Wednesday, December 18, 2013

The Virtual Machete that kills Writer's Block (otherwise known as Bill)

Dear readers and fellow authors,

First of all, hi. My name is Emilie Graye, and I'm a published author. I'm being forced to say that I'm twelve (hi, Patricia) instead of almost thirteen. I've written one book and I'm working on my second one. And I'm here to help. 
     I don't know what you've experienced, but sometimes it feels like for me like you're forcing yourself to write your novels or like you're pushing it out of your brain. Like it's a struggle to write something you think you love? Is that a familiar feeling? Because if it is, then you've walked into Writer's Block.
     Writer's Block has lots of names. I like calling it Bill. (yeah, I know… blame my friend. She made it up.) But anyway, Writer's Block, or WB, (no, not Warner Brothers XD) is really annoying at times. But as I always like to say, "Writer's Block is not when you can say nothing, but when you have nothing to say." But it's true. If you can't write, that probably means you don't have anything worthwhile to say, and if you force yourself, your material will turn out trashy and worthless.
     So, I bet you're like "okay, this is all fine and dandy, but how the heck am I supposed to fix this? I mean, are you saying I have to wait till my inspiration comes back?"
     Actually, no.
     Well, actually, that's not exactly true. But here are a couple ideas (that––don't hate me––involve waiting) that may help you get back into writing that you actually enjoy.

1. If you start feeling a struggle, sit back, delete EVERYTHING you wrote in that sitting, and walk away. Trust me, one rotten apple ruins the bunch, or however that goes… But really, if one section is bad, then everything else looks weird. So just walk away. And then just wait. (ACK DON'T CHOKE ME, IM HERE TO HELP YOU) If you just wait, you'll start to realize ideas and ways to improve any trashy writing. It really helps to be patient.

2. BUT if you don't feel like waiting, you can just go upstairs to your room, outside under a shady tree, but if it's blizzarding outside or a giant tiger is ripping your mom's flowers apart trying to get through the window and you don't really feel like going outside, run really fast into your car and go to a coffee shop. (HINT: being chased by a hungry tiger also boosts inspiration. *shrugs*) Then pull out Lord of the Rings, Percy Jackson, or any book you enjoy and read. Read, read, read. School reading works too, but I mean, heh, who wants to read school? I mean, seriously, people…

3. Take a walk and act out your story. If you act it out (trust me, it's hilariously fun) you find yourself drifting off the beaten path because you're thinking "hey, if I'm acting this must be a movie, and movies are never accurate!" and you get all these crazy ideas you can work with.

4. Ask a friend that also writes for help. I have a friend named Icky (that's her nickname, jussayin) and she's like a genius. She's published, and helped me publish as well. (if you comment I can give you a link to my author page on Amazon) But anyway, enough of Icky's awesomeness and more like my example. She helped me with ideas and story names and stuff like that, and seriously, I am not lying, it really, really helps.

5. AND NUMBA FIVE! (though inspiration-regaining ideas will be endless if you have an imagination) Just ask a parent. I'm not saying that you're little kids who need parental supervision, but seriously, all the adults have awesome ideas. You find yourself thinking, "okay, wow… where were you all my author life?" and then you find yourself with enough material for like five books.

     Now this is all off personal experiences, so I've pretty much proved this stuff works. :P Have fun writing!

- Emilie Graye <3

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