Fiction that Matters

Personally, I agree with number 4: the problem with trying to ram an idea into a scene that doesn’t call for it. In fact, I’m dealing with that problem right now in a story that I’m working on; I’ve been asked by my agent to rework a passage, and his suggestions are brilliant but they’re not really dropping into place because they are fluttering on top of the story in my mind and haven’t meshed, as it were, with the themes and flow of the original narrative. The story will be better if I bring in his suggestions—I’m sure of that—but it’s just not happening right now. Which leads me to another point: I disagree that sitting down and writing every day is the solution. Sometimes I need to take a step back, not for the sake of finding a muse, but because I’m too committed to a scene or an idea to hack it apart.

Lili St. Crow takes the cake for best image. - DBO

amandaonwriting:

The Top 10 Writers Block Quotes

1. Writer’s block? I’ve heard of this. This is when a writer cannot write, yes? Then that person isn’t a writer anymore. I’m sorry, but the job is getting up in the fucking morning and writing for a living. ~Warren Ellis

2. I learned to produce whether I wanted to or not. It would be easy to say oh, I have writer’s block, oh, I have to wait for my muse. I don’t. Chain that muse to your desk and get the job done. ~Barbara Kingsolver

3. All writing is difficult. The most you can hope for is a day when it goes reasonably easily. Plumbers don’t get plumber’s block, and doctors don’t get doctor’s block; why should writers be the only profession that gives a special name to the difficulty of working, and then expects sympathy for it? ~Philip Pullman

4. I’ve often said that there’s no such thing as writer’s block; the problem is idea block. When I find myself frozen–whether I’m working on a brief passage in a novel or brainstorming about an entire book–it’s usually because I’m trying to shoehorn an idea into the passage or story where it has no place. ~Jeffery Deaver

5. You can’t think yourself out of a writing block; you have to write yourself out of a thinking block. ~John Rogers

6. There’s no such thing as writer’s block. That was invented by people in California who couldn’t write. ~Terry Pratchett

7. I haven’t had trouble with writer’s block. I think it’s because my process involves writing very badly. My first drafts are filled with lurching, clichéd writing, outright flailing around. Writing that doesn’t have a good voice or any voice. But then there will be good moments. It seems writer’s block is often a dislike of writing badly and waiting for writing better to happen. ~Jennifer Egan

8.Writer’s block doesn’t exist…lack of imagination does. ~Cyrese Covelli

9. Writer’s Block is just an excuse by people who don’t write for not writing. ~Giando Sigurani 

10. Discipline allows magic. To be a writer is to be the very best of assassins. You do not sit down and write every day to force the Muse to show up. You get into the habit of writing every day so that when she shows up, you have the maximum chance of catching her, bashing her on the head, and squeezing every last drop out of that bitch. ~Lili St. Crow