Writer's Block. It's a phrase that's pretty much the worst swear word of the writing world. The He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Everyone's worst nightmare, etc. I could probably ramble on like that for at least another 6-8 names. But I won't; I'll save you that misery. But, then again... This post is going to be a pretty short one otherwise...
Writer's Block is not something that I'm terribly familiar with. Not to say I don't ever hit walls or get stuck with my plot or tired of writing... Because I do. With all of that. Usually at least once a week. Sometimes more like once a day, or even once an hour. And it sucks. A lot.
Here's the thing though. I don't let it stop me. If I get stuck on a plot, I pull up another document and just start rambling about what could happen if one character did this. And go from there. Not working out? Fine. Change characters. Change their reaction. Make them act totally out of character for a minute, just to keep writing and keep my head focused on the problem at hand. If that doesn't work, I close the file and walk away from that project for a while. When I come back in an hour, I'll have fresh eyes and new ideas [hopefully]. If I still can't get around that wall... I either switch projects [normal] or skip that part [very rare and I don't recommend that, personally] and just keep going.
When I just don't feel like writing for the day, I won't lie. Most of the time, I won't do it. I hate the way my work sounds when I wasn't feeling like doing it, but sometimes you have to. And then I just sit down and power through. It might need more editing than stuff would otherwise and it's most likely going to take me an hour to write 150 words, but it's done. And I didn't break my habit because I was feeling a bit lazy that day.
So, writer's block. A big scary thing that, like all other nightmares, I stare at dead in the eyes and say: You don't scare me!
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