I want to introduce you to Becca J. Campbell, my guest today who is a multi-published author and a lovely lady!
I recently read this nifty little book by Stephen King. I’m not a huge fan of his work although I respect him as a writer. But On Writing provided me a chest full of gold nuggets – encouragement, inspiration, solutions to problems every writer faces. You might expect someone who’s come across this kind of buried treasure to keep it tucked away, but fortunately I am not a hoarder. I want to pass on what I’ve learned in hopes that you be enlightened as well. I’m nearly trembling with anticipation of sharing with you all the goodies in King’s book (although you really should go read it for yourself). So what am I waiting for? On with it! The first one is about conquering Writer’s Block.
The Curse of Writer’s Block
What is writer’s block, anyway? It depends on who you ask. The causes are even more varied. In my experience, I’ve found that writer’s block often is this: the excuse not to write. That may sound harsh, but I’m speaking for myself here, not pointing the finger at anyone else. Sure, we all get stuck sometimes. I’ve had my share of big, gaping plot holes to hurdle. I’ve also experienced creative funk (not the kind of funk that’s rockin’) when I had absolutely no motivation to work. It’s miserable. But often what we blame on writer’s block is nothing more than a lack of tenacity – not being willing to stick with it and write through the block. That said, when I get stuck, it’s usually because I don’t know what happens next.
Fighting Bad with Worse
In On Writing, King made an excellent point about his own experiences with writer’s block. He said often the best solution is to add a new problem. Let tragedy strike your poor unsuspecting characters. The moment I read that, I began analyzing periods in my work when writing was a struggle. I found that most of them were indeed at a point in the story where there was more apathy than disaster, more dull tranquility than teeth-gritting struggle. If I’d thrown tragedy at my characters, I’d instantly have something to write about. Not only that, but the times I had escaped some form of writer’s block were often because I initiated a new dilemma in the plot (whether or not I realized it at the time).
If King hadn’t so plainly stated his solution to writer’s block, I don’t think I would have had the conscious realization on my own. When things went bad in my story, I searched for a solution the way I do in life – looking for the bright side, trying to patch up the bad with the good. In life I’m an optimist, but that might not be the best trait as a author. Seeing all the things that can go wrong is an ideal vantage for a writer. I’ve learned that the best way to fight the bad is by letting the plot take a turn for the worse.
If you’re stuck, try it. Let me know how it goes. Or if you’ve done it in the past and it worked, I’d love to hear how.
Becca is giving away 5 eBooks of her latest release, Gateway to Reality. Enter below!
Talented artists shouldn’t be waiting tables, scraping by, and living mediocre lives. But that’s exactly what art school graduate Wes Teague is doing.
Then he wakes from a bizarre dream, haunted by the sense that his life isn’t real. A harrowing truth presents itself–the real world lies in his dreams, not when he’s wide awake.
The dream world he enters each night is rich and vibrant. Chicago appears the same on the surface, but chaos runs rampant as gravity, physics, and other laws of nature become fluid, changing unexpectedly. There, Wes’s parents, brother, and sister are strangers. His girlfriend Emily doesn’t recognize him. Wes longs to return, to unlearn the truth about his dual reality.
Wes would sacrifice almost anything to get back to blissful ignorance in a false world.
But now he has feelings for the real Emily.
Becca J. Campbell is the author of the New Adult Science Fiction/Romance novels Foreign Identity and Gateway to Reality. Not the Norm, the first in her Sci Fi short story series is CURRENTLY FREE on Amazon, Kobo, and iTunes.
An avid lover of stories that tiptoe the line between fantasy and reality (even when they plunge off one side or the other), Becca looks for new angles on bridging the gap between the two. She holds a special place in her heart for any story that involves superpowers or time travel. Her passion is defying the limits of her own creativity. You can find her on her Author Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Amazon.
