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The Many Hats of a Writer A fiction writer tends to wear many hats: artist, editor, investigator, journalist, promoter, etc. Today I am going to ask you to try on another hat. Luckily, it’s not as boring as investigation or research. It actually embraces the creative side, an area at which we are more comfortable with.
Writer’s Block Outlining This method should be used when....you guessed it: when you have writer’s block. Writer’s Block outlining concentrates more on creative flow and discovery rather than order and outlining. We can use the bubble method, advanced outlining and/or index card outlining, mix and match or omit them completely. While writing my 3rd novel “The Colossus of Love and Rhodes”, I had trouble with a scene where Chares of Lindos made his first appearance at home. The novel’s setting is based in ancient Greece. To top that off, Chares was a sculptor whom was obviously creative (and probably as messy as most artists). I had imagined that he would have clay and drawings scattered everywhere in his home. Beyond that, I was completely stuck. I could not imagine what I sculptor’s home would look like in ancient Greece. That’s when I learned how to use the Writer’s Block method. Get out a piece of paper. We are going to use the five senses: hearing, smell, taste, touch and vision. But, instead of your character experiencing these things, I want you to pretend you are. Leaving room for answers, write “What would I hear?”. Next write “What would I smell?”, “What would I taste?”, “What would I touch?” and “What would I see?”. You can also write “What would I do?” Next, put your piece of paper down and go do something relaxing: walking, bathing, TV, playing with animals, art. Anything but reading or writing. Get your mind completely off your work for 30 minutes to an hour. When you return, make sure you are alone and your environment is quiet. Turn off the phone, put a sign on the door, whatever it takes. It’s important not to be disturbed. Now we’re going to put on that hat I was telling you about: the actor’s hat. I want you to close your eyes and imagine what Chares looks like. Now, step into Chares’s body and become Chares. It may sound strange or even silly but bare with me. From now on, everything that happens to Chares, happens to you. Start sculpting. What would you pick up first? What would you do with it? When the answers pop into your head, jot them down under one of the questions it falls under. Except it needs to be in a self sense. (Take the knife with my hands , push the mold with my knife) Close your eyes again. Is it light outside? Can you hear noises? Write down those answers when they come to you. What is your room starting to look like to you? Keep asking yourself questions and answering them as they enter your head. When you are finished, you will have something like this: ----------------------------- [What would I see?] - It is at night - I am in a dark room lit by candlelight - I live alone, so my house is a tad messy, I don't care. - My house is small but comfortable - I have gifts from women around Rhodes who adore/love me - I don't use them but I don't fend them off: I leave them hanging - My dinner was a pot of beans. it's all i know how to cook - there are statues everywhere and putty and artist things [What would I do?] - Take the knife with my hands - push the mold with my knife - hum the song anothia sang? - think about alex's instructions - push her out of my mind, she does not suit me for the plans in my life - Think about a society problem and ponder at how I can fix it - wonder if demetruis would invest to help society's problem ----------------------------- Most of the time what you’ve come up with will be out of time order. Choose one of the outlining methods to sort your answers while adding more details. Mine looks like this: ----------------------------- [ The Outline] - First I would take the knife in my hands. I would wipe off the left over beans from my hands so they won't get on my statue. - I will push the mold with my knife and hate it that the candlelight doesn't give me enough light. - Things will fall as I bump into them because I have a messy house. - I will sip the wine that [x1-woman] gave to me. I will think about her - I will begin to hum Anothia's song while thinking about Alex's instructions for the play's statues - I will think slighly of Anothia but quickly push her out of my mind, she does not fit my current plans in life - I will take a break and eat two bites of beans in a small pot, as I do almost every night cause I don’t cook much. - [RESEARCH: find problems in Rhode's society at that time. This will make Chares need Demetruis more and desire Anothia less. We want to make that love connection unlikely so when it does happen, it is more tragic when its taken away.] - I will wonder if Demetruis will invest to help society's problem - I probably don't bath because I stay up too late sculpting. ----------------------- And there you go! You’ve successfully jumped over the writer’s block hurdle. When You Get Stuck The best thing to do when you experience writer’s block is to step away from problem and relax. The more you attempt to concentrate, the more stressed you will become, therefore the more blocked you will become. Homework Use the method above to get past you own writer block. Come back and post your experience. I hope you enjoyed the Outlining Workshop as much as I did. Feedback is appreciated. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. No one has commented on this article. |
