3 Keys to a Writer’s Block Free Life

To get you motivated and ready for JuNoWriMo, here’s a post on how to avoid writer’s block by Kevin Kaiser of 1K True Fans. Hold these keys close to you and you’ll sail through June.

~

I’ve never met a prolific author who believed in the existence of writer’s block. Not one. And even if it does exist, some have told me, they simply choose not to participate in it.

I was shocked the first time an author said this to me. “Really?” I said.  “You don’t believe in writer’s block? Surely every writer experiences a block at some point. It’s almost a rite of passage for all wordsmiths, a badge of honor that we can commiserate with your friends over a nice latte, right?”

Wrong.

Tell me, why is it that some authors are completely hamstrung by writer’s block while others seem unnaturally prolific and unhampered by the creative equivalent of the La Brea Tar Pits?

The difference is in the choices they make, not the traits they possess. It’s in the perceptions they have and how those perceptions shape their actions. I went on a fact finding search among some of the best writers I know and this is what I found.

Want to live a writer’s block-free life? Here’s all you need to know.

 1. Realize that writer’s block is about fear.

Understand this point and you’ll discover that the dragon has no teeth. Think about all of those times when you stared at the blank page or screen, paralyzed. For years this happened to me. And, honestly, it still does sometimes. It’s the closest feeling I’ve ever had to a panic attack.

My revelation came when an author pointed out the cause: All of that stress stems from not knowing what comes next. We’re afraid of choosing the wrong word or writing a cardboard character or fretting over whether or not an Oxford comma is better. Or whether we really aren’t writers…at all. What if I’m a fraud.

Getting on with creativity starts with getting over fear. I’m not telling you it’s easy. It’s not. Far from it. But that’s the start of it.

 2. Write when you’re uninspired.

Writing is like marriage in some ways. If you base your commitment to it on whether or not you feel like sticking it out, you won’t last very long.  And the most important actions, the ones that have the most meaning and impact, are the ones you take when you least feel like it.

“I only write when I’m inspired, and I make sure I’m inspired every morning at 9 a.m.” -Peter DeVries

Ever noticed that no one has “worker’s block”? You can’t phone it in because you’re feeling uninspired. That would never last. It’s the same with writing. No one finds time to do it. They make time. No one who’s successful waits around for the muse to show up. They simply get started.

 3. Get words on the page…even if they’re shitty at first.

Writers are notorious tinkerers. We like pristine words, pristine paragraphs, and pristine pages. I’ve spent hours sometimes tweaking sentences until they’d been completely ruined. We’re (many of us) perfectionists.

There’s a wonderful chapter in Anne Lamott’s book Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life entitled “Shitty First Drafts.” I found it on the web and it’s worth taking time to read. That essay singlehandedly freed me (mostly) from my obsession to get it right the first time. It’s too much pressure. I don’t have to and neither do you.

Let me take the pressure off you. You have permission to just get words on the page, even if what you’re putting down is shitty. No one cares. Play. Experiment. Just get words on the page.

I can’t imagine how many stories never saw the light of day because their creators got so hung up on perfection that they quit. I know there’s an idea graveyard full of my stuff, all because I wouldn’t just. Get. It. Down. You can wipe the page clean later, but first just it down.

~

Kevin KaiserKevin Kaiser writes and dishes out professional creative wisdom at 1K True Fans. Check out his Facebook page here.

 

 

 

 

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@WriMo is a Must Read for #NaNoWriMo – Win a Copy Here!

Hey WriMos! I’m excited to share a great new book with you. If you’re participating in National Novel Writing Month this year, you won’t want to miss this one. In fact, I’m going to give away a copy at the end of this post, so keep reading!

My Review

Are you new to writing, as in never finished (or maybe started!) a novel? @WriMo is for you.

Are you a National Novel Writing Month (or JuNoWriMo) virgin? @WriMo is for you.

Did you attempt NaNoWriMo and not quite make it to the end? @WriMo is for you.

Are you a several-time NaNoWriMo champion who’s on the [long, grueling] road to publishing? @WriMo is for you.

@WriMo: A 30-day Survival Guide for Writers isn’t a writing handbook—it’s a motivational tool. It’s like a concentrated dose of writing-pep-me-up in a shot glass: the antivirus for that pesky Resistance strain. The book is crafted into 30 bite-sized chunks (one for each day of the month) that are easy to swallow in a short time frame. It’s perfect for a five or ten minute get-into-the-groove before you start your daily writing.

Kaiser covers such topics as: “Inspiration is Overrated,” “When the Muses Head to Vegas,” “5 Things to Stop Doing Right Now (if you want to finish your novel),” and “What Bestsellers Do Differently Than Everyone Else.”

Sometimes when I’m stuck I need to be gently encouraged about my talent and potential. Other times I need someone to pull the La-Z-Boy out from under me, knocking me off of my all-too-comfortable butt and drag me back to the writing desk. Kaiser hits both ends of the spectrum with this one. From quoting Yoda (“Do or do not. There is no try.”) to the drill-sergeant-esque “You want to write, don’t you? Then write!” (exclamation point added for emphasis), @WriMo packs the punch.

This book is geared toward NaNoWriMo participants, but is also great for anyone who fights writer’s block, has a difficult time getting motivated, or needs some extra encouragement in his or her daily writing routine—regardless of what month it is. When I picked up this book, I’d been procrastinating on a few projects. After reading just a few sections, I was ready to get back in the ring and have a throw down with my story. Reading @WriMo made me feel strengthened, revitalized, and determined not to give in to Resistance.

If you’re going to do NaNoWriMo, I suggest you get this book now, read it once before you begin, and then read the content for each day as you move through November. It contains a lot of great nuggets you might want to consider before starting, but it will also be a welcome refresher during the experience. Either way, there’s never a wrong time to read @WriMo.

Interview with the Author

Check out this interview with Kevin Kaiser to find out more about the book and his life as a writer. Then make sure and enter the giveaway below!

BC: @WriMo: A 30-day Survival Guide for Writers is geared toward those who participate in National Novel Writing Month. Have you participated in the challenge, and do you have one (or more) NaNoWriMo winner’s badges to your name?

KK: My only NaNoWriMo was in 2005 after a friend had told me about it. At the time, I was puttering around with writing a novel. Like a lot of people, I had an idea, but that’s about all I had.  I didn’t sign up officially through their website, but I loved the idea of all these people working on books at the same time. Even if I didn’t know any of them, I at least wasn’t alone. So I started getting up at 5:00 a.m. and wrote before work, then wrote at night after I had spent some time with my wife. I hit 60,000 words that year, every single one of them terrible, but that sent me on a new path. I was hooked.

BC: You’ve giving all the proceeds of this book to the folks at NaNoWriMo. What drove that decision?

KK: If I hadn’t written that novel in 2005, my life would look very different today. Back then I was in the investment world. NaNoWriMo was a truly defining event in my life that made me realize what I wanted to do with my life. Now I make my living in entertainment, mostly in publishing, and I have NaNoWriMo partly to thank for that. Doing @WriMo was the simplest way I knew to pay it forward and say thanks.

BC: @WriMo is jam-packed with wise advice about how to beat Resistance. How did you find these truths? Were they mostly taught, borrowed, or personally discovered?

KK: All of the above. They all started out as bits of advice and wisdom that I’d heard or read somewhere. Truth is, knowing about something isn’t nearly the same thing as knowing it firsthand. At some point you have to begin discovering and experiencing these things for yourself, otherwise it’s all just hearsay. There’s nothing transformative about hearsay. But experience, well that’s altogether different. Everything I write about now comes from my personal discovery process. I want to know for myself how to beat Resistance and that can only come one way: by doing.

BC: You have a great quote in the book. “Distractions slay more novels than anything else.” As a writer, what distractions do you face and how do you deal with them?

KK: The same ones everyone else does, though I think my greatest distraction is fear. Many writers may not consider fear a distraction, but it’s what derails us more often than not–fear about whether we’re good enough, fear about discovering that we’re really a fraud and can’t write after all. For me, moving past fear when it creeps in is essential. There’s nothing more paralyzing to the creative process. Not even Facebook or Twitter. : )

BC: Your writing blog StorySellerPRO provides the same type of encouragement and motivation that @WriMo does. One of the things I like best is your brutal honesty about what it takes to be a writer. You don’t kowtow to the excuse of writer’s block. In that way, your posts are often like my own personal writing drill sergeant. Who or what pushes you to write?

KK: I’m in a stage at the moment where I’m writing at least partially for a paycheck. Writer’s block is a luxury, if you want to call it that, I can’t afford because I have deadlines. But even that isn’t enough, which is why having people in your life that you can trust is important. I have a few friends, other writers mostly, who have no qualms with calling me out if I’m making excuses. My wife is my own personal drill sergeant and keeps me on track. Being the spouse or significant other of a writer is tough. They’re the unsung heroes, really, and the real reason why so many successful writers never gave up.

BC: When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

KK: I’m not really sure, honestly. I remember drawing my own comic books when I was kid and writing short stories. It didn’t cross my mind that I might actually be a writer until a few years ago when my wife corrected me during a conversation. She’d said, “Stop saying that writing is your hobby. It’s not. You are a writer. Accept it because it’s true.” It seems like a little thing, but that was the spark that made all the difference. Still does.

BC: Have you written any fiction? If so, what genre and what was the story about?

KK: I have. Quite a bit, actually. I have many many short stories, which I’ll eventually share with the world. I’ve also done several novel to graphic novel adaptations, a handful of screenplays, and three full length novels, one of which is published under a pen name. I gravitate toward thrillers, but thrillers that bend toward the supernatural. I think I have my taste in comics to movies to thank for that.

BC: You’ve worked with a variety of talented authors, including New York Times Bestseller Ted Dekker. What’s it like hanging around so many creative minds?

KK: When we actually get the chance to hang out it’s fun and truly encouraging. I’ve learned that everyone is essentially the same no matter what level of success they’ve achieved. We’re all just people trying to do something meaningful in life that we can enjoy. There’s a unique thing that happens, too, when like-minded people come together. New ideas happen that wouldn’t otherwise come to life, and sometimes sets one or all of us on a new path.

BC: What other projects are in the works? Do you have plans to publish again anytime soon?

KK: I just finished the first novel in a series that I was asked to co-write with a successful author. I can’t say who just yet, only that it’s the biggest project I’ve worked on to date. It will release sometime in early January 2013. I also will be finishing the second pen name novel in the next few months, and it will be published probably at the first of the year.

BC: If you could sum it all up in one thing, what would be the single, most important piece of advice for those hoping to win NaNoWriMo this year?

KK: Write because books don’t write themselves. Everyone does it the same way: one word at a time.

Giveaway

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Who’s Doing #NaNoWriMo? We Are!

Howdy gang! I hope you’ve had a great summer and are enjoying the new season. Fall came rushing in on me and I can hardly believe next month is November!

Join Us During November

Anna and I are doing #NaNoWriMo next month and we hope you are, too! If you aren’t signed up yet, go to http://nanowrimo.org and do it now.

We had a heck of a lot of fun last June doing word sprints with you guys. Because of that, we’re bringing it all back during November to help support your NaNoWriMo experience. Follow @junowrimo on Twitter to join in. I’m excited about seeing all my JuNo buddies again.

Remember our word count spreadsheet from June? How cool was it to see  everyone’s daily counts? Did you have as much fun racing with your fellow WriMos as I did? I have good news. We’re bringing it back for NaNoWrimo.

We will have a post letting you know when the new spreadsheet is ready, so stay tuned. We had over a hundred people input their names this June. Let’s see if we can get even more next month. Make sure you’ve created a JuNoWriMo account which will grant you access to the spreadsheet.

The best part about this site is the accountability. NaNoWriMo is a big place and it can be hard to get to know people, but here you’ll find a smaller and tighter community. If you’re new, then welcome aboard! We’re happy to have you with us.

Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo

Are you prepped and ready for what it’s going to take to write a novel in thirty days? October is prewriting month and I encourage you to take advantage of it. Starting NaNoWriMo without a plan isn’t just difficult—it’s setting yourself up for failure. Get the bones of your novel sketched out ahead of time so that when the clock turns midnight on October 31st, you’re armed and ready.

What is prewriting and exactly how do you do it? Aaron Pogue has a great walkthrough of how to get ready to write a novel. This post is the first in the prewriting series. Follow his advice and you’ll be ready for November.

More Tips and Free Stuff

One final thing. I’ve saved the best for last. There’s a great new ebook out there called @WriMo: A 30-day Survival Guide for Writers by Kevin S. Kaiser. I highly recommend it for everyone doing NaNoWriMo. This book is full of motivation to inspire your writing journey. It’s especially useful for making you stick with it in those times you really don’t want to write. I read it and loved it. Even better, all the proceeds of the book are donated to NaNoWriMo which means that buying this book is akin to sending them a donation check.

I’m so excited about this book that I’m going to give away a free copy next week! Come back on Monday for a chance to win!

Related Posts:

Prewriting for JuNoWriMo

Prewriting: the Steps

So Many Choices, So Little Time