A very complex variable - from forgetting that one included something earlier in the plot to forgetting to include it... We might call it "missing link syndrome" - it can bring all creative thinking to a shuddering halt.
The best cure for this one is to make plenty of (legible) notes - and keep them somewhere where they can be found - and - even making sure that they won't be forgotten themselves...
The other one I recalled is "fog"...
Not just thick, soggy stuff that blocks vision and sound but the problem that arises when one just can't see due to too many particles - of water in the air or story ideas - floating around between one's self and where one wants to get to.
This isn't as simple to get out of as the dead-end maze...
The fog may have got all around and hidden the way back...
The problem quite often seems to be that one is trying to fit far too many details into the story at the present time. The solution can be simple (hopefully) - one has to go back and insert some of the more mundane pieces of information at a prior stage.
I can give a simple example of this. If in an action sequence a chair will not just get in the way of the protagonists but in the way of the flow of the action - then the chair needs to have been established where it will later get in the way at an earlier point. The devil in the detail here is - at what earlier point? It mustn't be too early (or it will have disconnected from the action sequence) and it must not be too late (or it may still get in the way)... it must also be established in a way that will make the connection work when it is needed.
In movies Directors often cheat and highlight something that will later be needed by making it coloured in a black-and-white sequence - and then repeating the trick. Spielberg did this almost grossly in "Schindler's List" with the child's doll. There are more subtle ways - they are out there to be found/invented by writers...
There is a significant (if not always recognised) difference between "writers block" and a story line running into a dead end. There may also be a difference between these and a writer just stalling - or plain running out of steam... These are all quite different things.
Taking these as items 1 - 4 the last is probably the easiest to deal with... (usually) give the work a rest and restore energy...
3. Stalling - is both more difficult to recognise and deal with. It can sometimes be dealt with by a short break - maybe a walk round the garden or to the shop and back - then take another look...
Sometimes the answer will present itself while taking the break. The whole thing is comparable to walking or driving up a hill - one is chugging along quite nicely when suddenly the gradient changes or one finds that one is in the wrong gear... The solution just needs to be that one stops, gets one's act together and starts again.
2. Running into a dead end... Unfortunately writing doesn't usually have dead-end warning signs. (Oh how I wish that it did!) Also, while the blank end of a road is pretty apparent the same doesn't always apply with writing... And if it is one of those "modern estates" that is all dead ends - then it can take ages to figure out that one should have seen a warning sign back where one turned off from the main road... wherever that was... All one has to do then is find the way back to the main road...
So... One can easily run into a dead end or, even worse, a complete maze of dead ends... The time that I find myself doing this more readily is when I get "on a roll"... the story seems to take off - on a journey of its own... But - I have no control of where the journey is going.
Don't ask me how or why this happens - because I don't know - despite it having happened many times. It is, however, possible to watch out for the runaway story - and - at least pause to check. When checking it can be pretty useful to put down a marker - something that says "the main road is back that way".
Although I don't really use plans, much less strict and detailed plans, I can see that this is where thorough planning might keep one more free from trouble... But does it? Do the strict planners manage to not run away and get lost all of the time - or even just most of the time?
Then again - I know that if I did create a fairly tight plan it would probably hamper me - causing me to at least stall...
So then we get to #1... the dreaded "writer's block"...
Is this just one thing though? Surely a whole list of issues could be identified...
fatigue
indigestion
anxiety - about events/relationships/finances - even deadlines
confidence - lack of
distractions - not just an excuse
I'm sure that we could all extend the list.
How to get round it?
No idea...
Taking a break, sorting out the other things and - anything that works for the individual... they are all relevant...
The clearest thing for getting rid of the block though is - surely - wanting to write... and - (really annoyingly) just sitting down and - doing it... Writing anything, anything at all...
Which is absolutely no help at all if one is "blocked".
I forgot one - two...
The second one is forgetting something!
A very complex variable - from forgetting that one included something earlier in the plot to forgetting to include it... We might call it "missing link syndrome" - it can bring all creative thinking to a shuddering halt.
The best cure for this one is to make plenty of (legible) notes - and keep them somewhere where they can be found - and - even making sure that they won't be forgotten themselves...
The other one I recalled is "fog"...
Not just thick, soggy stuff that blocks vision and sound but the problem that arises when one just can't see due to too many particles - of water in the air or story ideas - floating around between one's self and where one wants to get to.
This isn't as simple to get out of as the dead-end maze...
The fog may have got all around and hidden the way back...
The problem quite often seems to be that one is trying to fit far too many details into the story at the present time. The solution can be simple (hopefully) - one has to go back and insert some of the more mundane pieces of information at a prior stage.
I can give a simple example of this. If in an action sequence a chair will not just get in the way of the protagonists but in the way of the flow of the action - then the chair needs to have been established where it will later get in the way at an earlier point. The devil in the detail here is - at what earlier point? It mustn't be too early (or it will have disconnected from the action sequence) and it must not be too late (or it may still get in the way)... it must also be established in a way that will make the connection work when it is needed.
In movies Directors often cheat and highlight something that will later be needed by making it coloured in a black-and-white sequence - and then repeating the trick. Spielberg did this almost grossly in "Schindler's List" with the child's doll. There are more subtle ways - they are out there to be found/invented by writers...
I hope these thoughts help in unblocking... :-)
David
There is a significant (if not always recognised) difference between "writers block" and a story line running into a dead end. There may also be a difference between these and a writer just stalling - or plain running out of steam... These are all quite different things.
Taking these as items 1 - 4 the last is probably the easiest to deal with... (usually) give the work a rest and restore energy...
3. Stalling - is both more difficult to recognise and deal with. It can sometimes be dealt with by a short break - maybe a walk round the garden or to the shop and back - then take another look...
Sometimes the answer will present itself while taking the break. The whole thing is comparable to walking or driving up a hill - one is chugging along quite nicely when suddenly the gradient changes or one finds that one is in the wrong gear... The solution just needs to be that one stops, gets one's act together and starts again.
2. Running into a dead end... Unfortunately writing doesn't usually have dead-end warning signs. (Oh how I wish that it did!) Also, while the blank end of a road is pretty apparent the same doesn't always apply with writing... And if it is one of those "modern estates" that is all dead ends - then it can take ages to figure out that one should have seen a warning sign back where one turned off from the main road... wherever that was... All one has to do then is find the way back to the main road...
So... One can easily run into a dead end or, even worse, a complete maze of dead ends... The time that I find myself doing this more readily is when I get "on a roll"... the story seems to take off - on a journey of its own... But - I have no control of where the journey is going.
Don't ask me how or why this happens - because I don't know - despite it having happened many times. It is, however, possible to watch out for the runaway story - and - at least pause to check. When checking it can be pretty useful to put down a marker - something that says "the main road is back that way".
Although I don't really use plans, much less strict and detailed plans, I can see that this is where thorough planning might keep one more free from trouble... But does it? Do the strict planners manage to not run away and get lost all of the time - or even just most of the time?
Then again - I know that if I did create a fairly tight plan it would probably hamper me - causing me to at least stall...
So then we get to #1... the dreaded "writer's block"...
Is this just one thing though? Surely a whole list of issues could be identified...
fatigue
indigestion
anxiety - about events/relationships/finances - even deadlines
confidence - lack of
distractions - not just an excuse
I'm sure that we could all extend the list.
How to get round it?
No idea...
Taking a break, sorting out the other things and - anything that works for the individual... they are all relevant...
The clearest thing for getting rid of the block though is - surely - wanting to write... and - (really annoyingly) just sitting down and - doing it... Writing anything, anything at all...
Which is absolutely no help at all if one is "blocked".
David
Thanks for all the responses that helps me a lot