Mental Block

[Tasmin21]

So, I am about seven chapters and polish away from finishing my first book. (at least, the first one I'll actually claim)  And I feel like I'm struggling so much, dragging the ideas kicking and screaming out of my head on excruciating sentence at a time.  My husband insists I have some kind of mental block, where I don't really want to finish the book and start the whole submission/query process.

I just know that I stare at the blinking cursor and want to rip my hair out. *sigh* 

[pathele]

when I get blocked on a current project, I do a couple of different things. (I've tried more, but only a couple of things seem to work for me)
1) I put the current project aside and work for a short time on something else completely. Like a short story that has nothing to do with my current project.  This is usually more effective if I am more burnt out than having writers block.
2) I write an event in one of my main characters lives. A wedding, funeral, birthday party, high school graduation, something.  It allows my mind to work on the characters, but with nothing that is part of the current novel.  It usually helps clear the cobwebs of writers block, but doesn't help for burn out.
YMMV, but these work for me.

-paul

[Phantasmagorical]

Alternate universe.

Pick a character, any character. Snag a Random Plot Device, then put them in some completely bizarre snafu. For me, it helps keep the characters sharp in my head, but I can step away from whatever plot knot I'm banging my head against. Also, it's fun to torment your characters I can sometimes find a new angle or action from him or her, just because they're in some situation that's about ten zillion miles from home.

Other than that -- and I apologize in advance, as hearing this never fails to drive me nuts -- I'd say grit your teeth and pound through it. Set a kitchen timer for 45 minutes, and don't allow yourself to delete anything until after the timer bings. You have to weed through a lot of dross, but sometimes it's just a matter of sheer brute force that brings the good stuff out.

Good luck!

[blgarver]

I'm pretty much in the same boat, Tasmin. 

I'm about 6-8 chapters from finishing my first novel.  I like it, am always pumped about the story when I look over the outline, but when I sit down to write the fire kind of dies and my fingers don't do much work.

Since I already have the rest of the book plotted out, I think mine is a case of burnt-outedness.  It's not a matter of what's going to happen, just a matter of writing it.  I've been writing this thing for over a year, and I find myself rushing through scenes just so can hit the plot points and move on.  I've already got some issues with some motivation for the characters in a few of the scenes, just because I didn't take the time concentrate on that.  I just flew right through to get the scene written.  But maybe I'm just too close to it and it's really okay.

I'll find out on the rewrite, which I'm dreading by the way.  I didn't begin with an outline, so there are a lot of things I'm going to have to work in that I figured out in the process of writing the book. 

Reading always helps me kickstart the gumption gears.  I can only read for a couple of hours before I *have* to write something.

[RMatthewWare]

Reading "How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy" by Orson Scott Card is a good idea.

Besides that, you have to figure out if you have writer's block or are just burned out.  If you're burned out, either take a break and read, or write something else (short stories work for me).  If it's writer's block, then the problem you're having is probably that you're writing the wrong thing.  If you're having to force the story, somewhere in your mind you don't believe it.  Or you're starting in the wrong place, or writing the wrong scene.  Step back and look at what you're writing, and what you've written.  Should you start in a new place, or change the point of view of the scene?  Maybe you need to start the scene a day before, or a day later.  Is it a murder scene?  Maybe you need to start at the time of the murder, or an hour before, or when the police arrive, or when your main character arrives.  Play around and see if it starts to flow a little better.  If you've got flowage, like the story is writing itself, you're good.  If you are getting blocked, then you're doing something wrong.

Check this link out http://www.hatrack.com/writingclass/lessons/1998-10-29.shtml
In it, Orson Scott Card discusses starting a novel.  He talks about how he could write, but that nothing worked right, the story didn't flow.  After trying several different starts, he realized that he was starting at the wrong point.  When he realized that, he was able to fix it.

Matt