Wednesday, February 8, 2012

I Disagree!

            I recently read a blog post by a fellow author that claimed writer’s block does not exist. Since I am currently suffering form a terrible case of it, I respectfully disagree. The author of the post went on to say that when the characters in your story stop “talking” to you, it is time for you to take the wheel and decide where the story goes next. I have rewritten several chapters because I tried this and the characters didn’t like the path I chose. It resulted in my main character not speaking to me for weeks. And so, again, I disagree.
            But that is the wonderful/terrible/maddening thing about writing. We can both be 100% right. There is no fool-proof method, and no wrong way to write. If I tried to write a story the same way my daughter does, I’d lose my mind. She, on the other hand, can’t use any of the methods that work well for me. And that’s okay.
            Back to the blog I read: After declaring that writer’s block did not exist, the blog author went on to list several tips on how she works through “the sludge,” and slow points in her narrative. I fully plan to try most of these methods out. You see, just because no two writers are the same, it doesn’t mean that we can’t learn a thing or two from each other. Even if we don’t always agree.

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