The Scribble Pad

Like everyone else, I’ve been fanged by the evil writers’ block vampire, finding myself curled up on the floor, ash-pale, dried-out and wondering what the hell happened and why I can’t produce a word.

But we writers are strong, creative, and ambitious. We’re heroes in our own stories, and whenever we’re faced with adversity, we suck it up and keep on going.

Years ago I read something that forever changed the way I looked at writers’ b-word. No idea who said it or even where I read it, but I’ll never forget. It went like this: “Writers are empty, not blocked.”

In other words, when we find ourselves out of ideas, it’s not that there’s a giant obstacle inside us, a wall erected somewhere in our cerebellum standing between us and a million-dollar, best-selling idea. Often, it’s that we’ve allowed ourselves to become barren, using up our creative stores without replenishing them.

So how do we fill ourselves up again?

Travel

Ideally, to Paris, Khartoum, or the Gobi Desert, but if your bank balance thinks that’s hilarious, maybe take a drive to another town, or out into the country. Park up and take a stroll. See new people (better yet, talk to them), taste new food, change your perspective.

Try a different genre

Lemme tell ya, I’m all burned out with romance, and don’t see myself writing another soon. Which is why I’m so gung-ho about memoirs these days. I’m learning a new skill and freshening up my jaded brain cells.

Read, read, read

Maybe you’re just bored. Maybe you spend so much time writing that you’ve forgotten that writers are readers at heart. Trying a new author or going back to your favourite might be just the tonic you need. (Notice I didn’t say “plagiarise, plagiarise, plagiarise”. Don’t let what you read penetrate so deeply that it influences what you write. There be dragons.)  

Look inside yourself

Are you really not finding anything to write about or are you sabotaging yourself? Is there something that scares you, something you’re afraid would happen if you did finish your project? Success? Failure? Self-exposure? Bad reviews? The subconscious mind is a hell of a thing. Maybe you have something to sort out before you’re at peace with yourself enough to slam that keyboard once again?

Pack it in

At least temporarily. Go to your favourite pastry shop and challenge yourself to see how many calories you can consume in half an hour. Work out. See a movie. Have sex (I wish, ha.) Smoke a joint. (I can say that now that it’s been decriminalised in Trinidad. Yay!) (Also please note that I have never had a spliff in my life. Boo.) Go buy some sexy underwear; I find purple lace works best for me. Or a funny T shirt emblazoned with some pithy observation; the snarkier the better. Draw a mustache on the dog. Do anything that distracts you from the pickle you’re in.

Like a wary butterfly, inspiration will land on you if you stop trying to hard to catch it. Good luck, amigos.

Did any of these work for you? Let me know in the comments!

One of the most disturbing things I’ve ever heard a publisher say, at a conference several years ago, was, “We don’t let our black authors write white main characters; we don’t think they can identify enough to write it credibly.”

Say what?

I sat there, breathing through my mouth in shock, as she went on to explain that writers who write about people who weren’t like them, as in a different race, culture, sex, etc., fall too often into stereotype and caricature. So they simply didn’t allow it. If you’re black, so were your main characters. If you were white, well, you get the picture.

Stereotypes from hell

I was stunned, and 20 years later, I’m still in shock. Sure, we’ve all seen writers and even film directors attempt to convey a character who’s out of their own personal paradigm and fall into the trap of exaggeration, to the point of being insulting. One of my all-time favourite writers is Ed McBain, the author of the wonderful 87^th Precinct detective series, which I consume voraciously. But I have to admit that his portrayal of black people, especially in his earlier, less politically correct novels, were cringe-worthy. Lots of “dis” and “dat” and pimp-walking going on. 

The Internet is also rife with examples of men writing female leads and spending inordinate amounts of time on full, ripe bosoms and long, silky legs. Lots of breasts jouncing hypnotically, and even a woman who kept her driver’s license, credit card and money in a tiny purse tucked inside her hoo-ha (really). If you don’t believe me, click here for a cackle-inducing roundup of startled breasts and flanks that look like the fuselage of a war plane.

Okay, fine. Sometimes the differences between us can be hard to bridge, especially if we don’t take the time and energy to learn about other people. So does that mean we’re forever sentenced to write only about people who look, talk and act like we do? That’s boring!

But how do you write about people who are different and make them compelling and believable?

Empathy

Empathy makes all the difference. It is the very human ability to identify with the emotions and situations of others. It’s the ability to recognise when someone is happy, scared, upset or anxious, even when we aren’t feeling those emotions ourselves. And it applies even if that person is a figment of your own or someone else’s imagination.

For me the key has been to draw parallels between my character’s situation and something in my life that could elicit similar emotions. I may never have been abused by a partner, but I can think of times in my life when I’ve felt scared and betrayed. I’m not currently in possession of a penis, but if I were writing a sex scene from a male POV I’d focus more on the sensation of touch, scent, taste, rather than the mechanics of erection and ejaculation (lest I make myself a laughingstock).

Recognise your humanity

Realise that the differences that separate us are smaller than the commonalities that bind us. We’re all humans; we’ve all been hurt, we’ve all been happy and scared and angry. The situation your character finds himself in doesn’t have to be something you’ve experienced for yourself; it simply has to elicit similar emotions. That’s a great place to move on from.

As always, show, don’t tell

There’s the temptation to narrate the experiences of a character who’s markedly different from us, mainly because we’re afraid we won’t be able to accurately portray them, but you need to get over that. Immerse yourself into the experience until you feel . . . something. Then write about that something.

Surrender to the feeling

Let the emotions sweep through you. Feel the prickle of anxiety, the thrill of desire, the cold, clammy weight of dread. What you feel is probably what your character feels. Make use of it. Write it down!

Fiction is a uniting medium. It brings us together across borders and across centuries. Even across galaxies. This is because despite race, gender, nationality, religion, skin tone or whatever the hell else, we are all human. Space aliens, monsters and the undead can experience emotions similar to ours, and that’s what makes them believable. Take advantage of that, and your writing is going to be golden.

(And if you want to have a little fun, click here for a challenge: Can you write a description of a female character the way a man would? Post below, let’s see!)

Comments and questions, guys. Let’s talk it through!