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The mental block. A mortal enemy for us, authors. Bane of our existence.
For those who are not aware of it yet, mental block (in the context for us authors) is the condition where you are seemingly unable to produce a 'good' idea or draft. There are many reasons for it, most that I've seen are depression, boredom, or simply you are out of ideas. This thread aims to give tips on how to overcome mental block and get you writing that story that has accumulated online dust in your computer's files.
Let me start by giving an example of myself. As an author, I'm a lazy person. There are days where I don't write. Or a chapter would take several days, or weeks, to finish. However, as I said in my previous thread, I got several books behind me written in the span of three years (May 2019-July 2022). How did I do that?
My way of writing is as follows:
1) I'm a planner. Before I write my story, I already know its end, written on some notebook, or digital notepad. Yes, I understand that a lot of us are lazy to take down notes; we can remember the good idea in our head anyway. However, for me, I still write those down because once your head is swamped with ideas, you might end up forgetting many of those. This can lead to conditions for mental block.
For reference, here's how I plan my stories:
I answer all those parts, since it's helpful to me when I'm reminded that my story is going to this certain direction, not the way some of the readers demand. Taking down notes of your ideas also help you sort it out: which one is better for this part? And which one can be used in the future chapters? Another benefit of this is that when you keep pouring out your ideas, you might eventually arrive on the better concepts to improve your narrative. Think of it like an unsharpened pencil; the more you sharpen it (and produce dust), the better it becomes. Likewise, the human mind is like that.
Question: is this technique applicable to pantsers? My answer is yes, it is applicable. No, not the detailed planning, but a general outline of your work will do.
2) The deadline. Most of the other authors disagree with me on this. After all, we follow our own paces, right? Well, I understand that, but see, I'm a busy person...or at least, I try myself to be busy, for my head can't be left idle (because of my bipolar condition). For each volume that I write, I set a deadline for myself, usually three to four weeks after I wrote the first chapter of the said book.
Why, you ask? This is my way of circumventing my laziness as an author. If my work dragged on, it can end up 10 years inside my development hell, just like one story of mine (which only had one volume, but I'm working on it again as I write this). Not to mention, I'm a teacher and a legal consultant as well. Once work demands more time, I wouldn't have a second to spend on other things. So, I aim to finish my stories in the soonest possible time.
3) Remove the distractions. One of the hard parts, yes. Removing distractions can help you avoid conditions that ends in mental block. See, there are times that when we do something else in the middle of our writing, we happen to chance upon a seemingly good idea. Then we try to incorporate it to our work. However, the problem arises: that idea is way too good that it doesn't fit your story anywhere. So, you try to accommodate by changing--at first the insignificant parts, but then it goes to the major points of your work, leading to confusion on your part.
It's one of the conditions for mental block: confusion.
Focus is the key. Removing/avoiding these distractions doesn't mean you'd stay away from those things you enjoy forever. You just have to keep it away from you while writing. For me, whenever I'm in the middle of writing, I don't play games, don't watch anime, and/or never read manga.
4) The attitude. Yes, this is the most important in fighting mental block. When you're determined to finish something, a 'mental block' becomes a 'rest period' instead. Whenever I hit that, I just take a rest and try to write. If the drafts I've written seems bad, I try to do other things, take a rest, and then try to write once more.
The key is to take it easy. If you can't write entire chapters in one sitting, do it paragraph by paragraph, with breaks in between. Nevertheless, determination to finish your work is important.
Also, I suggest that you don't throw away the drafts that you've written while going through a mental block. For now, it may be the worst you've ever written, but see, once you're in a better condition, it might turn out to be the best that came out of your head. After all, depression/sadness is one of the strongest feelings, and powerful emotions can help us drive an idea from the depths of our minds.
Boredom, however, is a different matter. If you're bored, take a time off your writing and do something else till you get tired of it.
Extra tip 1: When you're serious in writing, try to develop a routine. For me, after three to four weeks of writing, I take a break for a month or two. I don't touch my notes during those times, not even a peek of the manuscript. Once I'm rested, then I go back to my 'writing mode' for three to four weeks again, looking forward to the day I end my volume, and another month or two of rest.
Extra tip 2: Rewarding yourself for a job well-done (i. e., finished an entire volume) is recommended. It may not necessarily involve monetary rewards; a good game will do, or a nice, quiet time watching your favorite show with your non-existent girlfriend/boyfriend.
So there, I hope that these will help some of the authors here struggling with mental block. If you have other tips and experiences, please feel free to reply to this thread for the benefit of others.
For those who are not aware of it yet, mental block (in the context for us authors) is the condition where you are seemingly unable to produce a 'good' idea or draft. There are many reasons for it, most that I've seen are depression, boredom, or simply you are out of ideas. This thread aims to give tips on how to overcome mental block and get you writing that story that has accumulated online dust in your computer's files.
Let me start by giving an example of myself. As an author, I'm a lazy person. There are days where I don't write. Or a chapter would take several days, or weeks, to finish. However, as I said in my previous thread, I got several books behind me written in the span of three years (May 2019-July 2022). How did I do that?
My way of writing is as follows:
1) I'm a planner. Before I write my story, I already know its end, written on some notebook, or digital notepad. Yes, I understand that a lot of us are lazy to take down notes; we can remember the good idea in our head anyway. However, for me, I still write those down because once your head is swamped with ideas, you might end up forgetting many of those. This can lead to conditions for mental block.
For reference, here's how I plan my stories:
I answer all those parts, since it's helpful to me when I'm reminded that my story is going to this certain direction, not the way some of the readers demand. Taking down notes of your ideas also help you sort it out: which one is better for this part? And which one can be used in the future chapters? Another benefit of this is that when you keep pouring out your ideas, you might eventually arrive on the better concepts to improve your narrative. Think of it like an unsharpened pencil; the more you sharpen it (and produce dust), the better it becomes. Likewise, the human mind is like that.
Question: is this technique applicable to pantsers? My answer is yes, it is applicable. No, not the detailed planning, but a general outline of your work will do.
2) The deadline. Most of the other authors disagree with me on this. After all, we follow our own paces, right? Well, I understand that, but see, I'm a busy person...or at least, I try myself to be busy, for my head can't be left idle (because of my bipolar condition). For each volume that I write, I set a deadline for myself, usually three to four weeks after I wrote the first chapter of the said book.
Why, you ask? This is my way of circumventing my laziness as an author. If my work dragged on, it can end up 10 years inside my development hell, just like one story of mine (which only had one volume, but I'm working on it again as I write this). Not to mention, I'm a teacher and a legal consultant as well. Once work demands more time, I wouldn't have a second to spend on other things. So, I aim to finish my stories in the soonest possible time.
3) Remove the distractions. One of the hard parts, yes. Removing distractions can help you avoid conditions that ends in mental block. See, there are times that when we do something else in the middle of our writing, we happen to chance upon a seemingly good idea. Then we try to incorporate it to our work. However, the problem arises: that idea is way too good that it doesn't fit your story anywhere. So, you try to accommodate by changing--at first the insignificant parts, but then it goes to the major points of your work, leading to confusion on your part.
It's one of the conditions for mental block: confusion.
Focus is the key. Removing/avoiding these distractions doesn't mean you'd stay away from those things you enjoy forever. You just have to keep it away from you while writing. For me, whenever I'm in the middle of writing, I don't play games, don't watch anime, and/or never read manga.
4) The attitude. Yes, this is the most important in fighting mental block. When you're determined to finish something, a 'mental block' becomes a 'rest period' instead. Whenever I hit that, I just take a rest and try to write. If the drafts I've written seems bad, I try to do other things, take a rest, and then try to write once more.
The key is to take it easy. If you can't write entire chapters in one sitting, do it paragraph by paragraph, with breaks in between. Nevertheless, determination to finish your work is important.
Also, I suggest that you don't throw away the drafts that you've written while going through a mental block. For now, it may be the worst you've ever written, but see, once you're in a better condition, it might turn out to be the best that came out of your head. After all, depression/sadness is one of the strongest feelings, and powerful emotions can help us drive an idea from the depths of our minds.
Boredom, however, is a different matter. If you're bored, take a time off your writing and do something else till you get tired of it.
Extra tip 1: When you're serious in writing, try to develop a routine. For me, after three to four weeks of writing, I take a break for a month or two. I don't touch my notes during those times, not even a peek of the manuscript. Once I'm rested, then I go back to my 'writing mode' for three to four weeks again, looking forward to the day I end my volume, and another month or two of rest.
Extra tip 2: Rewarding yourself for a job well-done (i. e., finished an entire volume) is recommended. It may not necessarily involve monetary rewards; a good game will do, or a nice, quiet time watching your favorite show with your non-existent girlfriend/boyfriend.
So there, I hope that these will help some of the authors here struggling with mental block. If you have other tips and experiences, please feel free to reply to this thread for the benefit of others.
