If you have a job writing and get writers block you have to keep on writing as though your muse had not fled.
Bill, that's good advice. Joe, haha thanks for the phrase projector. Now you've unblocked our blockedness with parallel transitional flexibility.
I find that writing something every day is useful, even if what you're writing is complete rubbish. I write lots of rubbish - indeed I'm sure there are those who will say that both my books and contributions to this forum fit that category - but while I tend to keep the junk just in case, I have no intention of publishing it. I find the act of writing therapeutic.
Tom, you're right on track according to John Rogers (whoever he is). He said, You can’t think yourself out of a writing block; you have to write yourself out of a thinking block. ~ John Rogers By the way, I found the source to one of the quotes in post #11: I’ve often said that there’s no such thing as writer’s block; the problem is idea block. When I find myself frozen–whether I’m working on a brief passage in a novel or brainstorming about an entire book–it’s usually because I’m trying to shoehorn an idea into the passage or story where it has no place. ~ Jeffery Deaver (he's a mystery/crime writer).
That's quite close to the problem that I had, except that I was trying to fit a character into somewhere they didn't fit. In fact, since the character in question is six foot ten - gargantuan, indeed - that's not surprising. However, I've found a place for him elsewhere.
One of the most notorious pickers and unpickers was Henry James, for whom the adjective painstaking might have been invented. Reading one of his novels, you almost get a mental image of him writing a sentence, looking at it for two hours, shaking his head, crossing it out and starting the whole process again.
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. ANALYSIS: WRITING STYLE - Highly Structured, Carefully Constructed, Writerly......
I think it was Ernest Hemingway who said, when asked 'why he rewrote the ending to "A Farwell To Arms" 39 times said, To get the words right.
@Tom Locke, I enjoyed reading your post in today's Good Morning thread of the e-mail -book-review you received: "The reviewer used the expression "deftly crafted." Before I could get too smug, I went back to have a quick check that he hadn't written "daftly." It brought to mind, the question,how does a writer handle rejection? 12 Famous Writers on Literary Rejection “You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance.” – Ray Bradbury
I am in a restaurant right now and on my iPhone, which is not my favorite instrument for forum discussions, so I haven't checked to see if he still does that, but one of my favorite authors -- Orson Scott Card -- had a website and forum where he would help new writers critique and improve their writing. I know that he even co-authored and published at least a couple of books with writers from his forum. If I were on my computer, I would look it up -- his forum name is from one of his books -- something like Halftrack River, but I don't think the "Halftrack" part is right, exactly; something like that, anyhow. I haven't been there in a while.
^ Ken, I just looked it up for you. it was Hatrack River" and here's the link: http://www.hatrack.com Seasons come and seasons go. They are always a good source of inspiration. Our winter is almost over…last chance for winter weather inspirations “I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
That quote in and of itself is inspiration. Going to check this site out. I'm a dull sort of gent and a good dose of this reference would be, I'm sure, good for what ails me. Thanks.
I'm notorious for having lots of bits of paper lying around with notes scribbled on them. I'll use anything that is on hand, be it a notepad, post-it note, bus ticket or my frequent haven, the margin of a newspaper. It's not unknown for me to stop in the street to scrawl something on a bit of paper. The house is littered with such rubbish.