me? I just iron when I have a huge pile or I need to fix something in a story!
Suz, it’s funny but I just can’t write with paper and pen. That page will be blank far longer than a white page on MS Word.
Rock and roll doesn’t do it for me with the writer. I tend to concentrate on the words to the songs. I do like the ironing thing. It’s similar to painting a wall, which was always great for the creativity.
Thanks!
Suz, I love “when your imaginary friends won’t talk to you.”
I get ideas in the shower sometimes, too.
I’m with Suz on this one. Sometimes forcing it works–and sometimes you have to. But sometimes doing something else, something mindless, unlocks your brain waves & lets whatever what trapped under all the trying float to the surface.
Suz’s friend (whose name escapes me at the moment) did a fantastic workshop on this last year at Natls. Something about plotting for the pantser or something? Suz? Help? But she had some scientific basis for doing dishes & other mindless stuff because it let that line of dialogue you’ve been struggling for just come up.
I jog. It works.
Jogging would so not work for me. I’d be constantly focused on why I hated jogging and why this was a Bad Idea that no snippet of dialogue or story concept would get through.
Jogging, for me, would be worse than staring at the blank page. It would be better for me than eating another helping of fried chicken, but then agian, most things are! SNORK!!!
Oh, Jeez…me too on the jogging. I can walk with the best of ‘em, but don’t ask me to run. I hate hate HATE to run.
Hate. It.
Pure misery and pain at the same time. Is it because I’m out of shape? Yes. But I’ll never be in shape if I have to run to get it. I hate it too much. Walking? I’m with you.
Hey Banditas! I had to chime in that I’m also a runner/walker when I’m having trouble figuring out what to write next. I’m also big on getting a massage…heh heh. I have to justify it somehow!
Christie, I also think one of the biggest reasons people experience “writer’s block” is that they’re judging what comes out even before they write it. Like, you consider all sorts of things to write but decide they aren’t good enough, so they don’t make it onto the page. Freeing yourself from “good enough” can help to unblock the dam!
hugs to all my Bandita buds!
Inara
Hugs to you, too, Inara! Nice to see you.
Hey Christie, Susan is right about this. It’s based on a bunch of studies done at (I think) UCLA years ago. Doing something you don’t have to think about–mowing the lawn, taking a shower, washing dishes–used to be driving on the interstate for me, but that’s so stressful now that it doesn’t work–triggers both sides of your brain to work in tandem–allowing you to either a) come up with creative ideas or b) solve problems. They even had it down to knowing which activities helped with which…for instance, walking helped with new idea creation, but roller skating or lawn mowing helped with problem solving–different motor skill usage triggered different parts of the brain. Incredibly interesting.
All that to say…if it’s a block about something like “where to go next in this story” or “what would this character do” the idea would be to do the “problem solving” bit. But if it’s a “I have no clue what to write about” you do the “creating” side of it.
Getting away from staring at the page is key for me. My muse likes visual stuff–landscapes moving by me–flows of visuals and ideas and sounds.
However, I can use that as a way to procrastinate too…so I guess everybody has to learn what works for them.
In my stories when I’m stuck, I’ve usually either started in the wrong place, or I haven’t gotten my characters to talk to me.–getting their voices in my head so I have a place from which to write. I have the most stubborn characters on the planet. Getting them to let me in is a trick I still haven’t mastered, and it slows me down in my writing. Often, it stops me cold.
Susan,
It was Kathleen Baldwin and titled “The Secret Life of Pantsers”.
It is one of the most fun workshops I’ve ever been in! And really explains why plotting tools don’t work for us except as check lists when we’re done writing and why our brains get “stuck”.
That’s it! Yay, Suz! I knew you’d come through! And Cassondra nailed it, too. (And I totally agree about driving on the interstate anymore–terrifying!)
I just wish I had more time for the mindless stuff because I know that works for me. This working full time thing is for the birds. There is just no time for creativity.
Hi, Christie–not a writer, so thankfully I rarely confront writer’s block
And no, I’ve never read a book where I’ve sensed from what I’ve read that the writer faced writer’s block… I imagine that most have at one point or another! I do think that taking a break may help–just as when you face other problems, sometimes turning aside and focusing on something else can help your brain rest enough to figure out what it wants to do.
Fedora, I think I just notice in books when I feel like the characters are acting out of character or a scene is just dragging on and on. Kind of like my WIP.
I sympathize, Christie! It’s a scary notion. But frankly, I refuse to go along with the idea of writer’s block. Basically, you’d just rather not be writing. In those moments, you should do as Suz said and go iron some shirts.
{{And by “you,” I mean *me.*
}}
When my brain won’t produce a creative thought and I need to write the next scene, I’ll often write out the dialogue only. I know what needs to happen in a particular scene so I have my characters talk it through. No setting, no emotions, no flourishes, just dialogue. Then I can usually build a scene around it.
I’m not sure if it’s a good thing, but I work well under pressure. If I have a looming deadline, I’m generally scared to death to miss it and that motivates me to write. My formula for creativity is this:
Fear + Adrenaline = Finished Book.
Or you can go iron.
Kate said: ,Fear + Adrenaline = Finished book
Yep. I can get behind this process too. I’m betting Christie’s feeling a bit of it as well. Grins. I can plan all I want, plotz (pantzing with some rudimentary plotting) and think all I want, but at some point the rubber has to meet the road and I have to sit in front of the computer and just roll with it.
My method is a little different. I think it was PC Cast who called it Brew and Spew, which I like. I can write on a story and write on it, and I do make progress. But at some point, I’ve Brewed long enough to have the thing really coalesce and BAM! there it goes onto the page with all color and light and action which had been missing before. :>
Kate, I’m a deadline pressure writer too.
That always worked great for me with journalism, but with novel-length fiction, it’s not working so well.
Seems I can’t just let my muse poke at it up until the night before, then sit down and crank out a full-length novel for the next day. Darn it.
Hehehe…you know, if every author followed my suggestion, there would be no author with even a single wrinkle in their wardrobe!
Suz, I loved your description of your mom ironing and talking to God. The two of them are ironing out the problems I’d say, and what better company than God for that solitary chore?
My mom used to just go upstairs to the attic bedroom to pray. Nary a thing got cleaned or ironed. The woman believed in being on her knees when she talked to God. Either works, I think, but I like your mom’s way better. And I love the look and feel of freshly ironed stuff. It says something about me, I guess, that I dropped my iron and broke it a year ago, and haven’t missed it. *sheepish grin*.
We do have a steamer, but it leaves things limp. Nothing like that freshly ironed feel.
I’m definitely in the Fear + Adrenaline = Finished Book mode. This weekend I need to write about 75 pages to catch up. I’m really hoping they’re right that we might get snow on Sunday!
For me if I suffer from writers block I take a break clear my head,do something else I enjoy like watch a classic movie,play with the dogs or play cards with kids or husband.
Do you find that suddenly you wish you were writing the movie you’re watching, Gail? I do. Every time I watch one of those screwball comedies from the 40s-50s I think, “Man, why don’t we have these anymore? I should write one!” Sadly, my WIP is not a screwball comedy. I write all these cute slapstick scenes & have to cut them ruthlessly out.
For me, it’s the mindless stuff that works. Painting, vacuuming, and I do need to try the ironing trick!
Hey Christie!
I have felt this pain, actually more about the blog than about books. Grins. Thanks to my plotting group, I’m usually revved to write the books. But sometimes I look at that blank blog page and think…..uh…..what the heck is relevant? Grins.
Ironing. Ironing is relevant!
Usually my critique group will fire me up. Unfortunately, we’ve had issues finding time to meet lately so we’re not getting a lot done.
I have decided that I’m going to completely plot out the next book and see if that makes it easier. I’m such a pantser but it’s not working when I have so little time.
Christie, I feel your pain. There’s nothing worse for a writer than a blank page. Or for a reader, either as a matter of fact. Don’t you hate when you’re reading a book and there’s all this fron and back matter that has NOTHING on it??
I do hate when you feel like a book just isn’t moving along.
What I used to tell my students when they said they had NOTHING to write about (and maybe they didn’t because they were sophomores LOL) was just to start writing.
Doesn’t matter what or how repetitive, but there’s something about the connection between the brain and the hands (or fingers if you’re on a computer) that frees up the right brain and allows those ideas to emerge.
I told them to write even if they had to write “damn, damn, damn,” over and over again until some idea popped into their heads. Being sophomores, they loved that their teacher gave them permission to swear on paper!
Hey Jo!
I had a great teacher Mr. Harker who would do stuff like that, tell us to write whateever, but he never told us to write damn! Wow, that would’ve gotten him some interesting essays!
Jo, I love it that you taught your students to free write to get it going. You and Julia Cameron would agree on that. Longhand freewriting does indeed free up the gray matter and loosens the muscle.
I’ve never been stuck for ideas since early college when we were taught to get the newspaper out and use one day’s newspaper to come up with 100 new story ideas. Easy Peasy.
For me, there’s always something to write about no matter where I look. The energy to write it, however..not so much.
I have found that just writing dialogs helps. I figure I can always go back and add to it after I get done with the draft.
I have read a very few books where the author seemed to have gotten lost. One in particular gave me the impression the author was writing two different books in the same manuscript. That was interesting, and hanging out in the lair my first thought was how did that get past the edits?
If I am having problems trying to get going on anything I do something else. Usually the something else is something I don’t really like to do or have been putting off. Then when I get back to my problem it is more like a reward for getting other onerous task out of the way. Ironing anyone????
YES! Another ironing convert!
Dianna, not all editors are created equal, and they’re human too of course (though we don’t always admit that out loud) and the more they have going across their desk, the less time they have to spend reading, so if they’re doing a really quick read, they might not notice something.
Interesting, too, that you almost never find that kind of editing mistake in a new or debut author, because the editor is watching like a hawk! IT’s a gift to have, good editing. When they start to trust you and don’t watch as closely, it doesn’t always do your books any favors.
Editors…we love them and we hate them. But without them, we don’t live up to our potentials, that’s for certain.
Something tells me my entire closet is getting ironed this weekend.
First off Christie, got the book, One Night Scandal, thank you! Will start reading this weekend.
And there is my answer to writer’s block, I shut it down and go read or watch a BCC costume drama, and after a few days *snort* the block is gone. Also pop obscene amounts of popcorn!
Karyn, the problem with shutting it down is the deadline is looming larger every day. I’m down to fear at this point. I don’t want to be late.
Christie
I am not a writer but I do hope with all the suggestions from everyone things will start to move a long for you I do so love your stories.
I guess I have read a few books that just weren’t up to the authors normal standard but I have to say there are very few books that I would say I didn’t enjoy.
Good luck
Have Fun
Helen
Thanks, Helen
Though I don’t do this often, if I’m suffering from not knowing what comes next I might actually skip ahead and write a scene that I know will come later. Usually, I’m pretty linear, but sometimes I’ll skip ahead just to be able to write something. Usually that will shake things lose and I can come back to the difficult part and move forward. But then other times I’ll watch a movie or a good TV show or read a really good book to refill the creative well.
Trish, I have never intentionally done the skip ahead thing. I have written some scenes and then decided they needed to go later. Maybe that would help. I just stuck in the mucky middle.
Christie, I know the pain whereof you speak. Actually even putting a line in helps me move on, even if I end up scrubbing it out before too long – usually do! But nothing taunts like a blank page. Hope your word wizardry gets going soon.
Thanks, Anna. I’ll just keep trying.
I use to love sketching and would get that blank page syndrome. Putting that first line (or word) seems like such a big thing. I don’t think I’ve noticed that in my reading although sometimes it seems like books have ended abruptly so either they were due or they couldn’t think of anything else lol.
I’ve seen those abrupt endings too. I’ve always wondered if it was a case of the book being due or the author just wanting to be done.
Hello Suzanne,
I’m not sure if I ever thought of a disappointing book as a result of writer’s block. Sometimes I think maybe they’re just rushing to finish the book.
As a reader I can’t say that I ever thought there had been an episode of writer’s block during the reading. Very interesting though. Now that I’m more aware I wonder if I would ever notice.
Danielle Steele was that way for me. All of her books started sounding alike.
Okay, I’m coming in very late with this… as my phone lines were cut last week by Telstra (the bastards) and weren’t fixed for a week….
Writers’ Block? Me? I paint. I get myself in front of the easel and paint something… anything and usually the ideas start up again… usually right in the middle of whatever painting I’m doing.
Or get outside and do some gardening… and I don’t mean watering the lawn – nope – I mean, pulling out the weeds, mowing the lawn, repotting the plants! I mean good, dirty sweaty gardening.