Questions Answered
Part 1
Question 1: How do you deal with writer's block?
There are countless ways out on the internet (and hiding in little dusty corners of bookshelves) to get through writer's block. And the more you search, the more you'll find the same advice cropping up again and again.
Keep Writing.
And it's true. What they don't say is that the mantra of "keep writing" is the hardest part of this whole thing. Because we've all been there, staring at the blinking cursor and hating the blank page in front of us. I know I do every time I start a new document. I just want the hard part to be over so I can enjoy what came from my fingertips.
So, how should you deal with writer's block? A good portion of this is directed toward the Block in the middle of something, not with a brand new story (completely unwritten); that part will come afterward.
Step one is to keep writing. But step 1A is to step back from what you're working on and think about why you have this particular block. Look at each of the following things, and decide whether it applies to your situation:
Characters. Are the characters just not speaking to you any longer? Whether it's fanfiction or your own original work, they should have some sort of say in this creative process. Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in writing this one particular story that we forget the characters have voices of their own. It's perfectly fine to let the characters have free reign, because you can always go back and tone things down if they get out of hand… or you'll find that it was just the thing you needed and it's given you a whole slew of opportunities for your story.
Plot. Maybe you're partway through this story and you're re-thinking the entire plot you'd planned out. Or maybe you're not a planner at all and now you're wondering where the story is going in the first place. When I get to this particular point, I take a break from writing for a day or two and go back to read what's already been written, plus the things I've outlined for the future (if available). Sometimes that's enough for me to see where I was going with the story and adjust the things I was planning accordingly. Other times, I get new ideas (yet again) and just sit and think about how I can tie those new elements into the story without it being ridiculous and unbelievable.
Ending. Ah, the dreaded end of your story. This is the one that always gets me. I never want the story to end, and I just never know how to end it. Just take a look at He Might Be the One. I took a hiatus on that particular story because I was getting toward the end of it and didn't want to stop. But when I sat down to write the end, as well as writing the end of The Shackled Rune and Her Phantom Arc 1, I just let it flow. I didn't question what I was writing, and I kept reminding myself that all I had to do was tie it to a close. Somehow. There couldn't be a cliffhanger (Her Phantom notwithstanding, because that was leading one arc to another), and there needed to be some sense of resonance with you readers. While writing the end of anything, I constantly ask myself, "Does this feel like the end? If this was a movie, would I be alright with it ending here?"
If one of those three points isn't what's missing from you being really inspired by the story, go back to the very beginning (no matter how far into the story you are) and see what you were writing when you felt like it was the most amazing story in the world. Sometimes that can give you the push you need to get back into the story and keep writing.
Another thing to try is replaying/rewatching whatever it was that inspired you to write the story. What birthed the story idea?
For LittlePrincessNana's NaNo project, she got halfway through her novel and hated nearly every word she wrote. And her husband helped her get her groove back by suggesting she sit down and play the game that had given her the inspiration for her story. She hated the characters, their interactions, the plot itself, pretty much everything. But after putting the computer down and just letting herself enjoy the game she was playing, she found that spark again. Nana ended up scrapping the 25k she'd already written and started over, much more in love with everything she was writing and more connected to her story than she'd been with the first draft.
Now, a quick note on "scrapping" your writing.
Let's say you're just hating everything you wrote. Don't delete it. Even though you look at it and think it's a pile of garbage, create a new document for your next try. Take that shitty one and put it to the side with a note of some sort about what you didn't like about what you'd written. Maybe it just doesn't work for the story you're writing. But that doesn't mean you can't find something else it would work in. Maybe there's some great dialogue in there, or a really wonderful description. Keep it all and weed through it when you feel like working on something different or new. That could be just the bit of inspiration you need to start writing a masterpiece.
So, for the most part, I've given the same advice as the others. Keep writing. But there are times when you just need a break. And breaks, believe it or not, are good for you. They help you recharge and stop stressing so much about what you're writing.
I'm currently in the middle of a slightly unplanned break myself. I'm working on my stories here and there, but I'm also really enjoying not being in school for the next month and spending time with my family. I'm writing this because my husband's asleep and my son is playing on the computer. I've got the free time to do it. Not so much of a "block" for me, but preemptive relaxation before you get to the Block usually helps to make sure it doesn't come up and whack you in the face with a hammer.
Now I've gone through what to do when you're in the middle of a story and the Block hits. But what about when you're staring at the cursor on a fresh story that you were all giddy to write up until you sat down? What do you do then?
It's probably gonna sound a little silly, but just do it. Just start writing. I'll give you an example.
#
I have a story planned for some point in the future, about Mard Geer and Lucy. A one-shot, or maybe a two-shot (since we all know that my one-shots rarely stay that way). I've got some outlining stuff done for it, just the basic plot and a couple lines of dialogue that came to me while talking to Nana on Skype. But nothing solid. No beautiful descriptions of things. Here are the first few lines of my outline for it, all for the first scene that leads up to the scene break.
Jackal being a good guy and getting hit with a spell that makes him go all psycho Etherious. And Lucy trying to reason with him.
Except it doesn't work and he blows up her damn knee, crippling her (not permanently)
Or maybe he'll slash her whole leg open and use an explosion on her knee at the same time. Fuck all her shit up. She passes out from the pain, the last thing she sees is Jackal's beasty body jumping through the air and away from her.
Take a look at it. I've given myself options right away on what I'll do with it. But the basic premise is there. Jackal and Lucy fighting each other, and her reasoning with him. And there's a reason for it. He was hit with a spell. Now it's just a matter of sitting down and writing it. And I'll be honest, I really want to write this one. What happens later is what I want to get to, but I have to give you guys a beginning; otherwise you'll be super confused about why this next part happens.
When Lucy wakes up again, she's in a bed she's never been in before. She won't be in the FT infirmary. So she wakes up and sees Mard sitting in an arm chair, reading a book.
And I could just as easily start with her waking up and do the Jackal part as a flashback, but think about it this way…
Giving the reader conflict right away sucks them into the story. It doesn't always have to be a fight of some sort. It could be something as simple as your character having some sort of internal conflict. (Like trying to decide what to wear, but for the love of god… if you're going to do that, make it relevant to the story in some way)
Alright, so I have the beginning outline, and I know what the next scene is going to be. Now it's just a matter of sitting down and writing it, right? So… I'll force myself to write something for the beginning right here. I won't edit it (aside from spelling errors) so you guys can see what it looks like when I type a first draft. It might not make it into the real story, but that's not important right now. What's important is that I write something to get the ball rolling, then I can keep that momentum and finish the piece.
If I have to pause for some reason, I'll put it in parentheses in a separate paragraph.
(Like this)
Okay, here we go...
#
Things had been going so well for her up until that point. The demons of Tartarus had turned over a new leaf and they were allies. In a sense. They weren't enemies any longer, so Lucy had been counting it as a win. And she'd actually been enjoying her time with Jackal on a cooperative mission between their guilds - the first of many, Makarov had been hoping - all the way through a creepy forest and disgusting marsh that smelled like rotten fish and moldy fries.
She still wasn't sure why it had smelled like fries.
But as she jumped to one side to avoid being hit with an explosion from the demon who'd been her partner, Lucy really couldn't find it in herself to care about the smell of the marsh. "Jackal!" she shrieked, covering her head to protect it from falling debris. "Jackal, stop!"
They'd long since passed his wild, maniacal cackling phase and now she was faced with his Etherious form.
(Paused to google Jackal's Etherious Form so I can properly describe it)
Gone were his golden human eyes and the familiar line of his jaw. Now, pure white glared down at her from above a furry, snarling muzzle. He didn't speak anymore. Now it was all growls and too-fast slashes from his claws. Random explosions lighting up the night and surrounding her in a fiery flurry.
"Just calm down!" she shouted. "You don't have to do this! We can get someone to change you back and stop the - ACK!"
Lucy dodge another attack, feeling the ends of her hair crinkling from the fire that licked at her side. She crashed to the ground and scrambled to find some strategy she could use to get away. Just enough for her to keep him back.
That small distraction was enough for him though. Jackal channeled his curse into the knee he'd shattered nearly a year prior, still feeling his connection to the joint even after all this time. Lucy screeched in agony as an explosion blew her reformed kneecap apart, splitting the skin and sending thick trails of blood streaking down her leg. It was nearly enough to send her spiralling into unconsciousness, even as he came closer. Close enough for his clawed hand to wind around her throat and lift her writhing body into the air. For his hot, foul breath to feather across her face.
"J-Jackal, please…"
#
So, that's the first draft of the beginning. I just wrote it and let whatever came to mind out within the scope of my vague outline. Do marshes smell like moldy fries? I don't know, and I don't think I'll keep that in the story when I revise it, but the point is that I wrote something. It doesn't always have to be great. Hell, most times the beginning of your story will get edited like crazy because after you get to the end of chapter 1, you'll go back and look at those first few lines and say, "Meh, I feel the story now… Lemme fix that up."
The possibilities are endless when you start writing your story, and I know that's pretty damn daunting when you're first starting out. Hell, it's daunting to me, and I've been writing fics for two years now. Writing is what I'm most passionate about, and I still cringe when I start a new story because I just don't know where to begin.
You're not alone in that, I can promise you that.
So… let's recap.
When writer's block hits… keep writing. Push through it and worry about making it great during revision. If it's really kicking you in the teeth, then take a break and do something you enjoy, then come back to it and try again.
At this point, the one question kinda took hold of this post. And I'm sure I'll make another post about writer's block in the future in regards to other things (I can't think of any right now, but we'll see). And you guys are more than welcome to ask more questions about it in response to what I wrote here.
So, before I close this out, I'll answer one more question. Just a small one though.
Question 2: Have you seen Gakuen Alice? Fullmetal Alchemist? Naruto? Hunter x hunter? Stuck between writing novels and hating drabbles.
I haven't seen Gakuen Alice, Fullmetal Alchemist, or Hunter x Hunter. I have seen Naruto for the most part, since my husband was watching it while I was trying to write or do homework. I've got a FT/Naruto crossover planned with a Gaara/Lucy pairing, but that's still in its infancy for plotting.
My current fandoms that I'm willing to write for (comfortably) are:
Fairy Tail, Bleach, Magi, Harry Potter (but I won't write smut for it), Seven Deadly Sins, and maybe Naruto.
As far as being stuck between drabbles and novels, there's a great in-between for that. Short stories and novellas.
For fanfiction purposes, a novella is a great one. It's not normally a publishable length, although that might be changing over the next few years. Here are some industry-standard guidelines:
Flash Fiction: Under 1,000 words
Short-Short Story: 1,000 - 1,500 words
Short Story: 1,500 - 30,000 words
Novella: 30,000 - 50,000 words
Novel: 50,000 - 300,000 words
I will say that most short stories being published in literary magazines usually fall within the 5,000 - 7,000 word range. That's 25 pages or less, double-spaced, with 12-pt font.
But, you've got options. And, if anything, don't worry about the word count or trying to categorize it while you're writing. Just write and see what happens and how many words come out when you're done. Now, if you're specifically going for a short story or novella, then keep those guidelines in mind (they're not rules, just suggestions) so you know which things to include and which ones to leave out.
As an example, my story Tearing Me Apart is only 34,000 words. It's a novella. But with it I was able to span over a decade, because I chose specific scenes that furthered the plot instead of getting into all the gritty details of every interaction between the characters. Writing shorter stories is a little harder when you have an idea that really belongs in a novel, but I believe all of you are capable of it.
So, send some more questions. I still have the reviews queued up from chapter 1, waiting to be answered. I'm definitely willing to take more questions. And if something in this didn't fully answer your question, then ask away. Get as specific as possible. Just remember that whatever you ask in a review will be posted here (unless I just use the bare bones idea of your question). If you want me to answer the question in private, then message me.
And, for anyone who's asked me questions in messages, if your situation comes up in something I'm writing for this series, I'll ask your permission before using your name or any specifics.
Until next time!
~~GemNika