This is never fun. Getting set up to write for the day, whether it be starting a new chapter or finishing up and old one. And…nothing. You just stare at the screen and your brain feels like a block of ice. 10 minutes pass. Still nothing. Even if you know what needs to be written next, that doesn’t help. What next?
This happened to me quite a number of times when writing my first novel, especially when I was flying without an outline in the beginning. Eesh was that a mistake. Thankfully I wrote my first books outline after I was about halfway through the rough draft, which made finishing so much easier.
What helped with my cold starts? The first things that worked best was to backtrack and actually start reading through and editing previous sections. That was always the most tried and true ‘warm-up’ to get me into the groove of writing new material.
The next area that helped is what helps me currently. Writing when not writing. Between writing sessions, I mull over what I’ve written in my head, tweaking existing plots and building on what to write next. Its great because you find yourself building upon the outline in ways that make the story so much richer. In my current story, certain scenes which would have introduced multiple characters now have less characters than in the initial outline. It was a decision made between writing sessions as I didn’t want the scene to become a clusterfuck.
Anyways, those are some strategies that have helped me. What are yours?
Also, I saw Real Steel last weekend. Cheesy at times? Yes. Full of sports movie clichés? Absolutely. BUT…the movie was entertaining and watchable, with great performances by Hugh Jackman, the kid Dakota Goyo and even Evangeline Lily (whose acting I’ve never been a big fan of). Dakota Goyo was like a version of Jake Lloyd (Star Wars Episode 1) that could act. Imagine that!
Plus, the CGI for the robots was great and much less chaotic than what was seen in any of the Transformers. Check it out if you haven’t seen it already.
And in a final note, saw this new trailer for the mockumentary movie ‘Chronicle.’ Deals with a few teens who gain telekinetic powers and cause mayhem in the aftermath. COuld be fun. Watch it here.
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