Write the Good Part First
Another common problem among writers is writer’s block. When you sit down to write, ready to go, then stare at an empty page until you give up.
There are many, many different tricks I’ve found to deal with writer’s block, enough that I couldn’t possibly talk about all of them. Instead, I’m focusing on one: write the good part first.
There have been several chapters of Girl in Red that I’ve sat down to write, and, as previously mentioned, I’ll get nowhere on them. I’ve usually got some idea of what I want to happen, I just don’t want to write whatever part on which I’m stuck.
My solution for this is to pick a different part, even if it’s a different chapter, and start writing it. You can work your way backward from there, or skip it entirely with a few lines of exposition. Maybe you realize that the story needs to take a completely different path. This has happened to me many times, which is why I recommend this.
The example I think of is chapter five in Neville Longbottom and the Cherry Champion. I was stuck on that chapter for a month (this was back when I was far enough ahead that I could afford to be stuck for a month). I kept trying to get the transition into being at Hogwarts for that year right, but I kept getting stuck.
I finally went back and started imagining what the conversation between Hermione and her parents would be like. For context, during the World Cup, instead of running away, Hermione ran toward the group of Death Eaters, getting herself a Cruciatus Curse for her bravery/foolhardiness. As I wrote the scene, I realized that there was no way Hermione was going to be allowed back to Hogwarts, given how I’d been characterizing her parents.
Not only did I finally get a chapter written, but I’d just altered the course of the entire book. Now, when I think of writer’s block, I think of that chapter and what it became.
Like I said in Finding Time to Write, it’s important that you keep writing, but when you force yourself to write, it comes out in the final product. Writing the parts you enjoy first gives you the energy to write the parts you don’t like.
Remember, this is for your writing. It’s worth the effort.
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