Friday, August 7, 2009

Writer's Hurdle


Now, let me make something clear right away - I'm not suffering from writer's block at this moment (knocks on near-by piece of wood), I am suffering through 'writer's hurdle'. Writer's hurdle shall be defined as "The failure to resolve a single plot point and thus brings the writing to a complete halt".

While laboring on my WIP I have tripped over this hurdle before. I cleared it with room to spare. But this time my brain keeps telling me "That doesn't make sense, you porridge-head!" I am not finding this encouraging. I have tried to take a step back and let the ideas flow in but so far I keep coming up against the same hurdle.

The agony is the fact I'm so close to finishing I can smell it. I know all I need to do is resolve this one point and everything will fall into place. I keep waiting for the bright idea to arrive with a 'ping' but this has not occurred.

I'm really hoping that writing about it will cue the ping. Or the pong. At this point any noise will do.


6 comments:

  1. Sometimes when I hit an impasse, I have to step back and away. Do something else, even take a nap, work in the yard, whatever. Once my mind is not trying so hard, it opens and ideas come.

    Helen
    Straight From Hel

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  2. When I reach a point like that, if I know how things are supposed to go BEYOND that point, I'll skip to that section and write from there on. By the time I have that scene done, the previous problem has usually worked itself out in my head.

    Lynda Sappington
    www.WhimsyHill.com

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  3. Elspeth, I thought I left you a comment...something silly, I'm sure. Did it get messed up? Galen

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  4. Send it again, Galen! Anything silly is warmly welcomed!

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  5. Well, darn. Hmmm. What I said was something like, how about an internet search on topics similar to where your—is stuck too strong—Maybe something will turn up there that might jog your creative juices. Also, how about revisions in the area of the problem. Sometimes, just revising gets the plot flowing again for me.

    In another light, are you on FaceBook? If so, why not add a Networked Blogs thing to your site and gradually build FB followers. One advantage is you can post your posts...so to speak through the NB widget on Facebook. I picked the post selectively option...ie, not automatically...'cause I don't always have a great post, so, don't wanna clutter up everyone's wall unless I think it's worthwhile. Anyway, just a thought. To see what they look like, check out mine next time you drop by I.F. Galen.

    Best Regards, Galen
    Imagineering Fiction Blog

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  6. I have had the "magic" come to me in a dream. Or in the car. For some reason driving in the car lets me relax and my creative juices kick in. Some times the answer comes when you're away from the computer.

    Your almost there, it will come.

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