Neil Gaiman’s Advice for Writer’s Block: 7 Tips to Overcome it
--
Most writers are innately famliar with the concept of writer’s block — the creeping feeling of what Gaiman describes as “despair, giving into blankness.” In fact, just on Medium, 9,400 people follow the topic.
Writer’s block can consume our efforts to move forward, and halt our progress at any moment. For this reason it is important to come armed with a multitude of strategies to fight this monster when it rears its ugly head.
Gaiman seems to take a no nonsense approach to writer’s block, he says,
“People like to talk about writer’s block, because it sounds fancy, it sounds like a real thing. It also sounds like something you can do nothing about . . . now I must alphabetize my spice rack. . . that of course is not true.. . . What they are actually saying is I’m stuck on the thing. . . it is dead on the page.”
He believes writer’s block is an approachable concept that can be unraveled with diverse strategies. Gaiman seems to believe that writer’s block is more a sign that something is not right with the story itself — he takes the time to reassess and keeps moving forward. He are a few strategies he recommends when faced with writer’s block.
- Do Something Else. Take a walk and go do anything else — play with your kids, do a puzzle, garden, research supplies, or do whatever it is you need to do.
Start in the beginning and read it through. Sometimes writer’s block identifies where we went wrong. Gaiman says pretend you have not read it before, and read it through. He says this can highlight where you “went off the rails” and that this helps you identify where you took a wrong turn in order to abandon the necessary plot lines. By re-reading, you might eliminate a dead end, or focus on a more interesting plot line or character.
- Force yourself to Go Deeper. Gaiman suggests maybe you are being shallow out of fear. Remember that you are stuck, it might be a sign you don’t want to write something. Gaiman says to challenge yourself to go into a darker place, that perhaps you don’t want to write, or causes pain. Gaiman says, “What happens if you do write it?” Gaiman challenges writers to write the scene they do not want to write, which could perhaps be a source of writer’s block. If the plot changes and comes to a halt it might be a sign to reassess the characters and make sure they “get what they need.” Even if you fear what you write, sometimes that might be the right thing to write even it requires going deeper.
- Reconsider a Key Element of Your Story, like Point of View. If you work keeps falling flat on the page, Gaiman says you might want to try reconsidering your point of view in the story. Gaiman gives the example of retooling his story, “How to Talk to Girls at Parties” by using himself as the protangonist in an alien story that was falling flat. By simplifying the plot and adding himself (a character he knew well) to the story — Gaiman was able to finish by his tight deadline of 24 hours, and revive a dead story just in time for publishing.
- Simplify. As with the example above, when something is not working, perhaps you have overcomplicated the idea or storyline. Try taking elements back to simpler ideas. Gaiman uses the example to illustrate how in the above example he honed in the setting to just aliens at a party, versus expanding to other settings.
- Be Willing to Throw Out What Doesn’t Work. As writers, it can be hard to throw away our writing — but sometimes this can be a blessing in disguise. By keeping solely what works, Gaiman reminds us that it forces us to “choose solutions that work.”
- Get Comfortable with Not Knowing and Move Forward with What You Know. Gaiman says that it is important to keep moving forward even when it feels like you’re driving in the fog at night. Eventually going from one thing you know to the next, the full view comes into the picture. It just takes trusting the process, and continuing forward with what we know to the next thing we know. Eventually, the entire road comes into view.
This advice comes from Neil Gaiman’s Masters class. I highly recommend taking Neil Gaiman’s class in its entirety. Here is my personal Link for the Master’s class, feel free to use it if it is helpful, it is a 14-day trial pass (link expires Jan 18th).
I believe it would be enough time to finish Gaiman’s class on writing. Best of luck, and happy writing. If you enjoyed my work, buy me a coffee.
For more writing advice, see my prior posts on the creative process, in CoffeeHouse, A Penny University.
I publish three Medium publications:
Coffeehouse: A Penny University: A publication and community exploring the creative process. In 17th Century Britian, Coffeehouses were thought of as centers of thought, and any person regardless of social standing could buy a coffee for a penny to engage in creative or economic discourse. Coffeehouse is geared towards those working on an artistic project, book, or entrepreneurial endeavor. I provide food for thought, resources, books, and ways of thinking about creativity to propel you forward. To keep the theme & feel of a coffeehouse, I also add articles about the world of coffee and food from different cultures.
SundayDrives: This publication explores historical and family travel around the United States. Often times I research NPS sites, places on the National Registrar of Historic Places, UNESCO World Heritage sites, museums, and other sites of significance in our nation’s history. I have lived in 8 states and counting, and our family enjoys free, or inexpensive travel around the USA.
JoyMailed: This publication began as a way to seek joy in life. It explores research on topic such as finding happiness, mindfulness, stillness, gratitude. I explore topics related to meditation, psychology, and resources to live a more joyful life. I keep an interior “bucket list” of emotional milestones I hope to achieve in life and share these as inspiration for your own life goals. Finally, I explore life philosophies like minimalism and stillness, try them out and let you know how it turned out.
https://medium.com/joymailed/dear-reader-of-joymailed-6d11bbb2dca7
