Writer’s Block. We’ve all experienced at least an ounce of it, right? And we all have dealt with it in good and bad ways. Learn from my horrifying episode:
Writing my 3rd screenplay. Adapting a book. I could see the whole movie in my head…one scene after another. Period mark. Next scene. Nothing. Totally blank. I froze. I felt my head spin, totally blank. Didn’t have a clue how to continue the story.
“How could this happen? I have the book right in front of me!” Talking to myself. Another bad sign.
So…I started pacing back and forth on my wood floor. “How do I move the story forward?” Paced some more. “The transition scene is not in the book!” Panic sets in. Fear, too. I paced and paced…for 3 weeks. Still nothing. Now I’m shouting.
“I can’t write scenes out of order! Why can’t I come up with something? I CAN’T MOVE ON!”
“I wish you would, darlin’!” yelled my neighbor in his Southern drawl. I laughed and knew I couldn’t say no to a young Southern gent.
So I sat in front of my computer, breathed and wrote the scene I knew would follow the one I couldn’t write. You can probably guess what happened next.
Yep. After writing that scene, my transition scene hit me and my stream of consciousness took over until I finished the first draft.
That experience taught me a lot about breaking through writer’s block:
-You don’t write or have to write in scene succession.
-Just move on. Write something else.
-Make sure you’re not bored with your story.
-Get outside. Swim a sea. Watch people. Calm your mind. Meditate.
– Forget about your writing for a while. Take a break.
-Don’t panic. Don’t fear.
-Do something different. Fun. Creative. New.
Wear out your wood floor a different way than pacing. Dance on it with someone. I did with a Southern gent I couldn’t refuse.
