I finally finished “Farewell, Something Lovely.” During the re-write, I hit a wall. I’m not going to call it writer’s block, because it wasn’t that. The words were there in my head, I just couldn’t get them to come out. The words that did come out didn’t work on the page. I was at an impasse, all the more frustrating because in this case, I knew the route, I just didn’t have the right vehicle.
I was writing on my computer. That is how I have written since university. At my job, I write a lot of reports, and doing that, I have found it is easier to compose my ideas with pen and paper, than type that in. It’s almost like an initial proofread, as during the data entry I catch grammar and logic errors, as well as realizing something isn’t flowing right.
I’m sure you can figure out what I did.
Switching to pen and paper allowed me to get the words out on the page. It was dialogue, a final exchange, and I was able to get that dialogue out and on the page. During data entry, I added actions and descriptions, rounding out the scene. Something that had foiled me for three nights in a row was sorted in a single night.
All this to say that if you’re hitting some kind of wall, be it writer’s block or finding the words on the page aren’t the words you had in your head, switch your tool. For me, it was moving from the computer to pen and paper. For you, it might be moving from pen and paper to speaking into a voice recorder (or trying to compose on the computer).
And, honestly, if you are someone who hasn’t faced this situation that really won’t make much