NEXT EXTRACT FROM LIFE-WRITES:

STUCK IN THE MUD

Whenever a group of writers get together, sooner or later the subject of writer’s block will be introduced into the equation. In most cases this is an over-milked excuse for not starting or completing a typescript. As I’ve said before, a professional writer can’t afford to employ such a plea for sympathy, although they do recognise the need for regular stimulation to generate ideas.

If an idea isn’t working and there isn’t a dead-line to meet, the professional will leave it alone and do something else – read a book, do some gardening, take the dog for a walk, or attend to the pile of research material that needs filing. Even the most seasoned writer will ‘dry up’ from time to time but they don’t stop working, they turn their attention to something else for a while. Dead-lines are probably the most effective means of beating the dreaded blockage since they ‘concentrate the mind wonderfully’, wrote the late Nancy Smith when she was asked for a comment when I was compiling From An Editor’s Desk.

“If a professional writer is commissioned to write a piece by a specific date, it’s rare for them not to finish it by then. Writer’s block does exist but the main cause is probably due to lack of planning, so far as the novel is concerned, at least. It may be that the story-line isn’t strong enough and needs to be abandoned, or it may be that they should leave it for a while, and start on something else until their enthusiasm is re-kindled.”

Many of the techniques discussed in Life-Writes are designed to push both our conscious and subconscious minds to extremes, even when we’re relaxing. We soon come to realise that some of our best ideas have occurred when we’re away from the computer and not thinking about anything remotely connected with writing. An author of my acquaintance recently admitted that she had an astounding flash of creative insight while she was in the middle of cleaning out the cat’s litter tray!

Hopefully Life-Writes will provide more pleasant ways of clearing any blockage because it illustrates that there are more facets to creative writing than sitting at the key board for hours on end, churning out mere words. By taking a break from writing, and under the right conditions/atmosphere/exercises, we can often achieve far more with an hour’s relaxation than by forcing ourselves to carry on typing.

Although we need to remain focused on the job in hand, there should be plenty of time allowed for the unconscious mind to put in its own four-penny worth. Thinking side-ways means allowing those right-brain influences to come through even if we happen to be in the middle of writing something else, because those new ideas might make the piece even better.

Who said you could only have one good idea at a time?