The Opposite of Writer's Block?

aecardenas · 04-09-2012, 12:39 PM

I have a problem.

You've heard of author's suffering from "writer's block", but, honestly, I don't think I've ever experienced such a thing. In fact, I experience the complete opposite, which I'll call "Writer's Flood", because that's what it feels like to me.

Imagine: You're writing this perfectly good story, you're heavily involved in the characters, and are pleased at how their development and interaction affect the overall story and even start taking it into directions you hadn't anticipated or planned. This is the fun part of writing, and you are thoroughly enjoying the strange alchemic result of your creativity.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, you get this idea. It's an idea that has absolutely nothing to do with what you're working on. But it's a great idea, a compelling idea, and seductively, beautifully alluring idea that now you can't concentrate on what you were working on. Every time you try to build on your story, this new idea insists on being heard and developed, tantalizing you with all of its possibilities.

You try to do other things to get your mind off of this tangent, this distracting notion that has just entered your mind…maybe browse the internet or read a book or go watch TV or go see what the kids are up to. But as you as you do these things, in the back of your mind, your subconscious has just thrown this new idea into the pot and is definitely brewing something. Now the idea is no longer just an idea, but a possible story, one with characters and situations that are both intriguing and compelling. Like an itch you want to scratch but can't, you pull yourself away from what you are doing and then head back to the computer and start typing.

As you type, you say to yourself "All i'm going to do is just write out the basic plot or synopsis of this new idea. That's it! Nothing more. Just want to get it down before I lose it."

And so you type, and type, and revise and edit, and type, and before you know it, you have this new novel plotted out, and some characters created that you are dying to explore. You make a feeble attempt to go back to the novel you were working on before, and it's useless. So you go back to the new book and try out a few lines, just to see what kind of a narrative you can apply here. Maybe even get a sense of the overall tone of the work. So the idea expresses itself and you write out a few lines, and damn if they are not good. So you keep going and going, and before you know it you have three chapters done and feel you're on a roll.

And then it happens.

You get another idea.

And this idea…is unbelievably good. They're all good, but this one is really cool, and you can see it in your head developing from a novel to possibly even a movie or an edgy TV show. And so you say to yourself, "Okay, i'm just going to type up the plot and just save it for later while I finish up here."

Type, type, type type….before you know it, you are a hundred pages into this new novel, digging yourself deeper into this creative hole that doesn't seem to end.

And then you know what happens…?

Right. Another idea pops up. This one, just like the others, is in a completely different genre. So not only are you jumping from developing one idea to another, but you also find yourself bouncing from a suspense thriller type of book to a sci-fi fantasy epic, and then over to a young adult horror, then doing a sci-fi comedy then back to a mystery thriller genre, and so on and so forth. And not only do you bounce from one genre to another, but you also bounce from one format to another--jumping from Novel to Screenplay to stage place to short story to comic script back to a novel.

Honestly, I'm amazed that I can even finish a single thing at all. It seems my written output looks more like a graveyard of brilliant but unfinished works. It's a miracle that THE GESTALT MAN got published. I have a ton of other works waiting in line. But the sheer volume of the amount of work i'm doing, along with my normal day job, and the ongoing job of being a husband and parent, have made the writing incredibly slow. It doesn't help that I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my work.

I do wish I was a little bit more disciplined in how I approach my work. Some people complain about external distractions interfering with their writing…but what about internal distractions? How do you shut off the creative spigot? Do you even want to?

Do I even want to stop the flood of ideas?

Actually, no.

Is Writer's Flood a problem? Yes, definitely. But it's a good problem. A problem I'm glad to have. In my mind, I am a kid again, playing in the sandbox of my imagination, saving the world one moment, destroying it the next, soaring through space in a starship, battling monsters, solving unsolvable crimes, traveling through time, and being both the hero and villain of my never ending stories.

Suzanna · 04-09-2012, 12:55 PM

Ah, the attack of the plot bunnies! It never fails - they always swarm when you're in the middle of another perfectly good book.

Like you, I make notes about the new story. I will, though, then go back to what I was originally working on. As long as I've captured the essence of the idea, I know I can always go back to the new story when I finish the one I'm currently working on. The problem, though, becomes which of those stories do I work on first when I finish my current WIP - decisions, decisions!

Nancy Fulda · 04-10-2012, 09:02 AM

This is a very familiar scenario to me.

The new ideas are always shinier and easier to write because you haven't worked yourself far enough into the story to get mired in the plot. I keep a file of story fragments where I save good ideas for later.

kennyc · 04-10-2012, 09:12 AM

Yes. I have a million ideas written in my journals, my issue is picking one up and sticking with it to the end! I'm working on it though.

On a similar note, there was a period about 20 years ago when I seemed to be in a "poetic trance" enthralled by the muse or some such thing where the poems just kept coming. It was a very strange time. Many of the poems were horrible, but there were a few good ones as well. (you know that Hemingway quote --- 1 page of spectacular writing for 99 pages of sh*t).

My advice is to just keep a notebook/journal of ideas and KEEP WORKING ON THE CURRENT STORY!

It's the only way to complete things....unfortunately.

teh603 · 04-10-2012, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suzanna

Ah, the attack of the plot bunnies! It never fails - they always swarm when you're in the middle of another perfectly good book.

So that's what its called. I'd always wondered. That's my biggest problem, actually. I have godzilla- sized plot bunnies.

aecardenas · 04-10-2012, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nancy Fulda

This is a very familiar scenario to me.

The new ideas are always shinier and easier to write because you haven't worked yourself far enough into the story to get mired in the plot. I keep a file of story fragments where I save good ideas for later.

That's a really great point. Writing is extremely hard work, and even though the process of creating is wonderful, the execution of the vision sometimes can be a little...mundane and tedious, and then, as you say, once you start trying to reconcile a zillion plot lines into something that resembles an actual story...it's easy to start dreaming of "Newer and Better" things, anything other than what you're knee deep in.

Creating stories, is infinitely easier than actually writing them. So when you are slugging through the quagmire of the realities of writing a novel...I think our brains are secretly plotting to "skip school" so to speak, and go off to play. And that's where we get distracted by "new ideas"...and are tempted to sneak away from the real work and go and do something easy like create a new storyline or explore an idea.

Hm. I think I'm going to really try and monitor my behavior on this matter. I need to get better control over my muse and be a bit more disciplined in my approach to my written work.

Thanks for the feedback. This is like Writer's Therapy.

HistoryWes · 04-10-2012, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aecardenas

Creating stories, is infinitely easier than actually writing them. So when you are slugging through the quagmire of the realities of writing a novel...I think our brains are secretly plotting to "skip school" so to speak, and go off to play. And that's where we get distracted by "new ideas"...and are tempted to sneak away from the real work and go and do something easy like create a new storyline or explore an idea.

Aye, there's the rub. I jot down ideas, write out an outline, and sometimes even start writing until the new idea just runs out of steam. That way I can go back and concentrate on the story I was originally working on. More than once though, I just kept on writing until the new story was done.

gmw · 04-10-2012, 09:06 PM

This sort of thing always reminds me of the particles of raw inspiration that Terry Pratchett describes as flying through the universe in some of his Discworld novels - and Leonard da Quirm, whose mind is so receptive to them. It seems to me that the ideas always come while trying to develop a story (as opposed to the more detailed writing of the scenes) and it makes me think that Pratchett might be on to something. I can envisage my mind, during story development, opening up and suddenly catching these particles and fizzing with them ... it's sort of exciting, even if rather distracting.

Democracyman · 04-18-2012, 11:41 PM

I am fairly new to writing and stuck in a fairly big non fiction project. I have had ideas for fiction books but really have no idea on how to write fiction so it is not so hard for me not to stray. For me I have a strong purpose to finish my current non fiction book so that purpose is making me stick with it no matter what. I will finish it if it takes the rest of my life is my attitude and it will be a professional quality book is my goal, I will not cut corners. I am thinking of doing it as a three part book though. The subject is on health.

I did read once Louis Lamore would work on two books at once, one in the morning the other in the afternoon. I am struck on how different writers work, they all are different in some way in their writing habits.

Find what works for you and stick with it, if boredom is the problem then maybe two projects at once will turn the trick.

Another idea is to take a new idea and let the thoughts roll for a week or some other time frame that gives you enough time to get the romance of the new idea out of your system, after this amount of time then work on it if you must. I find that this works for me, as I am determind to work on my one project I just let myself jot some notes and spend a little time thinking on the new dream project.

As you get older it will get more easy to focus on one project as the ability to simply imagine/dream greatly decreases with age, I find this to be true myself at age 45 I hardly spend time imagining/dreaming things, much less than in my youth.

What I like to do for a writing "warm up" is to write a few posts on a forum to get my motor running, then go into the project, this may help.

Dan

gmw · 04-18-2012, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Democracyman

[...]What I like to do for a writing "warm up" is to write a few posts on a forum to get my motor running, then go into the project, this may help. [...]

Forum posts are what I do when my other writing isn't getting anywhere. Of course the problem with this is that my posts sometimes reflect my inner frustration, however much I try not to let it show.

aecardenas · 04-19-2012, 12:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Democracyman

As you get older it will get more easy to focus on one project as the ability to simply imagine/dream greatly decreases with age, I find this to be true myself at age 45 I hardly spend time imagining/dreaming things, much less than in my youth.
Dan

Hm, i don't know about that. I'm over 40 myself, and I can say unequivocally that my ability to dream and imagine has not decreased in the least.

In fact, it's gotten crazier as the more experiences that i have, the more books that i've read, the more people that i've met...it all goes into the stew pot and voila!--More ideas! More crazy dreams. More stories, more characters, more mental toys to play with.

Even with a wife and kids and a job and the typical stresses of life...my refuge has always been my imagination and my writing. Probably moreso than ever before.

But I actually do alternate between multiple novels for a variety of different reasons. For example, when I'm working on a very dark book...I sometimes want to pick myself up by working on a light comedy later that day. Or if I'm working on a strictly scifi work...then I'll want to ground myself with something like a murder mystery or a drama of some sort. Thankfully i have a lot of works in many different genres that I can go to.

Penforhire · 04-19-2012, 01:26 PM

I think you have to be careful to avoid having inspiration take over from perspiration. If (when) you struggle with something you're working on, the siren lure of something new and shiny can be irresistable.

I had an artist friend who was truly inspired. But he lacked the perseverence to properly master his endlessly changing mediums. Ultimately his work was spirited and unique yet always too sloppy.

aecardenas · 04-19-2012, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penforhire

I think you have to be careful to avoid having inspiration take over from perspiration. If (when) you struggle with something you're working on, the siren lure of something new and shiny can be irresistable.

I had an artist friend who was truly inspired. But he lacked the perseverence to properly master his endlessly changing mediums. Ultimately his work was spirited and unique yet always too sloppy.

That's very good advice.

As I've said before, it's easy to imagine and create, but extremely hard and difficulty to solidify the vision into something tangible, like a book, or a script or a poem (or even a painting or a piece of music, for that matter).

That is the eternal struggle of art...having the vision, and then having the ability to articulate or communicate that vision (no matter how extravagant and unique or mundane and ordinary) effectively to other people in a given medium or a range of media, depending on whatever the case may be.

kennyc · 04-19-2012, 03:07 PM

Yes, I'm fighting with a short story right now.

dadioflex · 04-19-2012, 03:09 PM

If it doesn't hurt you're not doing it right.

04-09-2012, 12:39 PM	#1
aecardenas Kafkaesque Posts: 104 Karma: 1149770 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: California Device: Kindle	The Opposite of Writer's Block? I have a problem. You've heard of author's suffering from "writer's block", but, honestly, I don't think I've ever experienced such a thing. In fact, I experience the complete opposite, which I'll call "Writer's Flood", because that's what it feels like to me. Imagine: You're writing this perfectly good story, you're heavily involved in the characters, and are pleased at how their development and interaction affect the overall story and even start taking it into directions you hadn't anticipated or planned. This is the fun part of writing, and you are thoroughly enjoying the strange alchemic result of your creativity. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, you get this idea. It's an idea that has absolutely nothing to do with what you're working on. But it's a great idea, a compelling idea, and seductively, beautifully alluring idea that now you can't concentrate on what you were working on. Every time you try to build on your story, this new idea insists on being heard and developed, tantalizing you with all of its possibilities. You try to do other things to get your mind off of this tangent, this distracting notion that has just entered your mind…maybe browse the internet or read a book or go watch TV or go see what the kids are up to. But as you as you do these things, in the back of your mind, your subconscious has just thrown this new idea into the pot and is definitely brewing something. Now the idea is no longer just an idea, but a possible story, one with characters and situations that are both intriguing and compelling. Like an itch you want to scratch but can't, you pull yourself away from what you are doing and then head back to the computer and start typing. As you type, you say to yourself "All i'm going to do is just write out the basic plot or synopsis of this new idea. That's it! Nothing more. Just want to get it down before I lose it." And so you type, and type, and revise and edit, and type, and before you know it, you have this new novel plotted out, and some characters created that you are dying to explore. You make a feeble attempt to go back to the novel you were working on before, and it's useless. So you go back to the new book and try out a few lines, just to see what kind of a narrative you can apply here. Maybe even get a sense of the overall tone of the work. So the idea expresses itself and you write out a few lines, and damn if they are not good. So you keep going and going, and before you know it you have three chapters done and feel you're on a roll. And then it happens. You get another idea. And this idea…is unbelievably good. They're all good, but this one is really cool, and you can see it in your head developing from a novel to possibly even a movie or an edgy TV show. And so you say to yourself, "Okay, i'm just going to type up the plot and just save it for later while I finish up here." Type, type, type type….before you know it, you are a hundred pages into this new novel, digging yourself deeper into this creative hole that doesn't seem to end. And then you know what happens…? Right. Another idea pops up. This one, just like the others, is in a completely different genre. So not only are you jumping from developing one idea to another, but you also find yourself bouncing from a suspense thriller type of book to a sci-fi fantasy epic, and then over to a young adult horror, then doing a sci-fi comedy then back to a mystery thriller genre, and so on and so forth. And not only do you bounce from one genre to another, but you also bounce from one format to another--jumping from Novel to Screenplay to stage place to short story to comic script back to a novel. Honestly, I'm amazed that I can even finish a single thing at all. It seems my written output looks more like a graveyard of brilliant but unfinished works. It's a miracle that THE GESTALT MAN got published. I have a ton of other works waiting in line. But the sheer volume of the amount of work i'm doing, along with my normal day job, and the ongoing job of being a husband and parent, have made the writing incredibly slow. It doesn't help that I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my work. I do wish I was a little bit more disciplined in how I approach my work. Some people complain about external distractions interfering with their writing…but what about internal distractions? How do you shut off the creative spigot? Do you even want to? Do I even want to stop the flood of ideas? Actually, no. Is Writer's Flood a problem? Yes, definitely. But it's a good problem. A problem I'm glad to have. In my mind, I am a kid again, playing in the sandbox of my imagination, saving the world one moment, destroying it the next, soaring through space in a starship, battling monsters, solving unsolvable crimes, traveling through time, and being both the hero and villain of my never ending stories.

04-18-2012, 11:41 PM	#9
Democracyman Member Posts: 15 Karma: 598776 Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: WA state Device: none	I am fairly new to writing and stuck in a fairly big non fiction project. I have had ideas for fiction books but really have no idea on how to write fiction so it is not so hard for me not to stray. For me I have a strong purpose to finish my current non fiction book so that purpose is making me stick with it no matter what. I will finish it if it takes the rest of my life is my attitude and it will be a professional quality book is my goal, I will not cut corners. I am thinking of doing it as a three part book though. The subject is on health. I did read once Louis Lamore would work on two books at once, one in the morning the other in the afternoon. I am struck on how different writers work, they all are different in some way in their writing habits. Find what works for you and stick with it, if boredom is the problem then maybe two projects at once will turn the trick. Another idea is to take a new idea and let the thoughts roll for a week or some other time frame that gives you enough time to get the romance of the new idea out of your system, after this amount of time then work on it if you must. I find that this works for me, as I am determind to work on my one project I just let myself jot some notes and spend a little time thinking on the new dream project. As you get older it will get more easy to focus on one project as the ability to simply imagine/dream greatly decreases with age, I find this to be true myself at age 45 I hardly spend time imagining/dreaming things, much less than in my youth. What I like to do for a writing "warm up" is to write a few posts on a forum to get my motor running, then go into the project, this may help. Dan Last edited by Democracyman; 04-18-2012 at 11:46 PM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
I used to think writer's block was a myth	mjhudston	Writers' Corner	61	04-26-2012 06:54 AM
New on the block	kilo6	Introduce Yourself	3	09-21-2011 07:03 PM
The opposite of drop caps	LostSock	ePub	13	09-13-2011 07:07 AM
A new 505 on the block	Zorker	Sony Reader	6	12-10-2008 12:26 PM

04-09-2012, 12:55 PM	#2
Suzanna Living in the past Posts: 432 Karma: 6011289 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kobo Arc	Ah, the attack of the plot bunnies! It never fails - they always swarm when you're in the middle of another perfectly good book. Like you, I make notes about the new story. I will, though, then go back to what I was originally working on. As long as I've captured the essence of the idea, I know I can always go back to the new story when I finish the one I'm currently working on. The problem, though, becomes which of those stories do I work on first when I finish my current WIP - decisions, decisions!

04-10-2012, 09:02 AM	#3
Nancy Fulda I write stories. Posts: 700 Karma: 16437432 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Northern Germany Device: kindle	This is a very familiar scenario to me. The new ideas are always shinier and easier to write because you haven't worked yourself far enough into the story to get mired in the plot. I keep a file of story fragments where I save good ideas for later.

04-10-2012, 09:12 AM	#4
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,872 Karma: 118716293 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	Yes. I have a million ideas written in my journals, my issue is picking one up and sticking with it to the end! I'm working on it though. On a similar note, there was a period about 20 years ago when I seemed to be in a "poetic trance" enthralled by the muse or some such thing where the poems just kept coming. It was a very strange time. Many of the poems were horrible, but there were a few good ones as well. (you know that Hemingway quote --- 1 page of spectacular writing for 99 pages of sh*t). My advice is to just keep a notebook/journal of ideas and KEEP WORKING ON THE CURRENT STORY! It's the only way to complete things....unfortunately.

04-10-2012, 09:06 PM	#8
gmw cacoethes scribendi Posts: 5,809 Karma: 137770742 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650	This sort of thing always reminds me of the particles of raw inspiration that Terry Pratchett describes as flying through the universe in some of his Discworld novels - and Leonard da Quirm, whose mind is so receptive to them. It seems to me that the ideas always come while trying to develop a story (as opposed to the more detailed writing of the scenes) and it makes me think that Pratchett might be on to something. I can envisage my mind, during story development, opening up and suddenly catching these particles and fizzing with them ... it's sort of exciting, even if rather distracting.

04-19-2012, 01:26 PM	#12
Penforhire Wizard Posts: 2,230 Karma: 7145404 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Southern California Device: Kindle Voyage & iPhone 7+	I think you have to be careful to avoid having inspiration take over from perspiration. If (when) you struggle with something you're working on, the siren lure of something new and shiny can be irresistable. I had an artist friend who was truly inspired. But he lacked the perseverence to properly master his endlessly changing mediums. Ultimately his work was spirited and unique yet always too sloppy.

04-19-2012, 03:07 PM	#14
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,872 Karma: 118716293 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	Yes, I'm fighting with a short story right now.

04-19-2012, 03:09 PM	#15
dadioflex Dyslexic Count Posts: 526 Karma: 5041991 Join Date: Aug 2008 Device: Palm TX, Advent Vega, iPad, iPod Touch, Kindle	If it doesn't hurt you're not doing it right.