Learn How to Avoid Writers Block (for the most part)

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There is no doubt: writers' block sucks. It's a writers' worst nightmare, especially when all you want to do is write that darn book. Some people might claim they know the cure to writers' block but don't believe them. There is no such thing. It's as simple as: if you write, you're going to experience it. However, I have discovered a method for myself that helps ward off the wall for a longer period of time. I call it. . .(drum roll please). . .The Outline.

Everybody has a very different method for planning their plots out. Me? I write a partially detailed synopsis of each chapter in a notebook. The first time I ever wrote a book, I didn't write an outline, which consequently happened to be my worst mistake ever. I spent months rewriting the plot because I was an idiot and didn't have a plan. Not to say that writing without a plan is bad. I think it honestly depends on how you write best so if winging it works for you, use it, even if it doesn't work for me. The next novel I wrote (keep in mind that I haven't published any of these novels yet), I was somewhat wiser and decided to at least attempt to outline. Call it cheating if you'd like, but the book I wrote during NaNoWriMo was actually planned during the entire month of October. For each chapter, I would write the synopsis of what major events happened and I would also occasionally write out a brief version of a scene if I knew what it would entail. For this reason and only this reason, was I able to breeze through my NaNoWriMo book in a month and a half. Okay. So, maybe it was more like draft 1.5 but I completed it and that's what counts.

In the conclusion of all things, this method seemed to keep writers block from plaguing me quite so often. Of course, no matter what, writers' block is still inedible and happens to the best of us. I still have my days where I want to bang my head off a wall and chuck my Mac out the window. Also, creating an outline may not help you with writers' block as it has helped me. All writers have different methods and ways that they go about things. However, if you are having troubles, I sincerely hope this post will help you. Just remember, even if you only squeeze out 100 words that you'll probably end up deleting later while editing, it's still considered progress. Just keep writing!

Here Is Why I Had Greater Expectations for "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens

Brief Synopsis of Great Expectations from Amazon: In this unflaggingly suspenseful story of aspirations and moral redemption, humble, orphaned Pip, a ward of his short-tempered older sister and her husband, Joe, is apprenticed to the dirty work of the forge but dares to dream of becoming a gentleman. And, indeed, it seems as though that dream is destined to come to pass — because one day, under sudden and enigmatic circumstances, he finds himself in possession of "great expectations." In telling Pip's story, Dickens traces a boy's path from a hardscrabble rural life to the teeming streets of 19th-century London, unfolding a gripping tale of crime and guilt, revenge and reward, and love and loss. Its compelling characters include Magwitch, the fearful and fearsome convict; Estella, whose beauty is excelled only by her haughtiness; and the embittered Miss Havisham, an eccentric jilted bride.

PLEASE BEWARE THAT THERE ARE SOME MINOR SPOILERS BELOW:

Many will claim that Great Expectations is arguably one of Charles Dickens best books ever written. I could hardly agree less. The great classics aren't always easy to read and can be very bland on occasion. However, I usually enjoy them. Unfortunately, there was something about Great Expectations that didn't strike me quite right. It was much too wordy, the plot was very mundane, and the characters felt dull and useless. I read the full, unabridged version which made me want to bang my head off of the table as soon as I was done dipping my head in ice water because the font was too small and the pages felt infinite. It was a miracle I was able to even finish.

It's a true wonder that the description that Dickens implied in the book didn't put me to sleep. For eternity, it felt that he would describe something completely irrelevant or that at least didn't require quite so much detail. I didn't know that you could describe a room with so many unnecessary adjectives. After I mentioned this to the librarian at my local library, she chuckled and then explained to me that Dickens was paid by the word, so you were guaranteed a highly unnecessary amount of adjectives and adverbs. How I didn't drift off while reading it, I'll never know.

I have only one word to describe the entirety of the plot: lifeless. Everything about it felt dull. The story was so dragged out that I had trouble following the motive of the plot and didn't even recognize that it was a love story until halfway through. I think there are plenty of other folks who would beg to differ with my opinion, but I felt that hardly anything provoking happened. The only thing I had to look forward to was discovering the identity of Pip's benefactor. Towards the end of the middle, there was some suspense, I suppose, as Pip found out he was in danger. He also never seemed to stop thinking of Estella and you would wonder if they would ever become a thing. Otherwise, it was dull, dull, dull.

Lastly, the characters were much too mundane for my liking. The most interesting individual was Mr. Jaggers, the attorney, but that was only because he took action in situations. Pip was a boring, timid man who often observed but never reached his hand in the matter. This bothered me on more than one occasion because although he was able to step up into a higher social class because of his sudden luck of coming into possession of a great wealth, he didn't do a thing! The other characters weren't much better. Mrs. Havisham was a whiny woman in despair who wore nothing but a tattered wedding dress to express how depressed (like my rhymes?) she was that her fiance double-crossed her before they married. Estella had a remotely interesting aura, I suppose, but she wasn't physically present throughout the majority of the book and was a very heartless individual on top of things. Unfortunately, Pip had an unrequited love for her. Man, Pip! You could have at least told her that you loved her before she got engaged.

In conclusion, reading this book felt like sitting through an eight-hour lecture on statistics. I understand that Pip had the same great expectations as everybody does with his dreams of wealth, true love, and total happiness. However, I just couldn't appreciate the book the same way I appreciated Pride and Prejudice or Gone With the Wind. I had much greater expectations (see what I did there) for this classic and I don't understand why so many people think its charming or original. The length between anything that even remotely sparked my interest was much too long, most of the characters couldn't think for themselves, and the plot wasn't very entertaining. Do I regret reading Great Expectations? No. I like to read things just to say that I read them but I'm not so sure I want to put myself through the torture of reading another book by Charles Dickens ever again.

How To Build More Complex Characters In 20 Questions

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Writing a novel is a complicated process. I've written one and am in the midst of trying to figure out how to go about publishing it (a story for another day). Next to plot, characters are the most important thing you have going because a plot without characters is really no story at all and a story with underdeveloped characters is equally as bad. My suggestion is that you build a character profile portfolio with all of your characters. 

If you live with the struggle of only being able to build underdeveloped characters or just feel as if your character needs more spice, try answering these 20 questions about them.  Even if you never even use a certain detail in the book such as so-and-so's favorite ice-cream flavor, it doesn't matter because your character has already crossed over the one-dimensional line into something better. 

Creating Characters In 20 Questions:

1. If you were walking down the street and saw your character for the first time, what would be your first impression? Is he/she simply stunning or a total creeper? Has a strange walk? Emits the faint scent of lemons as you pass by? 

2. What is your character's general physical appearance? In your profile, describe with lots of detail and single out the most important qualities. Does he/she have a long but off-centered nose (a possible sign that it might be broken)? Small, slender hands? A pink scar barely seen behind the ear? 

3. What does your character wear? Likes to wear pink? Only wears tattered Chuck Taylors with a hole in the toe? Wears sweatshirts all the time?

4. What does your character sound like? Does he/she sound like she was raised in the streets of New York City? Is their voice pitchy or deep? Sounds like he/she smokes a pack a day? 

5. Does your character accept the standards of his/her day when things go wrong? 

6. Does your character make the best of his/her day?  

7. What is your character's earliest most important influences? A teacher who taught the daughter of a dysfunctional family to read? A blind piano instructor who inspired a disabled student to pursue his/her dream? Even someone as simple as a favorite band or their parents. 

8. What is the most important thing to your character? A physical item of possession? A significant other? A feeling? 

9. What does your character fear the most? Arachnaphobia (that would be me)? Rejection? Death? 

10. How does your character handle competition, defeat, and lost? Does your character fall to their knees and sob until the sun falls from the sky? Do they hold up their head high and march on with pride? 

11. How does your character react towards children?

12. How does your character react in general? Does he/she become easily angered? Weepy? Overly sentimental?  

13. Does your character know why he/she behaves the way he/she does or is it a subconscious thing?

14. What does your character desire the most? True love? Fame? A black belt in karate? 

15. What does your character need the most? 

16. What is your character's worst quality or flaw? Being a know-it-all? Overconfidence?

17. How will your character change? Will he/she be stronger or weaker? Did your character learn a valuable lesson and if so, how will he/she use this lesson to make good? 

18. What is your character's full name? 

19. What is your character's major conflict? 

And finally. . .

20. What are the little details about your character? Favorite foods? Favorite color? Celebrity crush?

You don't have to answer all of these and you can even make your own questions but I find spending time getting to know your characters in this way is just as important as plotting. Suddenly, you'll find that they have a personality, depth, and qualities all their own. In fact, I usually even write a biography about their life starting from the day they were born up until present time in my novel.

I'll admit, when I first began writing my first novel, Caged (due to published soon), I was an inexperienced idiot and didn't create detailed character sketches, which resulted in a lot of problems, In another novel I'm writing, things went much more smoothly because I took as much time to develop my characters as my plot.

Of course, everybody does things differently, but I hope this helps you in your writing journeys as
much as it has helped me.