Tips for Dealing with RP Writer's Block

Tips for Dealing with RP Writer’s Block

I find for me there are three main causes for having difficulty writing. I won’t even call it writer’s “block” because that implies being stuck or not having anything to say, and that’s almost never the case for me. Let’s think of it more as a temporary interruption in our regular word flow. It sounds a lot less daunting that way, also, and since writing is pretty much an intellectual pursuit, how you think about it makes a big difference. Frame the problem differently and it takes on new attributes, loses some of its power, and enables you to come up with unique solutions.

The Three Devils of RP Writing

1. Distraction

Identify what distracts you. For a lot of people it can be other online activities. Other people and just general noise can also be a problem. In our own heads, other focuses can be a distraction as well.

You don’t multitask as well as you think you do. In fact, studies say people don’t truly multi-task at all, we simply switch from task to task very quickly. While this can be an evolutionary advantage in some situations, it can also be a killer for writers. Every time you switch focus, you lose your train of thought a bit. Your brain needs to stop, switch, switch again, refocus, remember, and restart every single time. Sounds like a lot to handle? It is.

For most people, writing isn’t easy. The words don’t just fall out onto the page by themselves. It requires thought. Language itself is intensive work for the brain even though we’re inherently wired for it. If you’re writing in a foreign language, you have it twice as hard. Writing requires focus.

Get off of Facebook. Stop chatting on Kik or Slack or whatever. Turn off the television. Get off the internet entirely if you have to. There are offline apps you can use to write if you need some serious isolation in which to work. Go to a cafe or library without wi-fi. Poet Maya Angelou regularly worked from a hotel room devoid of all distractions so that she could focus on her writing. A change of scenery can also provide inspiration to get the words flowing again.

Block off some time for your writing. Schedule it like anything else that you need to do uninterrupted. It doesn’t have to be a big block of time. Even 20 or 30 minutes is a good start. If you’re having a particularly hard time getting anything written at all, the shorter periods are probably better and less daunting.

You need to know yourself and know what your needs are for writing, as well as be realistic about what you can achieve. If you’re stuck at a children’s birthday party, you’re probably not going to be able to get any writing done. Just give it up until there are better circumstances available. Part of working through a difficult period is being kind to yourself and giving yourself what you need in order to nurture your creativity. Trying to make yourself write under bad conditions is only going to lead to more frustration. Need a brief hiatus? Take one and don’t feel bad about it.

2. Confusion

It is really difficult to write when you don’t know what’s going on. Whether this is a novel or a roleplay, it applies equally. Maybe your problem isn’t writer’s block, but planning. You can interview yourself with some possibly obvious questions to determine if confusion is a contributing factor.

• What happened up to this point in the story?
• How has that affected my character?
• How is that affecting future events?
• What are the future events?
• How is my character going to react to those events?
• Do I have a clear idea of the progression of the plot and what steps are needed to move it forward?
• Where is this thing supposed to end up, both story-wise and character-wise?
• What was the inspiration for this story originally?

If you can’t easily answer those questions, you might want to divert your writing time from the actual story to working on some of the story framework. Make yourself an outline. Take character notes. Consult with your collaborators. Re-read the story so far. This is a perfectly legitimate use of writing time and will serve you well moving forward with your story and characterization. If you know your end destination and the milestones along the way, it will be much easier to find multiple paths to take to get there.

3. Fear

Fear can be a paralyzing emotion. We all have fears, from the smallest to the most overwhelming of things. Writing is scary. You’re putting your words, which are part of you and represent your thinking and your values and your creativity, out there where other people can read them. While that’s immensely rewarding, it can also be immensely nerve-wracking. People could be mean. People could laugh.

You know what? THIS WILL HAPPEN. Just get used to the idea now. There are assholes in the world. Not everyone will like your work. So what? As long as you are enjoying yourself and working to improve, it doesn’t matter. If you let the fear of what other people might think control what you did and did not do, you’d never get anything done. You can’t write for other people. You have to write for you.

You might get some critical feedback – you should welcome this. Even if the feedback provided isn’t worded in the most polite way, negative feedback is critical to developing your skills and improving as a writer. If everyone just told you how great you already were, first of all they’d be lying because we all make mistakes and we all have room for improvement, but more importantly, you wouldn’t learn anything from the knowledge and experience of others.

Don’t take it personally if it happens. It’s not about YOU as a person, it’s about the writing. You can write a crappy piece and still be a wonderful person. Edit that piece, revise it, polish it, value the opportunity to get better at your craft and put that sucker back out there again. Too many people are discouraged immediately and don’t give writing a fair chance. Like anything else, it takes practice to become good at it.

Don’t expect to be J. K. Rowling right out of the gate. Not even J. K. Rowling was a good writer when she started. She had rough drafts. She got negative feedback. She made multiple revisions and resubmitted her manuscripts to editors for corrections and more revisions. If you have faith in your ability to become a good writer, then the fact that you might not always be one already shouldn’t faze you. Feedback is useful, don’t let it scare you.

Give yourself permission to write badly. They say that even a badly written novel is better than no novel, for example. Write something. Anything. It’s not carved in stone. You can always edit it, expand upon it, rework it. Consider it a rough draft. It’s okay to have multiple drafts. Nobody gets it perfect on the first try. Just don’t let fear stop you from trying.

Hopefully this blog has given you some ideas on how to deal with your own writer’s block. If you have questions, comments, thoughts, or feedback (of course!), please feel free to post below or inbox me. My inbox is open to all and I am happy to talk about writing anytime.