Writer's Block - CrimeSpace2024-03-29T15:13:51Zhttp://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/537324:Topic:103083?id=537324%3ATopic%3A103083&feed=yes&xn_auth=noI don't force it. I go and do…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-12-13:537324:Comment:1040592007-12-13T18:25:00.912ZI. J. Parkerhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
I don't force it. I go and do something else: research, taking a walk, working in the garden, whatever. It generally takes at least 24 hours before I get a solution.
I don't force it. I go and do something else: research, taking a walk, working in the garden, whatever. It generally takes at least 24 hours before I get a solution. Probably so, but that's just…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-12-13:537324:Comment:1040572007-12-13T18:21:52.676ZJohn Dishonhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/whiteskwirl
Probably so, but that's just the reason I have the block. I agree with you when you said King is describing writer's blocks origins, but not with what he says it is. I agree that writer's block can happen when we try to be better writers than we are, but that is the origin, not the thing itself. The thing itself is an inability to write. Stephen King also has said, if I'm not mistaken (I believe it's in On Writing, but I'm not sure) that he has had writer's block.
Probably so, but that's just the reason I have the block. I agree with you when you said King is describing writer's blocks origins, but not with what he says it is. I agree that writer's block can happen when we try to be better writers than we are, but that is the origin, not the thing itself. The thing itself is an inability to write. Stephen King also has said, if I'm not mistaken (I believe it's in On Writing, but I'm not sure) that he has had writer's block. John, when you say "This occu…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-12-13:537324:Comment:1040482007-12-13T18:00:36.463ZDana Kinghttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
John, when you say "This occurs for me when I am too afraid that what I will write will be bad, so I don't face the blank page at all.," it sounds to me like you're agreeing with King. (Writer's block is what happens when we try to be better writers than we are.) No one fears that in which they have confidence, and confidence comes from having done something before, and well. You meet that "having done it before, and well" standard; could it be you're expecting too much of yourself, especially…
John, when you say "This occurs for me when I am too afraid that what I will write will be bad, so I don't face the blank page at all.," it sounds to me like you're agreeing with King. (Writer's block is what happens when we try to be better writers than we are.) No one fears that in which they have confidence, and confidence comes from having done something before, and well. You meet that "having done it before, and well" standard; could it be you're expecting too much of yourself, especially for a first draft? (I presume this is a first draft issue; I doubt there are too many cases of editor's block.) For me, the definition of wri…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-12-13:537324:Comment:1040052007-12-13T16:25:21.719ZJohn Dishonhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/whiteskwirl
For me, the definition of writer's block is different, which may be why Jude and I disagree. If you can write your way out if it, than you know longer have it. It is being blocked from writing, not just writing junk or something you're not happy with. It is the inability to write. This occurs for me when I am too afraid that what I will write will be bad, so I don't face the blank page at all. The inability to sit down and open up Word, or to sit there and stare at the screen yet not type, or…
For me, the definition of writer's block is different, which may be why Jude and I disagree. If you can write your way out if it, than you know longer have it. It is being blocked from writing, not just writing junk or something you're not happy with. It is the inability to write. This occurs for me when I am too afraid that what I will write will be bad, so I don't face the blank page at all. The inability to sit down and open up Word, or to sit there and stare at the screen yet not type, or type something and then delete and instead go do something else, or claim I need more research and so read instead or writing--all of these things are writer's block. And is a very real thing. I get what your saying, and i…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-12-13:537324:Comment:1040032007-12-13T16:19:58.191ZJohn Dishonhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/whiteskwirl
I get what your saying, and if you feel that success as a writer equals making a living at it, then you're right. Because it is a job to you. But I feel that's only if writing to make money is your sole purpose of writing, which is not the case for many people. There is some level of fun that comes from writing for the hell of telling stories, and to treat that side of it as a job saps the fun out of it for me.<br />
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But just to clarify, I wasn't equating writer's block and depression. I compared…
I get what your saying, and if you feel that success as a writer equals making a living at it, then you're right. Because it is a job to you. But I feel that's only if writing to make money is your sole purpose of writing, which is not the case for many people. There is some level of fun that comes from writing for the hell of telling stories, and to treat that side of it as a job saps the fun out of it for me.<br />
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But just to clarify, I wasn't equating writer's block and depression. I compared the two because they are both cases where the symptoms are internal to the person having them, and since you can't get into anyone's head except your own, it is impossible for you to know what a person's experiences really are. Therefore, how can you say I'm not depressed if I say I am? Do you have the ability to know my feelings better than me? Or course not. And in the same vein, if I say I have writer's block (which for me means an inability to get words on the page, for whatever reason, hence the word "block") then how can you say otherwise? Because you don't know my feelings better than I do. In fact, you only know my feelings if I tell you what they are. That's how the writer's block/depression comparison holds up.<br />
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I do believe that there is a way to end writer's block, and it entails what you describe, sitting down and writing. But getting to where that solution is possible is not at all easy, anymore than it is for a depressed person to just buck up and be happy again. If you deal with the clinically depressed, then surely you would agree that just telling them to snap out of it and get on with life won't help them? Am I wrong on that point? And telling a writer to do that will not help either. That's my point, and that's how writer's block exists.<br />
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If you want to semantic, if that's the right word, then you are confirming that writer's block exists just by talking about it. If it didn't exist, than you would have nothing to discuss. Using the word "is" confirms its existence. Though that's being picky and I know you really mean is that what we called writer's block is actually something else. I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one. True that. It might sound sil…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-12-13:537324:Comment:1039752007-12-13T14:40:55.860ZTodd Robinsonhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/BigDaddyThug
True that. It might sound silly to say at my age, but the guy is my hero.
True that. It might sound silly to say at my age, but the guy is my hero. I may have missed this in an…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-12-13:537324:Comment:1039732007-12-13T14:33:14.252ZDana Kinghttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
I may have missed this in an earlier post, but if writing your way out of writer's block "ends up wasting days and weeks," what do you recommend?
I may have missed this in an earlier post, but if writing your way out of writer's block "ends up wasting days and weeks," what do you recommend? Well, you can try that, but m…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-12-13:537324:Comment:1039712007-12-13T14:28:14.537ZI. J. Parkerhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
Well, you can try that, but my experience has been that what results is the sort of thing that cannot be fixed and ends up wasting days and weeks before it is abandoned. However, I don't work from an outline. With an outline, you can certainly keep going.
Well, you can try that, but my experience has been that what results is the sort of thing that cannot be fixed and ends up wasting days and weeks before it is abandoned. However, I don't work from an outline. With an outline, you can certainly keep going. Vachss is amazing, Todd. All…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-12-13:537324:Comment:1039692007-12-13T14:26:49.820ZJude Hardinhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/festus
Vachss is amazing, Todd. All that work he does as an attorney/advocate for abused kids, and still manages to write some of the best noir out there. He's one of my faves.
Vachss is amazing, Todd. All that work he does as an attorney/advocate for abused kids, and still manages to write some of the best noir out there. He's one of my faves. When asked at a reading what…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2007-12-13:537324:Comment:1039472007-12-13T13:29:10.567ZTodd Robinsonhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/BigDaddyThug
When asked at a reading what he did about writer's block, Andrew Vachss said: "It doesn't exist. Writing is your work. Do you go to work and have a work block? No. You do it. It might not be your best work, but you can always go back and make it better. The job is to get the words down."<br />
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I've always tried to think of those words when I was 'tired' or 'blocked'.
When asked at a reading what he did about writer's block, Andrew Vachss said: "It doesn't exist. Writing is your work. Do you go to work and have a work block? No. You do it. It might not be your best work, but you can always go back and make it better. The job is to get the words down."<br />
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I've always tried to think of those words when I was 'tired' or 'blocked'.