If You Have Writer's Block...WATCH THIS!
These kinds of characters already exist!
This scene has already been thought of!
Someone has already written this BOOK!
Has it already been thought of? Do they already exit? Has someone already written the book?
Or do you just think that?
As writers we think about many things! We think about characters, how they look, what they wear, their history and backstory, and their personalities. We think about world building. What time period, world, country, or state does my story take place? How do I describe my setting? How do I get my readers to imagine and view the world I see and have created?
Sometimes, our thinking can go TOO FAR!
Not only do we think about the details of our books, we began thinking about WHAT we’re writing.
WE ASK AND SAY THINGS LIKE:
What if this story isn’t any good? This story is no good! I can’t write this because I’m sure it’s been written before. No, I need to scratch this character because it kind of sounds similar to this author’s character. This plot has already been written! Then we begin tapping our pen on the desk, staring at an empty computer document, or twiddling our fingers, because we’ve forsaken writing for wondering about maybes, possibles, already’s, and what if’s.
This ineffective wondering can leave many authors in a precarious spot called, WRITER’S BLOCK. (Which can be a psychological inhibition preventing a writer from proceeding with a piece of writing. Or it can be difficulty in coming up with original ideas.)
This isn’t me telling you not to double check to make sure your work isn’t like another author’s or writer’s work. I’m telling you to not get caught in the web of not writing wonderful and beautiful books because you’re assuming your writing isn’t any good or it may or may have not already been done.
If the idea has been done, it isn’t the end of world, because it can be re-imagined—NOT PLAGIARIZED—with your original twist.
Take The Lunar Chronicles Series by Marissa Meyer as an example. Meyer’s entire series is derived from fairy tales that have been written in various, unique, and original ways FOR YEARS AND I MEAN YEARS. Though Meyer’s book ideas came from fairy tales that have already been done, she put an original twist to them. She put her twist to them; and she thought beyond what had already been done.
This is THE KEY to overcoming Writer’s Block: GOING BEYOND WHAT’S ALREADY BEEN DONE.
