Writer’s block is when your imaginary friend won’t talk to you.
I’m not sure where I got this quote, but I think it’s a hoot. Especially the imaginary friend part.
I don’t really ascribe to the writer’s block theory. Instead, I consider writer’s block to be more of a writer’s avoidance. If you put butt in chair the words will come. They might not be the best words, but they will be words. At least that’s what I’ve believed in the past.
However, for the past few months, several of my imaginary friends, from my WIP A Bride for Mama, haven’t been talking to me. I know there’s a HEA. I know the hero and heroine have to get together, get apart, and get together. I know there are a bunch of funny, screwed-up dates in the book. I’ve been collecting dates-gone-wrong ideas from friends for months now. But every scenario for getting the couple to the inevitable black moments doesn’t seem to work. I’ve been stuck at page 71 for ages, because Allison and Jack won’t tell me where they want to go. I’m also avoiding their story like they’ve got the plague. Hence my writer’s avoidance and not writer’s block theory.
And it’s frustrating, because while I’ve been waiting for them to speak, I’ve co-written two books and a 10,000 word novella with my husband. We wrote the novella in less than a week. My butt in the chair theory has certainly worked there. ARGGH!
Recently, while testing my workshop for the Midwest Writers Conference (which is this April in Indianapolis, Indiana) the characters began to shout at me. In fact, by using my recently developed workshop method, which involves using the Hero’s Journey to create synopses of my book ideas, a host of my characters from several planned books are now yelling, “Write us!”
Suddenly, I have multiple books and half a dozen characters clamoring for my attention. My imaginary friends are calling me at all hours, telling me what’s happening in their lives, urging me to get it down on paper before I forget. They’re invading my dreams, making me daydream, and filling up my head.
Cacophony reigns in my head. It’s wonderful! And it’s overwhelming.
But you know what? I’d rather talk with my imaginary friends than have them snub me. Funny how that works in both life and writing.
What about you? Are your imaginary friends talking to you now? If not, do you have some tricks you use to help them open the lines of communication?
Catherine Castle 